You can try that too - just use the same login iCloud and iMessage logins. It will work sync the same on all devices with the exact login names.
As for iMessages, just use unique RECEIVE AT emails and you're good.
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Best way to share iCloud with a spouse?
- Thread starter Mad Mac Maniac
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You can try that too - just use the same login iCloud and iMessage logins. It will work sync the same on all devices with the exact login names.
As for iMessages, just use unique RECEIVE AT emails and you're good.
As I understand it your Apple ID (which was formerly called iTunes ID) will still be your same email as normal. for icloud you can pick whatever email you want, be it your university email, your me.com email, a new me.com email (apparently you can create up to 3), or anything else. As far as I can tell there would be no issues with you picking the same ID (unless one day you decided to share your Apple ID with your family)
So wait, to resolve the issue that I'm using my Mobile Me as my primary AppleID for purchasing, and want to share purchases with my girlfriend, can I do this?
Use my Mobile Me AppleID as the purchasing ID on BOTH iPhones.
Use the SAME Apple ID as the iCloud ID on MY phone.
Set up HER phone with a new iCould ID as the iCloud ID (for syncing).
Would this setup allow me to share purchases (apps, books, music) between us but still have us keep all our iCloud syncing (Contacts, Calendars, Mail) separate?
Another question, it looks like the new phones ask you to set up or enter an iCloud ID right away when you unbox it. So is this initial ID you enter applied to the purchasing ID, or the iCloud ID, or both in settings? And does entering the "wrong" ID here (such as a Mobile Me Apple ID) have serious implications?
Man, this whole this seems really complicated and is making me feel stupid. How are non-technical people ever supposed to figure it out? I do blame Apple for not being clear about the implications of having separate original iTunes ID, then a Mobile Me account used as an Apple ID, then separate AppleIDs not tied to either. It's a mess, frankly.
Use my Mobile Me AppleID as the purchasing ID on BOTH iPhones.
Use the SAME Apple ID as the iCloud ID on MY phone.
Set up HER phone with a new iCould ID as the iCloud ID (for syncing).
Would this setup allow me to share purchases (apps, books, music) between us but still have us keep all our iCloud syncing (Contacts, Calendars, Mail) separate?
Another question, it looks like the new phones ask you to set up or enter an iCloud ID right away when you unbox it. So is this initial ID you enter applied to the purchasing ID, or the iCloud ID, or both in settings? And does entering the "wrong" ID here (such as a Mobile Me Apple ID) have serious implications?
Man, this whole this seems really complicated and is making me feel stupid. How are non-technical people ever supposed to figure it out? I do blame Apple for not being clear about the implications of having separate original iTunes ID, then a Mobile Me account used as an Apple ID, then separate AppleIDs not tied to either. It's a mess, frankly.
hmmm I guess I'll just let me wife know that this is a test... haha. I hope it's not to difficult to switch her to a different iCloud ID if/when we run into problems with it
Absolutely no problems.
There are some confusing things here so here goes:
Inside the Settings of iOS 5.0:
1) You have the new iClouds settings menu
2) You have the FaceTime (if you are on iPad) settings menu
3) You have the iMessages settings menu
4) You have the App Store settings menu.
For 1, 2, 3: you can use your itunes/appleID as well. For #4, you use your iTunes/appleID login name.
It is only when you HAVE MORE THAN ONE IDEVICE and you DON'T want to share backups, etc., you want to use a DIFFERENT appleID (or you have the option to CREATE A NEW APPLEID AND even make a NEW MOBILEME (@me.com) address).
The most important thing is the App Store login name - this will determine if have to rebuy apps or not. If you use the same iTunes/appleID you've always used to buy iTunes/App Store stuff, you just use the same one and don't have to rebuy.
----------
100% yes. Under APP STORE settings menu: ENTER IN THE APPLE STORE APPLE ID you use to buy apps. Give this one to anyone who has an iDevice you want to share apps with and they never need to pay for those apps cause you have bought them already.
You would do exactly as you stated here:
— Use my Mobile Me AppleID as the purchasing ID on BOTH iPhones.
— Use the SAME Apple ID as the iCloud ID on MY phone.
— Set up HER phone with a new iCould ID as the iCloud ID (for syncing).
[/QUOTE]
SKIP THIS STEP. It's so much easier to understand if you just go into the SETTINGS MENU. Look above at the #1-4 new menu options inside iOS 5.0
this.
As for your scenario... actually I don't know if I should be spouting off info, because honestly I'm just guessing. But based on this thread, I'm thinking your setup would work...
I don't follow you. Your appleID should be an email address
it's my university email address. not my ME.com address. my ical/mail are associated with my me.com address. my purchases are associated with my iTunes/appleID.
Right, well what I was trying to say is that your university email can stay the apple ID and you can choose any email you want for your iCloud ID
What I'd like to do is use my me.com email (icals migrating nicely) and my appleID purchases.
