Mutiple Apple IDs?

Matthew

Matthew

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Matthew
We have a Macbook Pro for pretty much everything except playing solitaire (that's what the ancient XP PC is for.)

My wife is an iPhone user, so we have tied her AppleID to both the Mac and the phone. I'm looking at moving into the iPhone cult real soon now, and am wondering how the whole iCloud, iTunes, and iOtherThings works when two different AppleIDs use the same Macbook.

I think you can set up family sharing and do everything underneath a single ID, but is it possible to keep two logged in users separate so I can see my own emails, calendar, photos, and music and my wife can see her own? My experience with Apple is the answer will probably be "Yes, it's possible...but it's tricky."
 
Wife and I have separate log ins for iTunes, but can still see each other's playlists if that's what you mean.
 
After I wrote that up, I kind of realized that I'm not all that familiar with the way all the shareable Apple accounts work, so I should probably have worded it differently.

Currently, I *think* we have a single Apple ID for my wife. When she logs into the Mac, it connects to her account for all the cloud and itunes things. We don't normally buy anything from the Apple store, so that part isn't a big deal.

I *think* what can be done is to share a single ID for things you want to share, and then individual IDs for things like cloud storage or whatever you want to keep separate. In our case, I'm beginning to think it really doesn't matter for keeping separate accounts unless I start putting work related appointments on a calendar we both share and it clutters things up.

Are there better ways to organize Apple accounts when sharing a single computer but different phones?
 
Another CFI at the airport shares his iPhone calendar with his wife somehow so they can coordinate things. Told me this this morning, when I had a student no show. Strike one, and I only give two strikes.
 
mscard88 said:
Another CFI at the airport shares his iPhone calendar with his wife somehow so they can coordinate things. Told me this this morning, when I had a student no show. Strike one, and I only give two strikes.
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My 'droid (maybe it's gmail, I dunno how all these things work anymore) can show my personal calendar merged with multiple other calendars so I can see only mine, only my work calendar, only another account calendar, or I can merge them all together. I'm guessing there's a way to do that on the Mac and iPhone, too.

Whenever this all happens, I'll probably have to spend a few days getting it sorted out.
 
<rant>
I spent eight hours with Apple tech support last night and this morning resetting an iPad 2 (long story on why, does not matter). Tech support even asked why I did not have other Apple products. Because they make life difficult, and I do not need to waste the money....

Apple is a major pain, and I will never help anyone with Apple crap again. I have also bought my last Apple product.
</rant>
 
I use a single ID,don’t want my wife on my stuff. She has her own tablet. I don’t use games on my Mac book.
 
If you're sharing a Mac, I would suggest creating your own login account on the Mac, and then configuring that account to use your Apple ID. You can do this in "System Preferences -> Users & Groups." Create a new account (probably as an Administrator account), log into that account, and then set up your Apple ID/iCloud preferences as you see fit (also in System Preferences). You can enable fast user switching in "Users & Groups -> Login Items," which will enable a quick switch between your login and your wife's login.

Apple supports Family Sharing, which will let you share most apps and music purchased by one member of the family with the Apple IDs of other family members. Instructions for setting up Family Sharing can be found here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201088

If you want to share iCloud calendars with your wife, you can do that from the Calendars app, though I believe that if you set up Family Sharing, a new shared calendar called "Family" will be created as well.

Apple IDs were not meant to be shared, and all sorts of goofy things start to happen when multiple individuals share a single Apple ID.
 
We share the Mac, but we each have our own user accounts on it. Both our accounts are set up with the same AppleID - for now.

I'll look more closely at the system preferences. It's easy now, since there is only one AppleID that we both use. Part of my ignorance is that I'm not exactly sure the most efficient way to organize having 2 people with their own ID.
 
Matthew said:
I think you can set up family sharing and do everything underneath a single ID, but is it possible to keep two logged in users separate so I can see my own emails, calendar, photos, and music and my wife can see her own? My experience with Apple is the answer will probably be "Yes, it's possible...but it's tricky."
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Yes, because we have done that. I believe you have to actually explicitly choose to share those things before they are actually shared. I know for sure photos work that way. We each have our separate calendars through google and we can view each others but they're normally separate.
 
