Apple Dropping AOL Sign-In for iTunes and App Store in March

arkmannj · Feb 27, 2015

HyperZboy said:
There's a simple reason for keeping an AOL/AIM screen name. For instance you have an elderly friend or parent you need to stay in touch with who will never update to something of today standards.

Or you have your own name or business which otherwise would not be possible on any other email service. Why get rid of something that works reliably for certain purposes?

Now my next question is, will I lose my MSN sign in to iTUNES and that Apple ID next? I'm already having trouble with it not working in other new Apple services like Messenger & FaceTime.

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No, this means you're a young punk with limited knowledge.

I chat with elderly people every day on AOL/AIM. These are people that will never change. Don't look down upon people who didn't live your young life. Be thankful you know more.

I wasn't looking down on people using AOL (did I even say anything about them?), I was rocking AOL back in the day with a 2400 baud modem, and connecting via multiple phone lines (merged connection) up into the early 2000's. If people have a use for the services AOL offers, then great, but AOL itself has largely stagnated and doesn't bring much to offer the Apple ecosystem anymore I'm surprised Apple has keep the ability to use an AOL account for this long. As far as I know AIM support will still be in Messages/iChat just not as an extra login to things like iTunes.

jlnr · Mar 1, 2015

oneMadRssn said:
My peeve currently is being forced to make a new password every 3 months.

GreenFreaK said:
I'm right there with you! Have to change mine every 90 days and there's nothing I can do about it.

I've had the same issue, and then read this blog post:

http://indiestack.com/2014/09/fixing-90-day-apple-id-expirations/

Mailing Apple support with a reference to his case # fixed it for me. HTH.

(Do you have Apple developer accounts? I was under the impression that this was a dev-only problem.)

kolax · Mar 1, 2015

Anonymous Freak said:
It's not that iCloud caused separate accounts - it's that I did not become aware that they were separate until iCloud.

Way back when, in the iTools/Mac OS 9 days, I created an @mac.com account (for the sake of example, I'll say it was "anonymousfreak@mac.com".) Back then, you could log in to the system using just your user name (so just "anonymousfreak".)

When the iTunes Store came out, I logged in as "anonymousfreak". Apparently I created a separate/new no-@mac.com account at that time. That's the account I was purchasing music, then later movies and apps under.

When MobileMe converted to iCloud, I tried to log in as "anonymousfreak" and it told me specifically that you had to use the @icloud.com on the end (or, for legacy users, @me.com or @mac.com.) I didn't think much of it at the time, and ended up buying an app.

Then I noticed that none of my previous apps were visible. Then I had to change my password, and noticed that when I reauthorized a computer, my iTunes account (anonymousfreak) had what I thought was the "old" password, while my iCloud account (anonymousfreak@mac.com) had the "new" password. That's when I noticed that the two were, in fact, separate accounts.

So now, I use the iCloud account for nearly everything. Except the iTunes/App Store. For that, I still use the no-@mac.com account.

I was a .Mac customer. When MobileMe came about, I could log into the iTunes Store using either foo@mac.com or foo@me.com. Now with iCloud, foo@mac.com/me.com/icloud.com all log me into the same account, and the iTunes Store shows it as foo@mac.com regardless of which alias I use to login.

I've no idea if I explicitly registered for the iTunes Store or whether I just logged in with my .Mac account, was too long ago. But looks like Apple let you register for an iTunes Account with your Apple ID and it didn't see them as the same thing. Surely they can merge them now - how far have you gotten with them on resolving it?

Anonymous Freak · Mar 1, 2015

Kilamite said:
I was a .Mac customer. When MobileMe came about, I could log into the iTunes Store using either foo@mac.com or foo@me.com. Now with iCloud, foo@mac.com/me.com/icloud.com all log me into the same account, and the iTunes Store shows it as foo@mac.com regardless of which alias I use to login.

I've no idea if I explicitly registered for the iTunes Store or whether I just logged in with my .Mac account, was too long ago. But looks like Apple let you register for an iTunes Account with your Apple ID and it didn't see them as the same thing. Surely they can merge them now - how far have you gotten with them on resolving it?

I have tried multiple times, and have been shot down with a "no, we can't merge Apple IDs" every time. I imagine from the sound of it that when you registered for iTunes Store the first time, you just used your existing .Mac account by using the full email address. My problem was just using the "before the @" part of my address, and assuming it was linked to my .Mac account. Instead, it created a second, separate account.

dmland · Mar 15, 2015

myrtlebee said:
Ridiculous how people scoff at AOL email addresses. It's just juvenille and petty. I've had the same AOL primary personal email address for 15 years and it has been the most reliable service out of the 4 providers I use. If something works, what is the problem?

The Internet — particularly the "bottom half of the Internet", AKA the comments section of any given post — is full of people who feel that they must criticize others' choices in order to validate their own. I've been on AOL since day zero. Consequently, my email address is 12 characters long, including the @ sign and the dot, and instantly memorizable by anyone who knows the first thing about me.

I see no reason to stop using a service that is exactly what I need. If it doesn't suit the needs of some sad little person who was probably born after my email address was established, then so be it.

palebluedot · Jul 6, 2015

Anonymous Freak said:
I have tried multiple times, and have been shot down with a "no, we can't merge Apple IDs" every time. I imagine from the sound of it that when you registered for iTunes Store the first time, you just used your existing .Mac account by using the full email address. My problem was just using the "before the @" part of my address, and assuming it was linked to my .Mac account. Instead, it created a second, separate account.

This has gotten worse with things like Apple Watch and Apple Music. For example, Apple Watch needs to be tied to an iCloud account BUT if you have an old Apple Store account with all your purchases that is where your Apple Pay details reside. I wish they would either let us merge or let us move our iCloud emails to our "old" pre-Mobile Me accounts. The longer this goes on, the less likely that is. :/

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