iPhone XS Max Using multiple iPhones with same iCloud ID

[Ammar666]

I'm thinking of getting the XR as my secondary phone alongside my XS Max. My XS Max is my primary phone, the XR is going to be used mostly for work. Can someone tell me if the following is possible or not?

I want my Apple Music library to appear on both iPhones. I want to backup WhatsApp conversations or app data on a separate Apple ID (I have an alternative Apple ID available). I want the apps I have purchased on my primary Apple ID to be available on the XR. I only want my secondary Apple ID to appear as iMessage/Facetime ready on my XR. I want my XR to appear under Find my iPhone on my primary Apple ID.

It's essentially a mishmash of 2 different Apple IDs.

 

[Shirasaki]

Yes. It is.
Not sure about Apple Music. But for app, you have to buy all apps you want on iPhone XR again using your alternative account. Also, find iPhone only works for the iCloud account, not App Store account.
My thought is you use your separate account on your iPhone XR, set it up as the account for everything on that iPhone. If your both accounts happen to be in the same region, you might be able to setup family sharing so that Apple Music library can appear on both devices.

 

[FFR]

I would just set up the xr with your primary iCloud Id.

Then I would replace the primary iCloud account to the secondary iCloud account on both FaceTime and messages, you can do that in system preferences on the xr.

This way you should have access to your apps and Apple Music and your xr should still appear in the find your iPhone app under the primary iCloud id.

What’s a app operates independently of your Apple ID, they use your phone number.

 

[nicho]

What’s a app operates independently of your Apple ID, they use your phone number.

Backups go through icloud, though, and I think you've missed that OP wants them to be separate.

My suggestion turns yours on its head, but fortunately for OP isn't as big an issue as the first reply suggests because the majority of these things (aside from find my iphone - i'll come to that - allow for logins separate to the primary apple id)

@Ammar666 should do the following:

Sign in to the secondary apple id as his "icloud" id. This will allow whatsapp and app data to backup to a 2nd apple id.

Remain signed in to imessage and facetime on the secondary id.

Sign out of secondary id, then sign in to itunes & app store on the primary apple id. This will allow apple music/apps to be available across both phones.

For reasons other than @Shirasaki suggested (family sharing for apple music costs 50% more for zero gain here), family sharing should be enabled to include the secondary account as part of the primary family. Doing so would allow it to appear in the primary account's find my iphone (and vice versa) without having to be part of that account. An added benefit would be that if OP is paying for icloud storage for his primary account, it can be shared with the secondary account at no additional cost.

 

[FFR]

Backups go through icloud, though, and I think you've missed that OP wants them to be separate.

My suggestion turns yours on its head, but fortunately for OP isn't as big an issue as the first reply suggests because the majority of these things (aside from find my iphone - i'll come to that - allow for logins separate to the primary apple id)

@Ammar666 should do the following:

Sign in to the secondary apple id as his "icloud" id. This will allow whatsapp and app data to backup to a 2nd apple id.

Remain signed in to imessage and facetime on the secondary id.

Sign out of secondary id, then sign in to itunes & app store on the primary apple id. This will allow apple music/apps to be available across both phones.

For reasons other than @Shirasaki suggested (family sharing for apple music costs 50% more for zero gain here), family sharing should be enabled to include the secondary account as part of the primary family. Doing so would allow it to appear in the primary account's find my iphone (and vice versa) without having to be part of that account. An added benefit would be that if OP is paying for icloud storage for his primary account, it can be shared with the secondary account at no additional cost.

Sure he could run the xr with an secondary iCloud Id, but it’s not necessary.

he doesn’t have to back up what’s app to a secondary iCloud Id. With the new phone number in the xr it should create a new back up linked to the new phone number with all the chat history from the Xs Max.

 

[nicho]

he doesn’t have to back up what’s app to a secondary iCloud Id. With the new phone number in the xr it should create a new back up linked to the new phone number with all the chat history from the Xs Max.

Sure, he doesn't have to but he explicitly said he wanted to. Adding personal chats from his Xs Max doesn't seem to gel with his intention to apparent intention to keep communication aspects of it (same with imessage/facetime) completely separate.

[edit: and while the whatsapp accounts will be separate, backups will be constantly overwriting each other as there can only be 1 - https://apple.stackexchange.com/que...-different-devices-to-the-same-icloud-account ]

 

[Shirasaki]

Sure, he doesn't have to but he explicitly said he wanted to. Adding personal chats from his Xs Max doesn't seem to gel with his intention to apparent intention to keep communication aspects of it (same with imessage/facetime) completely separate.

