Can I sync 2 iPhones through iTunes on the same computer?

[iPhoneJunky]

I am still waiting for our new 3G iPhones, one for me and one for my wife; they should arrive next week sometimes. I'm trying to learn some things before the phones arrive. I’m switching from Verizon Treo so I’m used to syncing my phone through the Palm sync pod and understand it’ll be sort of similar now except I’ll be using iTunes to sync?

I've never used iTunes before but I just downloaded the latest version onto my computer (windows XP in case it makes a difference).

So basically:

- is it possible for me to set up the iTunes in such a way that I can sync my phone's contact list (phone numbers, email addresses, etc) without getting her contact list onto my phone - and vice versa?

(we'll be using the same computer for syncing, downloading music, etc but I do not want to download her 'stuff' onto my iPhone each time I sync my phone and she does not want to clog her iPhone with my 'stuff'.

- If I download a CD I like to iTunes - will we be able to listen to that CD on either of our iPhones or just one?

- IF it is possible to keep the syncing of our our phone books, calendars, etc separate - how exactly do I make that happen?


I'm a newbie to iPhone so plz be specific, also not too familiar with Mac terminology...

Any help/advice/hints you can throw at me will be greatly appreciated!

PS. New to this forum - is it normal for it to be this slow? It took 5+ minutes from "Submit New Thread" until it was actually published?

Also, not sure if it matters but we live in the US...

 

[TEG]

First of all... Welcome.

iTunes will allow you to customize which address books and calendars you sync with each phone, IF you have Outlook set up to have differentiated address books and calendars, or use different XP user accounts to sync each phone.

You can customize what data is synced to the phone, including music, contacts, and calendars. iTunes allows you to sync your songs with as many iPods/iPhones as you wish (some restrictions may apply for things bought from the iTunes store.

Each iPhone will have a different configuration page in iTunes, that will easily allow you to customize the content delivered to the phone. Be sure that you give each iPhone a unique name so that you can tell at a glance which iPhone you are changing the settings of.

TEG

 

[iPhoneJunky]

First of all... Welcome.

Awesome, thank you for the quick reply!

iTunes will allow you to customize which address books and calendars you sync with each phone, IF you have Outlook set up to have differentiated address books and calendars, or use different XP user accounts to sync each phone.

I see; I don't use Outlook but if I create two separate XP user accounts they will be linked to the two separate iPhones? Good deal, until now we’ve been using a generic XP user account for the two of us but I'll create separate "hers" and "his" XP accounts so the iTunes can differentiate between the two accounts.

You can customize what data is synced to the phone, including music, contacts, and calendars. iTunes allows you to sync your songs with as many iPods/iPhones as you wish (some restrictions may apply for things bought from the iTunes store.
Each iPhone will have a different configuration page in iTunes, that will easily allow you to customize the content delivered to the phone. Be sure that you give each iPhone a unique name so that you can tell at a glance which iPhone you are changing the settings of.

Good deal, I'll name them "Who's your daddy?" and "Who's your mama?" to keep them separated, hopefully that’ll be unique enough...

I assume that once I get my phone there will be some instruction included in the regarding the syncing part, right? For example, where within the iTunes do I ‘customize’ what data can be synced to each phone, etc.?

Thank you very much for the help and the welcome.

 

[TEG]

First of all, if you aren't using Outlook for contacts and calendars, what are you using? You don't need separate accounts, because it may cause problems with sharing Music and if you connect the wrong phone when on the wrong account.

When an iPhone or iPod is connected to a computer, it appears on the side bar of iTunes. When you click on the device, the right side of the window will open with a series of tabs along the top that allow you to customize Content, Music, Video, Applications, etc.

TEG

 

[iPhoneJunky]

So can I do it or not?

First of all, if you aren't using Outlook for contacts and calendars, what are you using?

Well, my wife and I both have a Treo (for another week or so) and we used Palm software that came with the phone. At first we had only one account but we both hated it because each time she added some pictures, phone numbers, etc to her account, when I synced my phone it showed up in my account too which was really annoying... So we created two Palm accounts Treo1 and Treo2 - the phones were 'renamed" too so when we synced the phone it recognized which account to sync.

You don't need separate accounts, because it may cause problems with sharing Music and if you connect the wrong phone when on the wrong account.

I'd rather pay twice for each song I download from iTunes than to have to browse through all the hundreds of phone numbers my wife has on her phone (she's in health profession - lot's of contact). Basically we don't care about the cost as much as long as we can keep our schedules, phone books, contact lists, etc separate. For example when it comes to schedules, as a pilot I have a pretty complicated schedule which would do her no good if it showed up in her schedule book in Zulu times, etc...

When an iPhone or iPod is connected to a computer, it appears on the side bar of iTunes. When you click on the device, the right side of the window will open with a series of tabs along the top that allow you to customize Content, Music, Video, Applications, etc.

So if an iPhone shows on the side bar like you said, why can't I rename it or customize it for that particular account only?

