iCloud: 2 iPhones, 2 computers, 2 libraries and 1 Apple ID

[Woodcrest64]

So from the sounds of it, it does not look like my wife will be apple to sync her iPhone via her computer separatley from my library and my iphone as we are using 1 Apple ID together.

DOH!

I know you can turn off the iTunes in the cloud via the devices but that's it. She could create a new Apple ID but wouldn't that render all of her prior purchases extinct?

 

[Jcoz]

So from the sounds of it, it does not look like my wife will be apple to sync her iPhone via her computer separatley from my library and my iphone as we are using 1 Apple ID together.

DOH!

I know you can turn off the iTunes in the cloud via the devices but that's it. She could create a new Apple ID but wouldn't that render all of her prior purchases extinct?

I would hope that you could have different libraries on different devices....even if the total library is now going to be shared....

 

[CosmoPilot]

This is my biggest question as well. My wife and I share an Apple ID and use home sharing to transfer content. Looks like the sync function of iCloud is similar. If you buy a new device, just enter your Apple ID and password, and all your saved information/data will be restored to your device. This doesn't work so well with families that share an Apple ID.

Hopefully Apple has thought this through a bit more and has a solution we are not privy to yet. I was concerned about this with FaceTime as well, but it tied to a phone number/email address.

Looks like Calendar, Contacts, and Mail might be tied to the @me.com address.

If this happens to be the case, looks like only one person in the family will be able to take full advantage of iCloud.

 

[Jcoz]

This is my biggest question as well. My wife and I share an Apple ID and use home sharing to transfer content. Looks like the sync function of iCloud is similar. If you buy a new device, just enter your Apple ID and password, and all your saved information/data will be restored to your device. This doesn't work so well with families that share an Apple ID.

Hopefully Apple has thought this through a bit more and has a solution we are not privy to yet. I was concerned about this with FaceTime as well, but it tied to a phone number/email address.

Looks like Calendar, Contacts, and Mail might be tied to the @me.com address.

If this happens to be the case, looks like only one person in the family will be able to take full advantage of iCloud.

So you share an account, does that mean you only need to buy 1 app for 2 ipads? or iphones, whatever...

 

[Centient]

So you share an account, does that mean you only need to buy 1 app for 2 ipads? or iphones, whatever...

Yep.

 

[Small White Car]

So from the sounds of it, it does not look like my wife will be apple to sync her iPhone via her computer separatley from my library and my iphone as we are using 1 Apple ID together.

DOH!

Explain more.

I still don't understand the problem. It seems like having 1 Apple ID is what you'd want to have.

 

[Jcoz]

Yep.

Whoa that's awesome!

Whats the limit on that? I'm thinking what if I wanted to share one account with 4 other people, thats 5 ipads and 3 iphones, split the music match $25 a month, would we be able to share apps across 8 devices?

 

[Small White Car]

Whoa that's awesome!

Whats the limit on that? I'm thinking what if I wanted to share one account with 4 other people, thats 5 ipads and 3 iphones, split the music match $25 a month, would we be able to share apps across 8 devices?

Yes, but you're giving everyone access to other stuff like calendars, contacts, and soon your photos and documents.

True, you could turn off the syncing for many of these, but they still have the ability to log in and see them if they want to.

I dunno how comfortable everyone is with that setup. I do this with my wife. I can't think of anyone else I'd invite to share that with me.

 

[Centient]

Whoa that's awesome!

Whats the limit on that? I'm thinking what if I wanted to share one account with 4 other people, thats 5 ipads and 3 iphones, split the music match $25 a month, would we be able to share apps across 8 devices?

Not sure about the number of devices. Or if there are any limits at all. Currently we have 2 iPhones, and an iPod Touch on the same account. All shared. No problems.

 

[Jcoz]

Yes, but you're giving everyone access to other stuff like calendars, contacts, and soon your photos and documents.

True, you could turn off the syncing for many of these, but they still have the ability to log in and see them if they want to.

I dunno how comfortable everyone is with that setup. I do this with my wife. I can't think of anyone else I'd invite to share that with me.

Good point, probably just my folks then.

 

[Centient]

Yes, but you're giving everyone access to other stuff like calendars, contacts, and soon your photos and documents.