It *sounds* like what I should do is abandon my me.com address...
I've had this issue today.
My gf and I both had iPhones and iPads. Previously we both shared the same Apple ID.
Now the iOS 5 we have the following.
I use my Apple ID on both my iPhone and my iPad 2 for both FaceTime and iMessage. This means if anyone sends me a FaceTime or iMessage both devices respond and I can use either to reply.
I use my (paid for) MobileMe login for iCloud account on my iPhone and iPad. I migrated this to iCloud recently.
My gf uses here personal Apple ID for FaceTime and iMessage on her iPhone and iPad (no FaceTime on iPad). This means her iMessages and FaceTime calls don't appear on my devices.
She also uses the same Apple ID for iCloud. This means her contacts and calendars are all separate.
However I've shared my iCloud calendar with her and we use that as our default calendar. This syncs across all our devices so we can each see, with any of our devices, what our calendar is at any time.
We previous synced the same contacts list too. But as most of the contacts were for me and of no interest to her, this used to annoy her. I synced my full list of contacts initially to her iCloud account then detached my account, selecting "keep". Then she deleted the ones she didn't want. Then attached her iCloud login and now she has her own synced contacts based on my original longer list.
For App store, books, iTunes, etc, we continue to use my Apple ID so only one purchase is needed for all 4 devices.
So to summarise:
We each have our own private contacts, iMessage and FaceTime. We have a shared calendar either of us can view and edit. We share the same Apple ID for purchases of stuff.
F
My gf and I both had iPhones and iPads. Previously we both shared the same Apple ID.
Now the iOS 5 we have the following.
I use my Apple ID on both my iPhone and my iPad 2 for both FaceTime and iMessage. This means if anyone sends me a FaceTime or iMessage both devices respond and I can use either to reply.
I use my (paid for) MobileMe login for iCloud account on my iPhone and iPad. I migrated this to iCloud recently.
My gf uses here personal Apple ID for FaceTime and iMessage on her iPhone and iPad (no FaceTime on iPad). This means her iMessages and FaceTime calls don't appear on my devices.
She also uses the same Apple ID for iCloud. This means her contacts and calendars are all separate.
However I've shared my iCloud calendar with her and we use that as our default calendar. This syncs across all our devices so we can each see, with any of our devices, what our calendar is at any time.
We previous synced the same contacts list too. But as most of the contacts were for me and of no interest to her, this used to annoy her. I synced my full list of contacts initially to her iCloud account then detached my account, selecting "keep". Then she deleted the ones she didn't want. Then attached her iCloud login and now she has her own synced contacts based on my original longer list.
For App store, books, iTunes, etc, we continue to use my Apple ID so only one purchase is needed for all 4 devices.
So to summarise:
We each have our own private contacts, iMessage and FaceTime. We have a shared calendar either of us can view and edit. We share the same Apple ID for purchases of stuff.
F
Here is what you do. Make 3 iCloud's. Sign in with your individual iCloud accounts in the iCloud portion of ios, for backups, and whatever features you want to keep personal. Sign in to the app store app on both phones with whichever account you plan to purchase on. Add the joint account to the mails, contacts, cal setting area and have it sync stuff like calendars, contacts, etc.
Here is how we are setup right now:
3 account
Me
Wife
Family
My iCloud id - setup in app store settings on both phones to share apps. It's my converted mobile me account, so years of app store stuff is on it. We have always shared this Id for the app store.
Me- setup in iCloud on my phone. It syncs every setting and backs up my phone.
Wife - setup in iCloud on her phone. It syncs every setting and backs up her phone.
Family - setup on both phone, not in the iCloud settings pane, but just in the mail one. It is set to sync cal and reminders. We have a cal an reminder list called family so we can add items to that, that both of us need to see. Works great so we don't get junk we don't both need like each others work appointments since they reside on our personal accounts.
If you wanted to share contacts you could just turn them on in your personal iCloud settings, and turn them on in the family account. Or you could have both on so you didnt each have each others work contacts, etc. you could add shared ones to the family account.
Works perfect for us. Can be tweaked for any family setup.
Here is how we are setup right now:
3 account
Me
Wife
Family
My iCloud id - setup in app store settings on both phones to share apps. It's my converted mobile me account, so years of app store stuff is on it. We have always shared this Id for the app store.
Me- setup in iCloud on my phone. It syncs every setting and backs up my phone.
Wife - setup in iCloud on her phone. It syncs every setting and backs up her phone.
Family - setup on both phone, not in the iCloud settings pane, but just in the mail one. It is set to sync cal and reminders. We have a cal an reminder list called family so we can add items to that, that both of us need to see. Works great so we don't get junk we don't both need like each others work appointments since they reside on our personal accounts.
