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Stupid MobileMe / iTunes problem

P

PaulieORF

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 4, 2009
185
1
Connecticut
So I have signed up for the MobileMe trial and I like it so far. I wanted to change the email address on my iTunes account to my MobileMe email address, but it won't let me. It says that I cannot change my email address to an existing MobileMe email address. Apparently Apple "reserves" an iTunes account with every MobileMe account that is created.

I would like to switch everything over to my new email address, and would like to be able to access all of my purchases with the new address, but this evidently cannot happen through regular channels. I contacted iTunes support to see what can be done, and they basically said: "Apple does not allow you to change the email address on your iTunes account to a MobileMe address" so I said fine I'll use the "new" MobileMe iTunes account, how can I transfer the purchases from my current account to that one... "Apple does not allow you to transfer purchases from one iTunes account to another". Okay, so I can start using this nice spanking new MobileMe account for iTunes but I won't be able to access any of my previous purchases, a lot of good that does me. They also threw this one in too for good measure, "If you start using your MobileMe iTunes account, you cannot change the email address on that account, it is permanently your MobileMe address". So if you're using a MobileMe iTunes account now, you pretty much are stuck using that MobileMe iTunes account for eternity even if you cancel your MobileMe account.

Apple, this is pure idiocy. I can't believe such a simple task cannot be accomplished.

Venting over.... for now.
 
If you log in to your new MobileMe iTunes account, you can authorize the new account to play the other media.
 
Yeah, I found out Apple created a new Apple ID for me when I signed up for MobileMe. Now I have two Apple IDs, with no way of combining them. (sigh)
 
guydude193 said:
If you log in to your new MobileMe iTunes account, you can authorize the new account to play the other media.
Click to expand...

The rep I was emailing said nothing about being able to do this. Does this work for purchased iPhone apps along with music? Also, where exactly do I authorize this account to use the previously purchased stuff?
 
PaulieORF said:
The rep I was emailing said nothing about being able to do this. Does this work for purchased iPhone apps along with music? Also, where exactly do I authorize this account to use the previously purchased stuff?
Click to expand...

Store Menu> Authorize Computer.
It'll work with anything that you've purchased. Of course, if it's the same computer, I don't see how it wouldn't play your music already. Hmm...
 
guydude193 said:
Store Menu> Authorize Computer.
It'll work with anything that you've purchased. Of course, if it's the same computer, I don't see how it wouldn't play your music already. Hmm...
Click to expand...

I think this just authorizes the computer to work with the current account, it doesn't authorize the new account for previous purchases from another. Example: I sign in with the MobileMe account, and I tell it to authorize the computer. iTunes says the computer is already authorized. I check for software updates in iTunes and it says there are no software updates available for (my MobileMe address). But I know there are software updates available because I see them on my iPhone (still linked to my old iTunes account), and I haven't downloaded any updates in iTunes for a while.

So it looks like this does not work, unless I'm doing something wrong.

EDIT: Just signed out of the MobleMe account and signed in with my old account and it shows I have 4 app updates available, so that definitely shows that the MobileMe account is not acknowledging the purchases from my old account.
 
Hrm... can you play anything while you're on your MobileMe account from your previous iTunes account?
 
guydude193 said:
Hrm... can you play anything while you're on your MobileMe account from your previous iTunes account?
Click to expand...

Yes, iTunes lets me play music from the other account while logged in with the MobileMe account, but it doesn't have any record of apps I've purchased previously. I did a test by deleting one of my existing apps, logging in to the MobileMe iTunes account and then re-downloading that same app. It charged me for it again, it didn't say that I had already purchased it. So I guess I could technically still use all the apps I purchased, but I would be unable to download updates for them. That's a problem.
 
The General said:
MobileMe and iTunes have nothing to do with eachother. This thread is blowing my mind.
Click to expand...

Please read the first post.

If you create a MobileMe account, Apple automatically creates an iTunes account registered to that @me.com email address. If you try to change the email address on your current iTunes account to that @me.com address, you cannot.
You have to choose between keeping your iTunes email address as your old address, or abandoning any apps that you've purchased and start with a fresh new iTunes account that Apple was oh so kind to automatically create for you.

This is what this thread is all about, the fact that there is no way around this.

This is what happens when you try to change the email address on your iTunes account to a MobileMe address:
Picture1.png
 
Hm... I know it's a hassle, but is it possible for you to use your previous iTunes account to check for updates, like once a week, and then use your MobileMe-iTunes account for everything else? Dunno, I'm a little confused by the whole thing.
 