[edit: and while the whatsapp accounts will be separate, backups will be constantly overwriting each other as there can only be 1 - https://apple.stackexchange.com/que...-different-devices-to-the-same-icloud-account ]

Hence my suggestion of using separate Apple ID for iCloud account and deal with apps and Apple Music individually.

 

[nicho]

Hence my suggestion of using separate Apple ID for iCloud account and deal with apps and Apple Music individually.

By dealing with apps and apple music individually... i read your comment above to mean the iphone XS is signed into one app store account and iphone XR another, with family sharing? and the same situation for apple music?

That's totally unnecessary. See above. If i've misunderstood and you wanted to say the same thing I did in my reply... well at least it's expanded upon and clearer. And highlights that Find My iPhone will work in that situation - i can see all of my family's devices in find my iphone.

 

[Shirasaki]

By dealing with apps and apple music individually... i read your comment above to mean the iphone XS is signed into one app store account and iphone XR another, with family sharing? and the same situation for apple music?

That's totally unnecessary. See above. If i've misunderstood and you wanted to say the same thing I did in my reply... well at least it's expanded upon and clearer. And highlights that Find My iPhone will work in that situation - i can see all of my family's devices in find my iphone.

All right. I am sorry if I misunderstood anything from the start.

Have a nice day.

 

[FFR]

Sure, he doesn't have to but he explicitly said he wanted to. Adding personal chats from his Xs Max doesn't seem to gel with his intention to apparent intention to keep communication aspects of it (same with imessage/facetime) completely separate.

[edit: and while the whatsapp accounts will be separate, backups will be constantly overwriting each other as there can only be 1 - https://apple.stackexchange.com/que...-different-devices-to-the-same-icloud-account ]

Yes he doesn’t have to, that’s what an alternative simpler option entails.

No they won’t be overwriting each other at least according to what’s app.

You can use the same iCloud account for multiple WhatsApp accounts with different phone numbers on multiple iPhones as long as the same phone number is used to backup and restore. I believe what app separates backup files according to phone numbers on iCloud.

It’s completely up to the op how he wishes to proceed.

 

[nicho]

Yes he doesn’t have to, that’s what an alternative simpler option entails.

No they won’t be overwriting each other at least according to what’s app.

You can use the same iCloud account for multiple WhatsApp accounts with different phone numbers on multiple iPhones as long as the same phone number is used to backup and restore. I believe what app separates backup files according to phone numbers on iCloud.

It’s completely up to the op how he wishes to proceed.

Hmm. Haven't used whatsapp in a long time but that makes sense. OP will have to disable icloud backups for whatsapp on every device to make that work, of course. And unless I'm mistaken, doesn't actually have to restore everything from the XS to make a start on the XR - he can start from scratch to achieve something more like he wants, right?

Depending on OP's meaning of "apple id" for facetime/imessage, if he primarily uses phone numbers this can also be achieved on the same apple id. Just don't enable the XS Max's on the XR or the XR's on the XS Max.

 

[FFR]

Hmm. Haven't used whatsapp in a long time but that makes sense. OP will have to disable icloud backups for whatsapp on every device to make that work, of course. And unless I'm mistaken, doesn't actually have to restore everything from the XS to make a start on the XR - he can start from scratch to achieve something more like he wants, right?

Depending on OP's meaning of "apple id" for facetime/imessage, if he primarily uses phone numbers this can also be achieved on the same apple id. Just don't enable the XS Max's on the XR or the XR's on the XS Max.

Yes the op would have to be a bit clearer on what he hopes to achieve but it can be done with one primary Apple ID on both phones with the xrs FaceTime and messages profile set to a secondary Apple ID and the business phone number on what’s app.

Again it’s entirely up to the op. Cheers.

 

[Ammar666]

Yes the op would have to be a bit clearer on what he hopes to achieve but it can be done with one primary Apple ID on both phones with the xrs FaceTime and messages profile set to a secondary Apple ID and the business phone number on what’s app.

Again it’s entirely up to the op. Cheers.

Regarding FT/iMessage, my aim is to not have my XR sending me iMessages/FT calls if someone calls/messages on my primary Apple ID.

 

[Shirasaki]

You can choose to start a conversation with your new number instead of your Apple ID address. I think this is a default behaviour btw.

 

[tarsins]

I use one iPhone XS Max for home and work: home is an eSim (EE) and work is a physical SIM (O2). Works well.

 

[nicho]

You can choose to start a conversation with your new number instead of your Apple ID address. I think this is a default behaviour btw.

Yes. The only number/address you have to receive messages at is the phone number linked to the phone you are signed in on. Everything else can be disabled in theory to keep things entirely separate for @Ammar666 or even allow a setup where everything comes through to primary phone but secondary phone is more limited.