Account Switch Over

[-Daryl]

Hello there,

I have had a joint iTunes account with my family for years now, but after recently moving out, its proving to be a bit of a hassle maintaining it/keeping things separate.

On this account is my macbook, my iPhone and various family equipment.

Basically, I would like to know if I could create an entirely new iTunes/apple/icloud account solely for myself but transfer certain things over from the previous account?

I dont care about music as I use Spotify, though certain app data, photos, documents, contacts, messages I would like to keep. That and I do not want iMessage/Facetime to mess up if I change account!

I understand I could back up the photos/documents then import them onto the new account, but its more the iPhone specific stuff that im concerned about losing.

Thank you for your time,
Daryl

 

[Newtons Apple]

I am pretty sure you can accomplish this if you call Apple.

 

[-Daryl]

Okay, figured that may be the case, thanks for the reply.

As a side note, if I was to change to a new account prior to phoning Apple, would my iMessage/facetime work with it? I get confused whether iMessage is synced via a number or an account. Essentially I would like to delete my imessage/facetime from account 1 and have it working on account 2.

Hoping this makes sense!
Thanks again.

 

[timeconsumer]

Hello there,

I have had a joint iTunes account with my family for years now, but after recently moving out, its proving to be a bit of a hassle maintaining it/keeping things separate.

On this account is my macbook, my iPhone and various family equipment.

Basically, I would like to know if I could create an entirely new iTunes/apple/icloud account solely for myself but transfer certain things over from the previous account?

I dont care about music as I use Spotify, though certain app data, photos, documents, contacts, messages I would like to keep. That and I do not want iMessage/Facetime to mess up if I change account!

I understand I could back up the photos/documents then import them onto the new account, but its more the iPhone specific stuff that im concerned about losing.

Thank you for your time,
Daryl

Have you considered keeping the main account then having your family create their own? You can utilize iCloud family share to share purchases:

https://www.apple.com/icloud/family-sharing/

If this isn't something you're interested in doing then I'm not sure how you could create a new Apple ID/iTunes account while still transferring purchases. You'd have to create a new Apple ID and then re-download all of the apps you want. Some Apps allow you to backup to Dropbox so you can restore from there but other apps backup to iCloud and if you're changing your iCloud/Apple ID this wouldn't help.

As far as your iMessages are concerned, it depends if you have it setup on your phone number or setup using your Apple ID, you can check this by going to: Settings-> Messages -> Send & Receive

 

[-Daryl]

Thank you for the reply.

I have considered family sharing, though its been one of those things that I've always wanted to venture off onto my own Apple ID - I think in the long run its probably for the best.

I appreciate the advice with Dropbox though, I wasn't aware that was a feature so ill look into that, thanks.

I have checked my messages and it says at the top that its linked to my Apple ID though my actual number is being used for the iMessage. I have a friend who informed me that should I switch, i can delete my number from the old Apple ID (and thus iMessage) and then link it to my new Apple ID? Would that be the case?

Again, I appreciate your help so far!

 

[timeconsumer]

Thank you for the reply.

I have considered family sharing, though its been one of those things that I've always wanted to venture off onto my own Apple ID - I think in the long run its probably for the best.

I appreciate the advice with Dropbox though, I wasn't aware that was a feature so ill look into that, thanks.

I have checked my messages and it says at the top that its linked to my Apple ID though my actual number is being used for the iMessage. I have a friend who informed me that should I switch, i can delete my number from the old Apple ID (and thus iMessage) and then link it to my new Apple ID? Would that be the case?

Again, I appreciate your help so far!

Fair enough, it seems like you should probably just create a new account and start fresh. If the app supports backing up/restoring from Dropbox it'll be listed in the settings of the app so you can configure it there. I use a password manager called 1Password which has this option. I believe WhatsApp also does, so it just depends on the app itself.

For the number being tied to the Apple ID, this is what I found for it: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201349

Also, I'm not 100% sure what will happen when you remove your Apple ID/iTunes account from your iPhone. It will likely ask if you want to keep or delete stuff from your phone such as contacts, and it may actually leave all of the apps on there. You may want to contact Apple as mentioned earlier to explain to them what you're looking to do so they can tell you exactly how to do it to minimize the loss of app data.

 

[-Daryl]

Fair enough, it seems like you should probably just create a new account and start fresh. If the app supports backing up/restoring from Dropbox it'll be listed in the settings of the app so you can configure it there. I use a password manager called 1Password which has this option. I believe WhatsApp also does, so it just depends on the app itself.

For the number being tied to the Apple ID, this is what I found for it: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201349

Also, I'm not 100% sure what will happen when you remove your Apple ID/iTunes account from your iPhone. It will likely ask if you want to keep or delete stuff from your phone such as contacts, and it may actually leave all of the apps on there. You may want to contact Apple as mentioned earlier to explain to them what you're looking to do so they can tell you exactly how to do it to minimize the loss of app data.

You've been incredibly helpful, genuinely appreciate it.

Ill have a little look at the stuff you've provided and keep my fingers crossed!
Thanks again.

 

[timeconsumer]

You've been incredibly helpful, genuinely appreciate it.

Ill have a little look at the stuff you've provided and keep my fingers crossed!
Thanks again.

You're very welcome and good luck!