iPad Multiple accounts shared device

You don't say who is "we". Double accounts produces more problems than it is worth. If "we" is you and a spouse just decide on one or the other and stick to it. If it is a child or room mate I'm not sure I would want them to have my password.

 

There are lots of reasons that multiple accounts would be convenient. Unfortunately Apple is still treating these devices as wholly individual. I would love a guest mode, a kids mode, and multiple accounts.

For now my suggestion is that for a family, you share one iTunes Store account, which allows you to share app, movie, music purchases, etc. and then have separate iCloud accounts which gives you separate iMessage, photostream, data syncing, etc.

Right now you can only have access to one photostream per device. Your wife can create a separate shared photostream and anything she puts in there will automatically show up on the ipad as well, but she'll have to do that sharing manually.

 

My husband and me share 1 iTunes account for apps and music, and we each have a separate account for iMessages, iCloud, and FaceTime.

I don't know how you would have more than one account (iTunes) on the same device though.

Good luck!

 

Not possible. You would still have the apps on your devices, but would no longer receive updates. The apps that are purchased are forever linked to your account.

I solve this issue in two ways. I have a personal account (that my entire family uses for ease of use) and a professional account for my work (books and some music purchases).

1. I use iTunes Match on my personal account. No matter which account I purchase music with, it gets loaded to the cloud as soon as I log into my personal account on my computer. However, this means that I ONLY purchase music on my computer if I'm purchasing from my professional account...
2. My whole family uses the same account. Only my wife & I have purchasing authority, however. My kids are 9 & 4 right now so this isn't a problem. That will probably change in the future when they are teens....but for now...it works. This way all apps, movies and music are available to all of us. (My 9 year old has an iPod Touch that is locked down...she has to see us to download anything, messaging to family only, no safari, etc)

It gets interesting with iBooks. I've accidentally locked a device to an account by downloading a book from an account many times. Then I gotta call Apple to release it. They've done it so far...but say it's not the norm. I solve this by buying Kindle books now. Their loss.

Anyway...I don't know if that helped...but I thought I'd chime in.

 

Buy another iPad?

 

Your wife can use the money to "gift" purchases to the other account.

 

Apps, music and iBooks can always be redownloaded, as long as they remain available in the store. Not sure about videos, since I never buy any. And yes, when you gift a purchase, it stays with the person who received it. But sometimes things do get withdrawn from the store, so I'm always careful to keep a local copy of anything I don't want to lose.