iPod touch New to Apple and buying iPods for my kids for Christmas, need some management help

[Nozzleman 216]

I am relatively new to the world of Apple. I bought a MacBook Pro about 4 months ago and then an iPhone 4S when it was released. So I do have some time with the products albeit limited. I am still playing and learning to use iTunes since getting my iPhone and I am afraid or unsure of what happens when other devices are added.

So both of my kids want iPod Touches and Santa agrees they will be a great gift, the question is how should they be registered? Should each child have their own account (is this an option) or should I just add the devices under my account? Is there a way I can manage there iPods without interfering with my stuff? Correct me if I am wrong, but if I have bought games, then they will be accessible any other device associated with my account?

I am just a little confused what to do, especially considering the wife is getting an iPad2 as well and that adds yet another device.

So what are my options keeping EASE in mind.

Thank you!

 

[likethesoup2]

Easiest thing would be to have an individual iTunes account for each person.

That way their stuff isn't interfering with your stuff, and vice-versa.

 

[ftaok]

This is an interesting question. I'd like to hear some replies as well.

To me, there's pluses and minuses to each. I'm assuming your kids are minors.

Pluses - share music/apps across all devices; easier for you to keep tabs on what your kids are doing

Minuses - you'll end up with music/apps that your kids like but you don't; kids have access to your credit card info; kids will be able to keep track of what songs/apps you're buying (explicit songs come to mind)

ft

 

[SidewaysTakumi]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

What we ended up doing was creating our son a separate account on our computer to sync with iTunes. We also created him his own iTunes account with a gift card we got him with his iPod. We, however, did not tell him the password to the account so he has to come to us if he wants to buy an app. We also enabled parental controls and put a restriction on in-app purchases. We eventually did put our credit card on his account but again, he doesn't know the password so he can't buy anything without our help.

This has worked out for almost two years. I hope that helps.

 

[bmat]

My daughter uses my old iPhone as a touch. She uses the same iTunes account, but we just have restrictions on it so she can't access the iTunes store, download App, delete Apps, etc. That way we don't need to but separate copies of things -- be it moves, tv shows, or Apps.

 

[sracer]

The biggest downside to separate accounts is having to repurchase apps for each account. Shouldn't be too much of an issue, but something to take into consideration.

 

[Nozzleman 216]

Well that's what I was looking for. There are some apps (games) that I can see all of us playing so I definitely see the bonus in keeping everything on one account.

Since I do not have my iTunes setup to automatically sync music (I pick what I want to put on) would this solve issues of music being put on devices that is not wanted? I would use parental controls to limit what they can do on their devices.

It looks like I am getting somewhere, so the next question...is there a limit on the number of devices on one account?

 

[ftaok]

It looks like I am getting somewhere, so the next question...is there a limit on the number of devices on one account?

Unless they've changed it recently, iTunes media with DRM (movies/TV shows/pre-iTunes Plus songs) only had a limitation on the number of computers you could authorize. This number is/was 5. There has never been a limit to the number of devices (iPod/iPhone/iPad/aTV) that can be authorized to play/store the DRM'd media.

 

[jca24]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

What we ended up doing was creating our son a separate account on our computer to sync with iTunes. We also created him his own iTunes account with a gift card we got him with his iPod. We, however, did not tell him the password to the account so he has to come to us if he wants to buy an app. We also enabled parental controls and put a restriction on in-app purchases. We eventually did put our credit card on his account but again, he doesn't know the password so he can't buy anything without our help.

This has worked out for almost two years. I hope that helps.

this is the way to go.

 

[wordoflife]

I think you should have everything under one account, for simplicity.
You can manually select the apps you want, so organizing them for each device is not a problem.

For music, just make individual playlists for your children's song and sync up that playlist to their device. You can also do this too, for your music. Not sure how easy it would be, but it was good advice that someone gave to me.

 

[MrBullet]

I think you should have everything under one account, for simplicity.
You can manually select the apps you want, so organizing them for each device is not a problem.

For music, just make individual playlists for your children's song and sync up that playlist to their device. You can also do this too, for your music. Not sure how easy it would be, but it was good advice that someone gave to me.

Yeah agreed, this is the best method for you family I believe. Maybe on your Mac create a user for your children and let them share an iTunes account and then have a separate one for you, on your user, simply for you convenience.

Assuming your children are minor, if one has a game, the other tends to see it and wants the same, so having a joint account means you aren't forking out cash for the app twice.

I had a similar issue with myself and my parents once they had got into Apple products (iPhones).

 

[Neptunes]

To save time and money, just make another iTunes library for each person under your account.

All you have to do is hold Shift, open iTunes, and "Create Library".

That way, each will have their own music ect. and you won't have to buy the same apps you've already owned.

 

[YMark]

To save time and money, just make another iTunes library for each person under your account.

All you have to do is hold Shift, open iTunes, and "Create Library".

That way, each will have their own music ect. and you won't have to buy the same apps you've already owned.

This seems like a nice solution on the surface, but if he ever wants to use iTunes Match, then what? Match is tied to an individual library, correct?