Managing 2 users in the home with Apple ID...

[splproductions]

I was wondering if you all could help me with my conundrum.

I am trying to figure out what to do with me and my wife regarding iOS, iCloud, Apple IDs, etc. I've traditionally been the one in the home who deals with "computer stuff", buys apps, uses an iPod touch all day, etc. And now I'm all synced up with iCloud as well. We've got an iMac (mostly used by her), a MBP (mostly used by me), and an iPod Touch (solely used by me).

My wife doesn't have an Apple ID - if she buys music she just uses my account. She doesn't use the iMac for much besides internet, email, movies, etc. She doesn't use iCal or anything either, and she doesn't have an iPhone.

But I just bought her an iPad2 today, and I'm trying to figure how to work all of this. If I set her up with an Apple ID, doesn't that mean we would have to buy the same apps twice? And the same music twice? And when she (or I) takes a pic with the iPad, iCloud won't send it to my MBP...

I think really the only problem with using the same ID is if she starts using iCal. She'd see my calendars and I'd see hers, unless we made multiple calendars and made sure to schedule a new event in the "correct" calendar, and each of us could turn the other's calendars "off".

I hope I'm making sense with all of this. How do others here manage this situation when there are multiple devices and two users in the home? Thanks!

 

[samh]

I was wondering if you all could help me with my conundrum.

I am trying to figure out what to do with me and my wife regarding iOS, iCloud, Apple IDs, etc. I've traditionally been the one in the home who deals with "computer stuff", buys apps, uses an iPod touch all day, etc. And now I'm all synced up with iCloud as well. We've got an iMac (mostly used by her), a MBP (mostly used by me), and an iPod Touch (solely used by me).

My wife doesn't have an Apple ID - if she buys music she just uses my account. She doesn't use the iMac for much besides internet, email, movies, etc. She doesn't use iCal or anything either, and she doesn't have an iPhone.

But I just bought her an iPad2 today, and I'm trying to figure how to work all of this. If I set her up with an Apple ID, doesn't that mean we would have to buy the same apps twice? And the same music twice? And when she (or I) takes a pic with the iPad, iCloud won't send it to my MBP...

I think really the only problem with using the same ID is if she starts using iCal. She'd see my calendars and I'd see hers, unless we made multiple calendars and made sure to schedule a new event in the "correct" calendar, and each of us could turn the other's calendars "off".

I hope I'm making sense with all of this. How do others here manage this situation when there are multiple devices and two users in the home? Thanks!

iOS 5 allows for separate iCloud and iTunes accounts. In other words, your iTunes STORE account can be different from your iCloud data account. My wife and I each have iCloud accounts, and we share a single iTunes store account. So we can share purchases, but our data remains our own.