If you wanted to share contacts you could just turn them on in your personal iCloud settings, and turn them on in the family account. Or you could have both on so you didnt each have each others work contacts, etc. you could add shared ones to the family account.
Works perfect for us. Can be tweaked for any family setup.
Mine isn't. In fact I think i have two that aren't, it didn't used to be a requirement.
Now to further confuse the issue, when i see the same thing when I log in with XYZ as when i use XZY@mac.com, but now the passwords are different and I have NEVER been able to get game center to work to send invites because it says my email is already in use. Actually, now that I'm typing this I think the place i see the same thing is game center - I'm not sure if I've done it in iTunes.
But my AppleID/iTunesID is XYZ.
I can't wrap my head around all of this yet..... Thankfully I'm single and just wanting to share with my kids, and right now the only device they can produce is the 2g touch that can't move to iOS5 anyway.... Problem solved! LOL!!
it's funny that you suggest that 3 account method, because just this morning I was wondering if I could do just that exact thing! I'm still trying to wrap my head around exactly the best way to do it and how everything works, but I think I will do something like that. I just need to understand it all better.
We share a Mac, so I want to make sure that both photos that I take and photos that she takes will be synced to photostream on our Mac (and on my iPad). It's not necessary to have her photostream on my iPhone, but it would be nice if possible.
It's only possible to have one iCloud account activated on a device at a time right? But is it possible to switch back and forth between iCloud accounts? That way I might be able to sync some 3rd party app data periodically, but still keep seperate accounts? I dunno if that's possible.
I agree that the more info I read on this thread the more confused I get. haha
Sorry, I should have clarified. We tried using a shared Apple ID for our iPhones and iPads (including iCloud/iTunes) over the summer. In theory it seemed like a good idea, but it didn't work out very well for us. For us, our Apple ID is essentially our iPersonality LOL -- what I mean by that is we both have our own apps, music, iBooks, etc, which is all tied to our Apple accounts. It just didn't work out very well for us.
This sounds good, and it's what I will be doing between my and my girlfriends iPhones.
However I have a couple of questions:
1) When using iCloud, do you no longer use iTunes and Address Book to back up contacts? We currently have to use Groups within address book to have seperate address books
2) How do you share your calender across iCloud?
3) How do you choose to link and not-link certain things? (like calender etc)
Not sure if this will work in iCloud (only just transitioning my own MobileMe account as I type), but this is how I share my MM Calendar with my wife at present:
Me and wife both have our own MM accounts set up on our Macs
On wife's account, I have also added my own MM account (in System Preferences>Mail, Contacts & Calendars) but ONLY set to sync Calendars/Reminders
That way when my Mrs looks at her iCal, she will see and be able to edit our two calendars combined, though she still has the option of only working with one or the other just like you can select any off your multiple calendars in iCal.
As I say, I don't yet know if iCloud offers the same solution, so apologies if this is no use to you.
Me and wife both have our own MM accounts set up on our Macs
On wife's account, I have also added my own MM account (in System Preferences>Mail, Contacts & Calendars) but ONLY set to sync Calendars/Reminders
That way when my Mrs looks at her iCal, she will see and be able to edit our two calendars combined, though she still has the option of only working with one or the other just like you can select any off your multiple calendars in iCal.
As I say, I don't yet know if iCloud offers the same solution, so apologies if this is no use to you.
This thread has successfully broken my brain. 
- I have a 3GS, 4S is on the way.
- My AppleID is my regular email address, and my only Apple entity. (no MobileMe or other accounts)
- I plan on upgrading my 3GS to iOS5 and creating my iCloud account this evening
- I plan on doing iTunes Match when its ready
- I have lots of music and many apps
And:
- My girlfriend is planning on getting an iPhone 4S. (she has a Droid now)
- She has her own computer and iPod, and therefore her own AppleID for iTunes.
- She has a little music, and no apps
My understanding / guessing from reading the previous posts:
- We each set up our own iCloud accounts, thus keeping backups/contacts/calendars/photos separate.
- If I want her to have access to my apps, I must give her my AppleID/pswd (which will be separate from my iCloud ID?) and also enter this ID on both phones in Settings/App Store
- We can keep automatic downloading off for apps and songs, allowing pick-and-choose for each of us
- Is iTunes Match tied to the shared AppleID, or the individual iCloud IDs?
I'm wondering if it's worth the confusion, to save a few bucks on apps here and there..
- I have a 3GS, 4S is on the way.
- My AppleID is my regular email address, and my only Apple entity. (no MobileMe or other accounts)
- I plan on upgrading my 3GS to iOS5 and creating my iCloud account this evening
- I plan on doing iTunes Match when its ready
- I have lots of music and many apps
And:
- My girlfriend is planning on getting an iPhone 4S. (she has a Droid now)
- She has her own computer and iPod, and therefore her own AppleID for iTunes.