I am now confused, at first I thought you said it wouldn't be a problem to syn them separately but now it sounds like it's not easy to do?

Thanks for taking your time to reply…

 

[matt d]

New Q: 2 iPhones (wife&me), I did 2 Profiles, But Do I need 2 Seperate iTunes Accts?

So, my wife and I both have iphones. I was told that I should create 2 user profiles on our PC so that we could Sync our iphones to 2 different systems and not co-mingle our Contacts and maybe (calendar?). So I set up 2 looks.

We want to use our iPhones as our primary iPods. Note: we're coming from a world of 1 shared iTunes account up to now.

Now, this is where I'm asking you'all if I'm creating too much work. I downloaded a new version of iTunes for my new user profile and created a new iTunes account so that now my wife and I have 2 different accounts and we each have 2 different unique iTunes passwords on our iphones.

Yes--I've avoided all the syncing issues. What is killing me is i) the time to switch between profiles on our PC, and most of all ii) copying all the music over to a new drive on the PC (so it is now in 2 places, b/c of the 2 different itunes acct).

1st basic question: did I need to copy all the music and move it? the added files are probably slowing my pc, right?

2nd Q: On my 1st try copying the music, I haven't got the total songs on the new iTunes match our original iTunes, so I'm missing music (pain!)--that I'll have to hunt around for and then...

Final Q: I haven't even approached whether we can interchange music that we each purchase on our seperate iTunes accounts on our iPhone (once they are synced down to our 2 seperate iTunes desktops)?

Is there an easier way to do this before I do more man hours on this?

i.e. find cover art for 2 seperate (yet identical iTunes collections) etc etc, i.e. hunt for music, i.e. copy over newly bought music on my iphone to hers? etc etc

 

[Cleverboy]

So, my wife and I both have iphones. I was told that I should create 2 user profiles on our PC so that we could Sync our iphones to 2 different systems and not co-mingle our Contacts and maybe (calendar?). So I set up 2 looks.

We want to use our iPhones as our primary iPods. Note: we're coming from a world of 1 shared iTunes account up to now.

Now, this is where I'm asking you'all if I'm creating too much work. I downloaded a new version of iTunes for my new user profile and created a new iTunes account so that now my wife and I have 2 different accounts and we each have 2 different unique iTunes passwords on our iphones.

Yes--I've avoided all the syncing issues. What is killing me is i) the time to switch between profiles on our PC, and most of all ii) copying all the music over to a new drive on the PC (so it is now in 2 places, b/c of the 2 different itunes acct).

1st basic question: did I need to copy all the music and move it? the added files are probably slowing my pc, right?

2nd Q: On my 1st try copying the music, I haven't got the total songs on the new iTunes match our original iTunes, so I'm missing music (pain!)--that I'll have to hunt around for and then...

Final Q: I haven't even approached whether we can interchange music that we each purchase on our seperate iTunes accounts on our iPhone (once they are synced down to our 2 seperate iTunes desktops)?

Is there an easier way to do this before I do more man hours on this?

i.e. find cover art for 2 seperate (yet identical iTunes collections) etc etc, i.e. hunt for music, i.e. copy over newly bought music on my iphone to hers? etc etc

I'd recommend copying all of your music to ONE folder in the ROOT of your hard drive, and telling iTunes NOT to "organize" your music. This way, YOU get to choose where you're music resides, and iTunes will simply reference the location... immediately allowing you to use ONE location for music in BOTH accounts.

You can set this in the iTunes prefs.

Regarding two separate iTunes accounts... yeah, I'd say you start having problems. What I do, is my wife and I use the SAME iTunes account for syncing all of our content. She used her own iTunes account when setting up the iPhone, but afterwards, iTunes and App Store on the phone are both set to the same iTunes account (mine). She's not really that keen on downloading apps and music, so this works out for us. For iTunes Plus music, I don't think there's even a problem moving it or syncing it to multiple iTunes accounts. The whole great thing about being "DRM Free".

TV Shows and Movies are another matter though. Luckily, if we wanted to use separate accounts, my wife wouldn't be interested in those anyway.

~ CB

 

[pcs are junk]

So, my wife and I both have iphones. I was told that I should create 2 user profiles on our PC so that we could Sync our iphones to 2 different systems and not co-mingle our Contacts and maybe (calendar?). So I set up 2 looks.

We want to use our iPhones as our primary iPods. Note: we're coming from a world of 1 shared iTunes account up to now.

Now, this is where I'm asking you'all if I'm creating too much work. I downloaded a new version of iTunes for my new user profile and created a new iTunes account so that now my wife and I have 2 different accounts and we each have 2 different unique iTunes passwords on our iphones.

Yes--I've avoided all the syncing issues. What is killing me is i) the time to switch between profiles on our PC, and most of all ii) copying all the music over to a new drive on the PC (so it is now in 2 places, b/c of the 2 different itunes acct).

1st basic question: did I need to copy all the music and move it? the added files are probably slowing my pc, right?

