Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

We have 4 iphones one the same apple ID. How do I fix this?

R

roveer

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 28, 2013
11
1
So it started out very innocent. My daughter got her first iPhone. I put it on our kitchen iTunes on my apple id. Life was good. Then came the 2nd, the 3rd and now the 4th iPhone. I just kept putting them on my kitchen iTunes using my same apple id. Now I believe it's a horrible mess. Everyone seems to have the same user@icloud.com email on their phone (they don't actually use it), and I noticed that trying to face time between phones would give a random result. Sometimes one phone sometimes another. I also notice that when setting up my most recent iPhone that the contact card for (me) would show up as my name. Change it to my wife's name and eventually it would switch back to my name. Picking it up from iTunes or apple id? Can only imagine what's on the kids phones.

So how do I straighten this out? Is the simplest answer that I should create separate apple ID's for each phone? I've basically disabled all use of iCloud for backup / picture sharing etc on all the phones and was backing up using iTunes. I was overrunning the 5gb allowed on my one id.

I've got $270 that I horded to eventually buy apps, but that will only go to the phones that are on my account. I also believe my daughter has a few paid apps so switching to another apple id will result in loss of those apps right? So complicated.

Is it possible to properly manage multiple iPhones on a single apple id? Is that wise?

I'd really like to use a single iTunes installation to back up all the phones but I think that means a single apple id? It's kind of rocket science to me. I've never had a full understanding on how all the apple integrations work. I just pray when I'm doing anything with a phone or iTunes (or turning something on or off with iCloud), that I don't lose a whole bunch of data. Never has been a good feeling.

I'd like to get this straightened out once and for all and to keep it as simple as possible. If possible backing up all the devices to iTunes at one computer (our kitchen).

Are there resources that explain how to do this? If so, please share.

My many thanks to those who understand this so much better than me.

Roveer
 
Use Family Sharing. That's what it's for - if you keep the current account in the family sharing then all the paid apps will still be available, and that will make life much easier. If you subscribe to Club Macstories, Stephen Hackett recently detailed his switch to it which was very helpful.
 
  • Like
Reactions: eyoungren, Cayden and bhodinut
It’s always good to create separate Apple ID for different users. That’s where you messed it up. Create separate users but have family sharing on. This should be the way forward.
 
In the OP's situation, would separate apple ID's have to be created, then logged into icloud before a family sharing invitation is sent from the "adult" phone?
 
Markgnyc2 said:
In the OP's situation, would separate apple ID's have to be created, then logged into icloud before a family sharing invitation is sent from the "adult" phone?
Click to expand...

Yes. I'm pretty sure you need to sign out of the primary account on the device, "sign in" (creating an Apple ID), and then invite them. You can't send invitations to an account which doesn't exist. The exception is creating accounts for children.
 
Cascades42 said:
Use Family Sharing. That's what it's for - if you keep the current account in the family sharing then all the paid apps will still be available, and that will make life much easier. If you subscribe to Club Macstories, Stephen Hackett recently detailed his switch to it which was very helpful.
Click to expand...
I second Family Sharing.

The act of starting it up will cause creation of separate Apple ID's (one per person) but all will be linked to the main account.

This is how I got my son hooked up so he can use HIS Apple ID but still tap my purchases and my CC to buy.

My wife is on an entirely different Apple ID altogether as I didn't know about Family Sharing (but knew enough to get her a different ID) when we got her an iPhone.
 
I have questions on this, too. Wife and I have the same Apple ID and we each have an iPhone and iPad. Will switching either one of us to a new ID, and then enable family sharing screw up anything on either device, in terms of music, apps, saved games status, etc? The last one actually my biggest concern. Neither one of us would want to do a full reset. We always do restores from each of our old devices backups when we upgrade, for example. Thanks!
 
Family sharing will allow all devices to be backed up to the same iTunes PC? Thanks.
 
roveer said:
Family sharing will allow all devices to be backed up to the same iTunes PC? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but more to the point Family Sharing will give each account it's own 5GB of iCloud space instead of everyone sharing that same 5GB.
 
I agree family sharing is the most simple straight forward way of linking all your devices and allowing you to manage and maintain the account and devices within. Family sharing gets good and handy when using Apple Music or even shared photos area, it’s so much easier for my wife and I to make pictures we upload to that area of the kids accessible on our devices and it doesn’t eat into our cloud storage!

Sharing apps will be an awesome benefit to you all!!

https://www.apple.com/uk/icloud/family-sharing/
 
OK, so I've been reading about family sharing. But I have a question that doesn't seem to be outlined anywhere.

Do each of the iphones that I want in my 'family sharing' have to have their own Apple ID's before I can invite them?

Right now I have 4 iphones all signed into the same apple id. How do I manage to get those into family sharing?

Thanks,

Roveer

----update----

I did further reading and I must have each device on it's own appleid in order to use family sharing. I'm in the process of getting that set up now. What a PITA. Only good thing is, I have most icloud settings disabled on our devices so I don't have to worry about what will disappear when I put them on their own id's. Guess it would get deleted from the device when removing and then put back on once family sharing get set up? Don't really care at this point. Don't have a thing in iCloud right now.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back