JGoodish said:
If you're sharing a Mac, I would suggest creating your own login account on the Mac, and then configuring that account to use your Apple ID. You can do this in "System Preferences -> Users & Groups." Create a new account (probably as an Administrator account), log into that account, and then set up your Apple ID/iCloud preferences as you see fit (also in System Preferences). You can enable fast user switching in "Users & Groups -> Login Items," which will enable a quick switch between your login and your wife's login.

Apple supports Family Sharing, which will let you share most apps and music purchased by one member of the family with the Apple IDs of other family members. Instructions for setting up Family Sharing can be found here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201088

If you want to share iCloud calendars with your wife, you can do that from the Calendars app, though I believe that if you set up Family Sharing, a new shared calendar called "Family" will be created as well.

Apple IDs were not meant to be shared, and all sorts of goofy things start to happen when multiple individuals share a single Apple ID.
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This!!! My in-laws share an AppleID, and all kinds of fun "stuff" happens as a result. FIL's iPad ringing when MIL gets a phone call, etc.

AppleIDs are designed to be used by ONE PERSON. You can set up "Family Sharing" for multiple people to be able to share various things rather than using a single AppleID, and you can easily set up multiple user accounts on the Macs, and flip back and forth between them quickly (and you can both be logged in at the same time). It's SO much easier when you keep things separate.
 
Matthew said:
We share the Mac, but we each have our own user accounts on it. Both our accounts are set up with the same AppleID - for now.

I'll look more closely at the system preferences. It's easy now, since there is only one AppleID that we both use. Part of my ignorance is that I'm not exactly sure the most efficient way to organize having 2 people with their own ID.
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It’s easy. Create the new Apple ID, then log in to your account on the Mac and configure iCloud and iTunes to use the new ID.

After that, set up Family Sharing from the existing Apple ID so that you’ll have access to your existing purchases with the new ID.

I’d also recommend using two-factor authentication on the Apple IDs.
 
JGoodish said:
I’d also recommend using two-factor authentication on the Apple IDs.
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We do that now. Drives my wife nuts Every time I install an OS update, I have to reconfigure the ID and her phone gets a text. I forget we have that feature enabled and she wonders why she's getting texts about a password.
 
cowman said:
Yes, because we have done that. I believe you have to actually explicitly choose to share those things before they are actually shared. I know for sure photos work that way. We each have our separate calendars through google and we can view each others but they're normally separate.
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The Family Sharing organizer can configure sharing of most items. A shared “Family” calendar is created automatically, though existing calendars must be explicitly shared. You can also configure a shared photo album.

Of course, Family Sharing works for Apple services; if you’re using Google or another service, sharing of those items must be configured through the appropriate service.

One thing that is a little confusing is app sharing. To download shared apps, you have to open the App Store, go to Updates, then tap on your user icon in the upper right-hand corner. There you will see “Purchased,” which will reveal apps purchased by you and other members of the family. You may then download them to your device under your Apple ID. Of course, this assumes that the app developer permits sharing, and the Family Sharing organizer has enabled purchase sharing.
 
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You will be much happier if you each have your own AppleID.

My wife and I share an idevice calendar. (show on the ipads, the iphones and you can log on with the laptop/desktop) It's really easy to set up. We actually share several calendars (ie one is My Events, another is Her Events, I have a Biz calendar and a couple others "Payment Due" etc) Only the first two are shared. Either of us can enter stuff on the hers. I have mine and the Biz set up so only I can add and modify but she can see.
(Depending on the tech savviness of your spouse, this can be important..I had some er... difficulties when either of us could modify events, and important ones of mine got moved or deleted "somehow".)
 
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Oh, another thing about calendars and this is really weird but its actually possible to Miss Important Events if no one looks at the calendar each day.
 
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