True, you could turn off the syncing for many of these, but they still have the ability to log in and see them if they want to.

I dunno how comfortable everyone is with that setup. I do this with my wife. I can't think of anyone else I'd invite to share that with me.

That's the hitch alright. Unless there's some way to manage the cloud among devices that hasn't been addressed yet. I would hope so, as surely they know there are alot of users sharing one account.

 

[CosmoPilot]

Explain more.

I still don't understand the problem. It seems like having 1 Apple ID is what you'd want to have.

1 Apple ID allows you to share content on 5 computers and unlimited iDevices (pre-iCloud). Therefore, if I purchase an app, song, book, etc., my wife and children can decide if they want the content on their iPhones/iPads. To that point, they can decline a particular app, song, etc. Each device is unique in this regard.

2. The new iCloud feature uses an Apple ID to "back up" your device and sync it across all other devices using the Apple ID. According to Apple's website, to do a complete restore (from iCloud), all you have to do is enter your Apple ID and password, and it will restore all your data, settings, etc.

The question is, will my iPhone data get transferred over to my wife's iPhone if she does a complete restore? Does the iCloud have the ability to differentiate between different setups using the same Apple ID?

I can't for the life of me believe Apple hasn't thought this through...if not there will be lots of unhappy campers, as iCloud will only work for individuals and not families.

 

[179202]

So from the sounds of it, it does not look like my wife will be apple to sync her iPhone via her computer separatley from my library and my iphone as we are using 1 Apple ID together.

DOH!

I know you can turn off the iTunes in the cloud via the devices but that's it. She could create a new Apple ID but wouldn't that render all of her prior purchases extinct?

Well, she can now have her own iTunes ID with iCloud syncing. With regard to sharing stuff you already bought...just authorise each others accounts and you're set No problems for you guys.

 

[179202]

1 Apple ID allows you to share content on 5 computers and unlimited iDevices (pre-iCloud). Therefore, if I purchase an app, song, book, etc., my wife and children can decide if they want the content on their iPhones/iPads. To that point, they can decline a particular app, song, etc. Each device is unique in this regard.

2. The new iCloud feature uses an Apple ID to "back up" your device and sync it across all other devices using the Apple ID. According to Apple's website, to do a complete restore (from iCloud), all you have to do is enter your Apple ID and password, and it will restore all your data, settings, etc.

The question is, will my iPhone data get transferred over to my wife's iPhone if she does a complete restore? Does the iCloud have the ability to differentiate between different setups using the same Apple ID?

I can't for the life of me believe Apple hasn't thought this through...if not there will be lots of unhappy campers, as iCloud will only work for individuals and not families.

Apple are assuming people don't share email addresses...which is kind of the norm .

 

[Woodcrest64]

Explain more.

I still don't understand the problem. It seems like having 1 Apple ID is what you'd want to have.

This is the problem:

My wife and I use the same Apple ID which is great because we only have to buy ONE of the same App for both of our devices.

The problem is when she syncs her Miley Cyrus library to her iPhone, I DON'T want that on my device!!!

I can just imagine me driving down the road and my iPhone gets updated with her playlist.... "iPhone Library now Sync'd with 'Songs for Chicks", now playing "Party in the U.S.A by Miley Cyrus"

 

[MarsDude]

Same story here. My wife and I share 1 apple-id. Now we also have an iPad that just lays around for anyone in the house to use. iCloud sounds like fun, but... iPad? No go, as not everyone should have access to my stuff, so we must turn it off or get a separate account. So I have to buy my universal apps twice.

If my wife and I both want to use iCloud, she should get a separate Apple-id. Now we have to buy an app 3 times. In a few months, I get a new iPhone and my son gets my 3GS. If he likes the same app.... yep. 4 times.

I guess that is the price you pay for iCloud.

But I think the syncing thing is overrated. I think I can do without. Only places I want to see my pictures are on my own account on my MacBook and on my Phone. And mail, calendars en contacts are synced through Google apps.

1 more thing... ;-) If my wife decides to get her own apple-id, and she changes her apple-id in iTunes and on her phone: Will she lose all the allready purchased apps?

 

[MarsDude]

Apple are assuming people don't share email addresses...which is kind of the norm .