- She has a little music, and no apps
My understanding / guessing from reading the previous posts:
- We each set up our own iCloud accounts, thus keeping backups/contacts/calendars/photos separate.
- If I want her to have access to my apps, I must give her my AppleID/pswd (which will be separate from my iCloud ID?) and also enter this ID on both phones in Settings/App Store
- We can keep automatic downloading off for apps and songs, allowing pick-and-choose for each of us
- Is iTunes Match tied to the shared AppleID, or the individual iCloud IDs?
I'm wondering if it's worth the confusion, to save a few bucks on apps here and there..
So you can use a different ID for the cloud and iMessage? So my wife and I could share the cloud but still be able to message? I really hope that is the case.
This thread has successfully broken my brain.
- I have a 3GS, 4S is on the way.
- My AppleID is my regular email address, and my only Apple entity. (no MobileMe or other accounts)
- I plan on upgrading my 3GS to iOS5 and creating my iCloud account this evening
- I plan on doing iTunes Match when its ready
- I have lots of music and many apps
And:
- My girlfriend is planning on getting an iPhone 4S. (she has a Droid now)
- She has her own computer and iPod, and therefore her own AppleID for iTunes.
- She has a little music, and no apps
My understanding / guessing from reading the previous posts:
- We each set up our own iCloud accounts, thus keeping backups/contacts/calendars/photos separate.
- If I want her to have access to my apps, I must give her my AppleID/pswd (which will be separate from my iCloud ID?) and also enter this ID on both phones in Settings/App Store
- We can keep automatic downloading off for apps and songs, allowing pick-and-choose for each of us
- Is iTunes Match tied to the shared AppleID, or the individual iCloud IDs?
I'm wondering if it's worth the confusion, to save a few bucks on apps here and there..
I believe you are correct in your understanding. iTunes match is tied to the shared AppleID. (itunes ID if you will)
The way I setup my four lines is this. Use a single apple ID for itunes purchases and that is on every device in the family allowing me to share apps and music. Then you have a separate unique AppleID on each family members device allowing them to do iCloud backup, calendars, email etc.
Okay, I think I'm starting to understand....
Our equipment:
2 iPhones
1 iPad
1 Macbook
Our goals:
-We want to share ALL photos together through photo stream with all four devices.
-We want to share SOME reminders, but it isn't necessary for her to see all of mine or me to see all of hers (e.g., work related stuff, etc.)
-We want to be able to find each other on Find Your Friends on both iPhones
-We need to have all apps shared (already a large sunk cost--should be able to sync using iTunes account and not be a factor with iCloud, right?)
-We already use google for e-mail and shared & individual calendars and it works great; I don't see a need to sync this with iCloud..am I right?
Correct me if I'm wrong on the required setup:
All four devices need to have the same iCloud "main" account, so Photostream will sync.
Each iPhone will need secondary iCloud accounts for reminders, and individual stuff.
The iPad and Macbook will need to have all three accounts for reminders, because they are shared devices between us.
And if I'm right, how do I switch what the "main" account is on a device? Our new phones should show up Friday, but I've been playing around on an old deactivated 3GS via wifi and our iPad..and I didn't do it the way above yet....
Please correct anything I have above if you see that I made a mistake!
Our equipment:
2 iPhones
1 iPad
1 Macbook
Our goals:
-We want to share ALL photos together through photo stream with all four devices.
-We want to share SOME reminders, but it isn't necessary for her to see all of mine or me to see all of hers (e.g., work related stuff, etc.)
-We want to be able to find each other on Find Your Friends on both iPhones
-We need to have all apps shared (already a large sunk cost--should be able to sync using iTunes account and not be a factor with iCloud, right?)
-We already use google for e-mail and shared & individual calendars and it works great; I don't see a need to sync this with iCloud..am I right?
Correct me if I'm wrong on the required setup:
All four devices need to have the same iCloud "main" account, so Photostream will sync.
Each iPhone will need secondary iCloud accounts for reminders, and individual stuff.
The iPad and Macbook will need to have all three accounts for reminders, because they are shared devices between us.
And if I'm right, how do I switch what the "main" account is on a device? Our new phones should show up Friday, but I've been playing around on an old deactivated 3GS via wifi and our iPad..and I didn't do it the way above yet....
Please correct anything I have above if you see that I made a mistake!
You are spot on. Let me just add that the photostream is the key to your particular setup. To have the shared, every devices' "main account" must be the same, i.e. main@me.com. Every person logs into iCloud when setting up iOS 5 with this account credentials (obviously someone has to set it up first). Then, every person can create their unique iCloud ID. So you can be you@me.com and your wife can be wife@me.com. Now, you can either use the main iCloud account to do the reminder sharing or you can add her iCloud account to your phone as well as a third account and just turn on Reminder syncing. Your premise on the macbook and iPad is also correct.