Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Update: Use new iCloud email address as Apple ID

James Godfrey

James Godfrey

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Oct 13, 2011
2,074
1,713
Hi all,

This is in regards to the issue people are having not being able to use their *new* icloud @me.com address as there apple ID to have just one email address for everything.

I called apple tech support today, and they have told me that at this present time it is not currently possible to make your new iCloud @me.com email address your Apple ID :-(

However, he understood were I was coming from and agreed with me that our iCloud @me.com addresses should be able to be used, and also agreed that it 'could' be something to do with the MobileMe to iCloud migration and therefore may be a possibility in the future.

So at this present time it doesnt look as if there is any way to make our new iCloud @me.com email addresses our Apple ID's but we have the ability to do so in the near future.

I am constantly emailing support regarding this issue, as the more it is raised the more likely it will become possible, and I suggest sers who want this to happen take the time to send them a message regarding your situation.

Any updates and I will post here.

James
 
I have to say, thank you for your effort. It seems clear now that Apple simply did not have time to address this relatively small issue. I am confident they will iron out all the bugs in the coming weeks or months.
 
Many of us don't want our @me address to be our primary Apple ID.

We use a shared Apple ID so everybody in our family can share purchased content... example@yahoo.com

and separate @me accounts so our content can be managed separately or we can create shared calenders or add email accounts as we want.
 
I'm one of the few who wants a @me address to also function as an Apple ID just for the sake of simplicity.

Apple should just make one ID to rule them all.
 
So if my current Apple ID is a me.com address, I should NOT upgrade or migrate to iCloud??? Just want to be sure before I start setting up the 4S etc
 
biosci said:
So if my current Apple ID is a me.com address, I should NOT upgrade or migrate to iCloud??? Just want to be sure before I start setting up the 4S etc
Click to expand...

You'll be fine. It's only a problem for people like me who created an iCloud account using an old Apple ID. Now my @me.com address is tied to this old Apple ID and there's no way to disassociate them.
 
you can login with the me address. it's placed under the alternative email account from your main apple id email :D
 
i am using @me.com as my apple ID now and i had a old apple ID that was a @gmail.com account.. both of these accounts are seperate.. will you be apple to merge them when they get this issue sorted out?
 
mattburles said:
i am using @me.com as my apple ID now and i had a old apple ID that was a @gmail.com account.. both of these accounts are seperate.. will you be apple to merge them when they get this issue sorted out?
Click to expand...

They wont allow merging so its not possible and will probably never be, I think the confusion arises with the merging subject because, customers are not wanting to merge there Apple ID's its more along these lines:

Person A who has an iPhone 4 pre iOS 5 had an iTunes account call it xxx@hotmail.co.uk, this person then updated to iOS 5 and activated iCloud, they done this by using the same Apple ID which they have used for many years (xxx@hotmail.co.uk), they also had the option to 'CREATE' a free me.com email address, which they did, but they cant make their me.com email address their primary email address.

Person B who has an iPhone 4S who has never used iTunes before sets up iCloud on his device, this then asks to enter Apple ID or create a free ID, they create a free ID and are able to have their free @me.com email address as there ID rather than a seperate email address.

This creates a bit of an annoyance for existing customers because they have stuck with their Apple ID's (as apple suggests not have multiple apple ID's) and are so desperate to be gone with their Yahoo, Hotmail etc email addresses. But cant because they are stuck with their iTunes store receipts going to that email address instead of their new me.com email address.

-----

I have messaged support on this but they dont have any idea, just fill you with tat about mobileme...... BUT we havent been mobileme customers.

James
 
My situation is similar to what many users have:

Apple ID and Primary Email Address
pancakedrawer@gmail.com

Alternate Email Addresses
pancakedrawer@me.com

Obviously I can't change my primary ID/email to my @me account like we all want, but what I'm wondering is what would happen if i deleted my @gmail account?

Has anyone tried this solution? If so what happened?

And if it didn't work, have you contacted Apple to see what their response is?

In short, can we force apple to merge our IDs?

Cheers

Pancakedrawer

EDIT: To be more clear, I'm talking about actually deleting my Gmail account so that it no longer exists. Not just trying to delete it as my Apple ID. I'm wondering what the Apple support staff would say if you told them you had deleted your gmail account.
 
Last edited:
pancakedrawer said:
My situation is similar to what many users have:

Apple ID and Primary Email Address
pancakedrawer@gmail.com

Alternate Email Addresses
pancakedrawer@me.com

Obviously I can't change my primary ID/email to my @me account like we all want, but what I'm wondering is what would happen if i deleted my @gmail account?

Has anyone tried this solution? If so what happened?

And if it didn't work, have you contacted Apple to see what their response is?

In short, can we force apple to merge our IDs?

Cheers

Pancakedrawer
Click to expand...

Unfortunately you can't delete a primary email address only replace it so it doesn't work.