True, but we don't see it as an email-address, but as an account-id. We don't share the usage of the email-address, but we do share the account-id.

 

[Phil A.]

True, but we don't see it as an email-address, but as an account-id. We don't share the usage of the email-address, but we do share the account-id.

Same here - we have a family pack MobileMe subscription and myself, my wife and my daughter each have a separate e-mail address, calendars, etc, etc. However, we all use a single iTunes account (which is linked to my e-mail address) for song, video and app purchases.
I would hope we can continue to do this with 3 iCloud accounts and use a different ID for app / music purchases but I guess we'll have to wait and see...

 

[179202]

Same here - we have a family pack MobileMe subscription and myself, my wife and my daughter each have a separate e-mail address, calendars, etc, etc. However, we all use a single iTunes account (which is linked to my e-mail address) for song, video and app purchases.
I would hope we can continue to do this with 3 iCloud accounts and use a different ID for app / music purchases but I guess we'll have to wait and see...

Well, at the moment you can have a mobileme account set up on your iDevice and use a different store account. If that's the problem than you're absolutely fine

 

[Small White Car]

This is the problem:

My wife and I use the same Apple ID which is great because we only have to buy ONE of the same App for both of our devices.

The problem is when she syncs her Miley Cyrus library to her iPhone, I DON'T want that on my device!!!

I can just imagine me driving down the road and my iPhone gets updated with her playlist.... "iPhone Library now Sync'd with 'Songs for Chicks", now playing "Party in the U.S.A by Miley Cyrus"

This is probably where playlists come into play. Or, if that's too much trouble it sounded like you can set it to only update music when you manually download it.

But I'd sure suggest leaving auto-updating on and just using playlists to limit what you're actually listening to. But that's just me.

Also, I'm certain it'll ask 'which' device you want to restore when it comes to back-ups. Apple is hoping you'll own more than one iDevice, they wouldn't assume you just have 1.

 

[Jcoz]

Well, she can now have her own iTunes ID with iCloud syncing. With regard to sharing stuff you already bought...just authorise each others accounts and you're set No problems for you guys.

What does that mean, authorize each others accounts?

 

[CosmoPilot]

I'm thinking Apple has to have this already figured out, or it will get huge negative reviews! Apple allows 5 computers and unlimited iDevices (all with the same Apple ID) to share content. They do this, because they know a family will buy a song and want to share it. However, some stuff we don't want to share...like the Miley Cyrus example above.

The iTunes in the Cloud demo gives us the option to tap on the cloud and download purchased content. Therefore, we can choose not to download the Miley Cyrus song on our iPhones. So this isn't a deal breaker.

The problem is going to be the syncing/backup.

I'm certain it will be similar to the "Find My iPhone" app. Whereas, you use a single Apple ID, but it recognizes the different devices by their actual names. I.e. "Husband's iPhone" "Wife's iPhone" "Husband's iPad" "Daughter's iPod Touch" ect.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed this is the case.

 

[SonoViva]

My girlfriend and I use the same account, but we have different Game Center nicks. I imagine it may work similar to this. Only, I can't seem to remember how we got it this way... Does Game Center use email addresses? Device IDs?

 

[Woodcrest64]

What does that mean, authorize each others accounts?

It means that if you downloaded music from iTunes on one computer, you can put the music onto another computer. When you go to play it on the 2nd machine, iTunes will ask if you want to ALLOW that computer to play your music.

The issue, and I might be wrong on this, but you even though you have authorized a 2nd computer with your music I'm not sure you can then mix that with two different Apple IDs. I believe you get the error message "This computer has been sync'd with another library. Do you wish to erase your current library and sync with another?"

Essentially even though you've authorized your 2nd computer to play music from your 1st computer, when you load up a new Apple ID, iTunes will then erase your previous library of music and start a new one.

 

[nostresshere]

Apple are assuming people don't share email addresses...which is kind of the norm .

Based on some business dealings, I find lots of people do this. I don't know why though. I have my own email, and my wife has hers. Actually, we both have multiple emails that all go into our own mail inbox.


I have found that when two people share and email and an actionable email comes in, they each think the other person took care of it, and as result, lots of things never get taken care of.