2nd Q: On my 1st try copying the music, I haven't got the total songs on the new iTunes match our original iTunes, so I'm missing music (pain!)--that I'll have to hunt around for and then...

Final Q: I haven't even approached whether we can interchange music that we each purchase on our seperate iTunes accounts on our iPhone (once they are synced down to our 2 seperate iTunes desktops)?

Is there an easier way to do this before I do more man hours on this?

i.e. find cover art for 2 seperate (yet identical iTunes collections) etc etc, i.e. hunt for music, i.e. copy over newly bought music on my iphone to hers? etc etc

i believe that you are thread hi-jacking, which means asking your owns questions on someone else's thread, therefore changing the topic to your question. i am pretty sure that this is against the rules. next time try to create your own thread, so that in the future you dont get in any trouble. im not trying to be mean or anything, i just trying to help you, you when like a parent beats the crap out of their kid because they want to help them....well that doesnt really work when that happens to me because when ever they try to hit me with a belt or something, im like "are you trying to tickle me or something". anyway i kinda went off topic a little lol.

 

[rich3119]

i believe that you are thread hi-jacking, which means asking your owns questions on someone else's thread, therefore changing the topic to your question. i am pretty sure that this is against the rules. next time try to create your own thread, so that in the future you dont get in any trouble. im not trying to be mean or anything, i just trying to help you, you when like a parent beats the crap out of their kid because they want to help them....well that doesnt really work when that happens to me because when ever they try to hit me with a belt or something, im like "are you trying to tickle me or something". anyway i kinda went off topic a little lol.

I actually found Mattd's post very usful and in my opinion was very much on topic - I assume you were just a trouble maker anyway as i see your status is now BANNED lol

Thankyou Mattd anyway - your situation is similar to mine and i'll go and try and sort my issues tonight

 

[indyzzzz]

I didnt want to create a new thread for a similar issue.....

I have a 2G iPod Touch Im gifting to a friend, have a whole bunch of apps I bought/downloaded during their "get it free for a limited time" periods.

I will be getting an iPhone 4.

My friend doesnt care for the apps, she wants to use the iPod Touch purely for music and media.

Can I sync all the apps I have to my new iPhone 4 and just wipe the iTouch clean and have her create a new account with iTunes (she lives a few hundred miles away) ? Or are the apps i downloaded linked forever to the iPod Touch i used (serial number, that sort of thing) ?

Thanks for any advice, cheers.

 

[bytethese]

I didnt want to create a new thread for a similar issue.....

I have a 2G iPod Touch Im gifting to a friend, have a whole bunch of apps I bought/downloaded during their "get it free for a limited time" periods.

I will be getting an iPhone 4.

My friend doesnt care for the apps, she wants to use the iPod Touch purely for music and media.

Can I sync all the apps I have to my new iPhone 4 and just wipe the iTouch clean and have her create a new account with iTunes (she lives a few hundred miles away) ? Or are the apps i downloaded linked forever to the iPod Touch i used (serial number, that sort of thing) ?

Thanks for any advice, cheers.

Apps are linked to your Apple ID, not your device. If the apps you want are 1. On your Mac/PC and 2. Are 4.x compatible, you can just sync them to your new iPhone4 and wipe the old iPod Touch.

 

[indyzzzz]

Apps are linked to your Apple ID, not your device. If the apps you want are 1. On your Mac/PC and 2. Are 4.x compatible, you can just sync them to your new iPhone4 and wipe the old iPod Touch.

Thanks mate, cheers. Am syncing with my new iPhone 4 32GB right now. Love it

 

[Gokunama]

I have two User Accounts set up on my Mac, one for myself, and the other for my wife. I want her to be able to sync and update apps from the same iTunes account, but she keep s getting some error message when trying to download update, something to the effect that this user account isn't authorized and to check my network connectivity.

So has anyone successfully enabled another user account to use the same iTunes account on the same computer. It would be great if I really could seperate mine and the wife's stuff, her 300 plus contacts were getting synced to my Gmail and Yahoo contacts when we were on the same Mac User account.

 

[QuarterSwede]

I have two User Accounts set up on my Mac, one for myself, and the other for my wife. I want her to be able to sync and update apps from the same iTunes account, but she keep s getting some error message when trying to download update, something to the effect that this user account isn't authorized and to check my network connectivity.

So has anyone successfully enabled another user account to use the same iTunes account on the same computer. It would be great if I really could seperate mine and the wife's stuff, her 300 plus contacts were getting synced to my Gmail and Yahoo contacts when we were on the same Mac User account.

You'll probably have to use the same iTunes library.

 

[cjhill]

I have the same problem. My wife and I just bought 2 Iphone 4's and are using the same Itunes Account. Our contacts are mingled when we synch with Itunes. Our contacts are inputted into the phones directly and do not reside in Outlook, Yahoo, Google, etc.

Is there a way to segment those contacts? If we need to set up two Itunes accounts, can we do that after we have already set up a joint one?

Thanks