PaulieORF said:
Please read the first post.

If you create a MobileMe account, Apple automatically creates an iTunes account registered to that @me.com email address. If you try to change the email address on your current iTunes account to that @me.com address, you cannot.
You have to choose between keeping your iTunes email address as your old address, or abandoning any apps that you've purchased and start with a fresh new iTunes account that Apple was oh so kind to automatically create for you.

This is what this thread is all about, the fact that there is no way around this.

This is what happens when you try to change the email address on your iTunes account to a MobileMe address:
Picture1.png
Click to expand...

Yes... therefore one can conclude MobileMe and iTunes have nothing to do with each other. If they did, whatever you said would work, but since it doesn't... I'll leave you to your thoughts.

BTW, just sign in using your old iTunes account, check for app updates, download any, and sign back into your MobileMe account. Not that hard, a little inconvenient, yes, but it works.
 
guydude193 said:
Hm... I know it's a hassle, but is it possible for you to use your previous iTunes account to check for updates, like once a week, and then use your MobileMe-iTunes account for everything else? Dunno, I'm a little confused by the whole thing.
Click to expand...

I think that's what I'll probably do, or something like that. It's just pretty silly that we even need to have this discussion. Apple should not automatically sign people up for iTunes accounts. That's the whole problem.

Thanks for your help.
 
SnowLeopard2008 said:
Yes... therefore one can conclude MobileMe and iTunes have nothing to do with each other. If they did, whatever you said would work, but since it doesn't... I'll leave you to your thoughts.

BTW, just sign in using your old iTunes account, check for app updates, download any, and sign back into your MobileMe account. Not that hard, a little inconvenient, yes, but it works.
Click to expand...

They do have something to do with one another. Apple automatically creates an iTunes account for anyone who signs up for MobileMe, whether you like it or not. Because of that, you can't update your email address on your existing iTunes account to your MobileMe address. They have something to do with one another, but they really shouldn't. Stupid move by Apple.
 
I found a solution!!!

Here's what you can do if you have this problem, I ended up figuring this out on my own.

Go to http:/myinfo.apple.com/

Log in using your Apple ID (mine was my email (non-MobileMe) address and password, same as I use in iTunes. Now click on "Apple ID" on the left. This is where this site is different than using iTunes to edit your account. In iTunes you are only allowed to change your Apple ID to a valid email address, which also ends up being the email address that gets receipts and stuff like that. On this website you can change your Apple ID to anything, it does not have to be an email address. So I just changed my Apple ID to my first initial and last name. I then clicked on "Email" on the left and changed it from my Gmail address to my MobileMe address.

That's it. Not sure why Apple wasn't able to tell me about this.

I hope this helps anyone else who might encounter this problem.
 
PaulieORF said:
So I have signed up for the MobileMe trial and I like it so far. I wanted to change the email address on my iTunes account to my MobileMe email address, but it won't let me. It says that I cannot change my email address to an existing MobileMe email address. Apparently Apple "reserves" an iTunes account with every MobileMe account that is created.

I would like to switch everything over to my new email address, and would like to be able to access all of my purchases with the new address, but this evidently cannot happen through regular channels. I contacted iTunes support to see what can be done, and they basically said: "Apple does not allow you to change the email address on your iTunes account to a MobileMe address" so I said fine I'll use the "new" MobileMe iTunes account, how can I transfer the purchases from my current account to that one... "Apple does not allow you to transfer purchases from one iTunes account to another". Okay, so I can start using this nice spanking new MobileMe account for iTunes but I won't be able to access any of my previous purchases, a lot of good that does me. They also threw this one in too for good measure, "If you start using your MobileMe iTunes account, you cannot change the email address on that account, it is permanently your MobileMe address". So if you're using a MobileMe iTunes account now, you pretty much are stuck using that MobileMe iTunes account for eternity even if you cancel your MobileMe account.

Apple, this is pure idiocy. I can't believe such a simple task cannot be accomplished.

Venting over.... for now.
Click to expand...

Having the same situation I can assure you, you lose nothing here. There's so little associated with your iTunes account that you won't even notice that you have two apple id's in use. The iPhone doesn't make it hard, and neither do apple's web apps.

So basically, relax and don't sweat it.
 
Slip Jigs said:
I don't know why it was a problem in the first place.
Click to expand...
I didn't want to have receipts and other things from iTunes sent to my old email address, I'd rather not have to check it (or setup forwarding just for this). I also didn't want to have to log in and out of different accounts in order to do app updates through iTunes. Both of those situations are inconvenient, therefore it was a problem.
 
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