There is currently no way of making our tied in email addys our primary apple IDs, believe me I have tried!

I wouldn't messaging support because after about 4 days of exchanging emails they checked my account and just basically told me hat he reason why both my hotmail and my me logged into the same iTunes account is because they are tied to each other.

But they offered no reason or solution to the situation, just yet again told me that any MobileMe email addresses are an apple ID already.

Technically this isn't true in this case because a search on the my apple ID page suggests that my me email can't be found as an apple ID.

Frustrated!!!
 
Just had this from Apple after quite a few emails back and forth.

'Dear James,

Thank you for your repkly. I understand that you would like to know if Apple is currently working towards allowing aliases to be used as a primary email address.

Apple is currently working toward a resolution for the issue you have reported. You will receive an email after the matter has been investigated and further information is available.

Thank you for your patience. Apple wants your iTunes experience to be as enjoyable as possible.

Sincerely

Jennifer
iTunes and Mac App Store Senior Specialist'

Looks as though they are working on it... :)
 
James Godfrey said:
Just had this from Apple after quite a few emails back and forth.

'Dear James,

Thank you for your repkly. I understand that you would like to know if Apple is currently working towards allowing aliases to be used as a primary email address.

Apple is currently working toward a resolution for the issue you have reported. You will receive an email after the matter has been investigated and further information is available.

Thank you for your patience. Apple wants your iTunes experience to be as enjoyable as possible.

Sincerely

Jennifer
iTunes and Mac App Store Senior Specialist'

Looks as though they are working on it... :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the update. Did Jennifer really spell 'reply' with a k?

Hoping that they resolve this ASAP.
 
Lol no she didn't, I typed it up on my PC and made a spelling mistake when copying what she put in the email.

Fingers crossed its sorted soon.
 
Hmm this is all so very confusing to me, probably more than it should be. I setup the iCloud on my new mbp yesterday using the @me account I created yesterday. My iPhone was already setup using my yahoo apple id. I'd really like to begin using my @me account as my primary but maybe I should try setting up my mbp again using my yahoo account to avoid this entire mess. It seems like trying to make my @me account my primary for all of this might be a nightmare.
 
So glad I found this thread! Thanks to those before who have done the legwork on seeing if we can use the new @me accounts for Apple ID's! :) Was so frustrated when I realized it couldn't be listed as the primary.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

You can change your primary email address to your new @me.com by logging in here -

https://supportprofile.apple.com/

Then change you email address down the left hand side under personal information.

It will also verify it too!

But even after you verify and have it as you primary email address you are still stuck with your old email address as your apple id which is pretty ridiculous!

Still, it's a step closer...and does change you @me.com email to your primary address.
 
Last edited:
Thanks, helio. I was able to get my address changed, but I see what you mean about the old emails having to stay as the Apple ID. Gave it a shot, put in the @me, but...

You cannot create an Apple ID using a MobileMe account. If this is your email address, it is also your Apple ID.
Click to expand...

:(

Maybe someday.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

jes81 said:
Thanks, helio. I was able to get my address changed, but I see what you mean about the old emails having to stay as the Apple ID. Gave it a shot, put in the @me, but...

You cannot create an Apple ID using a MobileMe account. If this is your email address, it is also your Apple ID.
Click to expand...

:(

Maybe someday.
Click to expand...

I guess it's a start though right?

It means your @me.com is your primary email and in everything but name it is your apple id. Still annoying though I know...
 
At least it's a step in the right direction. :) I've been able to log into iCloud and iTunes with my @me working as the login, but it always shows my old email as the ID regardless. I guess if at this point it's more of a "show" display, but I can log in with @me and Apple uses @me as primary contact, I can live with it. :rolleyes:
 
BUT - do new icloud notifications (like from calendar changes, etc.) go to your @me or to your old address still?

I've been looking for a way to make my @me my primary for all icloud related emails instead of my old @aol account (which is my Primary Apple ID) because all those emails go there...it's annoying.
 
you could change it using the method I described and then do a test calendar entry or change, then see what happens maybe?

But what is the advantage of having an @me.com email over your aol.com email?

Atleast having an external email means that your 5gb of iCloud storage isnt taken up by emails.
 
Hey helio,

I finally caved and created a new @me-based AID through my phone. I just exported my contacts and imported into the new AID.

You're right about the 5gigs but I don't intend to save much mail or a large camera roll.

But now I get all iCloud notifications pushed to the @me which is all I really wanted to begin with. It was just a pain relogging into all the other stuff (iMessage, Gamecenter, Find My Friends etc.)

Bu I'm glad the cloud based email is my primary now, even if it's not my regular every day email account.

It's also worth noting I share a AID with my wife for iTunes store purchases so changing my iCloud account didn't result in any real loss of purchases or anything. Funny that the old AID will just sit dormant from now on - odd that it can't be deleted.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back