# Beating a dead horse, another Apple ID question



## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

I'm still trying to get the family all up to speed on iOS5. 

Currently, I'm stuck on iMessages. We love this feature, it really comes in handy in our situation. My three kids all have iTouches and I have an iPhone and an iPad. We all share the same iTunes account for apps and other purchases. Here's the question: do I need to create Apple ID's for the kids to use in iMessages?

In Settings, you can specify a "Receive At" email address, even multiple email addresses. I did this for my son and went through the verification process and all seemed to work fine. However, I can't send him a message through the app, it says the email address selected isn't registered with iMessage. It allows me instead to select our shared Apple ID address, which I don't want to do because I want us to each have unique addresses. 

Also in Settings, you have to first indicate the Apple ID being used, and that's not an editable address. I'm not sure if it's pulling it from the iTunes store account or the iCloud account. 

I'll try and get the iCloud part straightened out later, right now we all have the same account listed for Store and iCloud, which isn't right, either. If anyone knows how I need to go about doing that, I'd appreciate some direction. I've looked at Apple Support but I'm not finding what I'm looking for yet.


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

Ok, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that iMessage only works with other devices running iOS5. I had thought I would be able to text friends with other phones from my iPad using this feature, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Also, other iDevices need to have upgraded to iOS5 and turned on iMessage before you can text them.


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## Eeyore (Jul 16, 2009)

hsuthard said:


> Ok, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that iMessage only works with other devices running iOS5. I had thought I would be able to text friends with other phones from my iPad using this feature, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Also, other iDevices need to have upgraded to iOS5 and turned on iMessage before you can text them.


I haven't done the downloads yet. I'll wait a week or two until things calm down and bugs get worked out. There was a news story that you could message someone else who had an ithingy as long as they had uploaded to iOS5. It does NOT work on other devices that don't have IOS5 enabled. So no direct messages to crackberries, Verizon phones without iOS5, etc. The article was about how wireless phone companies would take a BIG hit on fees they charge for text messaging services, since with an ithingy the messaging would be free.

All the Best.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

hsuthard said:


> Ok, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that iMessage only works with other devices running iOS5.


Yes, this is correct.

You can have all the devices on the same Apple ID. If they are all on [email protected], and if you send a text from [email protected] to [email protected], then all your devices will receive the message, even the sending one.

I'm sure that the folks at Apple who designed the whole iCloud system this think it's transparent, but that's the last thing I would call it.

I've ended up with an ID for the migrated MobileMe, and a separate one from iTunes, and I have no idea how those are going to interact. At the moment nothing unexpected is happening.  

Mike

Mike


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

I used my main Apple ID for our iTunes, and then we each have our own Apple ID for the iMessage and the cloud. It seemed easier that way for us and it's been working pretty good today.


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

Luvmy4brats said:


> I used my main Apple ID for our iTunes, and then we each have our own Apple ID for the iMessage and the cloud. It seemed easier that way for us and it's been working pretty good today.


So did your devices automatically pull your iCloud id for iMessage, or did you specify it somewhere manually?

I'm thinking I should delete my iCloud account that currently lists my iTunes apple ID and create a new one for iCloud and iMessage.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

hsuthard said:


> So did your devices automatically pull your iCloud id for iMessage, or did you specify it somewhere manually?
> 
> I'm thinking I should delete my iCloud account that currently lists my iTunes apple ID and create a new one for iCloud and iMessage.


I specified which account to use for iMessage.. For me, that was also the main account anyway.

For the girls, they each have their own ID and email address to use for iMessage.


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## ValeriGail (Jan 21, 2010)

I did find out that you can't change your icloud account for 90 days after registering it (the apple id you linked it to), but some how my husband was able to go in and manual change how his imessage displayed.  I think it was by turning off icloud, and having it set to manually sync to the computer.  But I could be wrong.  This Icloud is cool, but with a family plan like we all have, it seems like a nightmare at best.  I wish I had done some checking up before assigning Icloud id's, as now I've got a three month wait!  Very aggravating, apple!  At least I only have 3 iphones on the account and not a ton of devices like a lot of you.  I can't imagine that headache.  We don't really need Icloud, except for maybe my pictures, and that is just for convenience and not any other reason.  if anyone is able to change their id's before the 90 days, let us all know!  The link from the icloud page spells out the wait period.  I posted it in one of the other threads.  

So, you know my inlaws are on my account (two more Iphones there that I didn't count) but I caught the issue before they updated and called my mother in law to explain what she needed to do.  So she said she would totally set her self up on her own account for itunes as well.  Then when she needed to reload up some apps that went missing, she had to resign in to the old itunes account, and all was good.  So now I'm thinking of setting up itunes accounts for each phone and hopping back and forth as the need arises.  That way its all separate, completely and we each have our own apple id's, yet still have the master itunes account.  It worked for the mother in law!


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

I was able to delete the iCloud account on my iPhone and then use a different one (created years earlier but not really being used), without waiting the 90 days. The way I read the Apple page was that the 90 day was for your Apple ID account, not the iCloud account, if there's really a difference. Anyway, it did work for me once I did that. I still need to test out texting with the kids and see how it works in practicality.


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## Rasputina (May 6, 2009)

There isn't a limit on changing iCloud accounts, it's a limit on downloading prior purchases from said accounts, if you switch from one to another. Obviously that only applies to the STORE app, which has a separate log in

By the way this isn't new with iCloud or IOS 5, see the bolding.

From Apples website:

Summary
*With iTunes 10.3 and iOS 4.3.3 or later*, you can enable Automatic Downloads to automatically download your purchases to your iOS devices and computers. You can also download your past purchases to your iOS devices or computers.1

Products Affected
iPhone, iPod touch, iTunes Store, iTunes, iPad
When you turn on Automatic Downloads or download past purchases on an iOS device or computer, your device or computer will be associated with your Apple ID. Your Apple ID can have up to 10 devices and computers (combined) associated with it. Each computer must also be authorized using the same Apple ID. Once a device or computer is associated with your Apple ID, you cannot associate that device or computer with another Apple ID for 90 days. You can view which devices or computers are currently associated, remove unused devices or computers, and see how long before they can be associated with a different Apple ID from the Account Information page in iTunes on your computer:

Open iTunes.
Sign in to your Apple ID by choosing Store > Sign In from the iTunes menu.
Choose Store > View My Account from the iTunes menu.
From the Account Information screen, click Manage Devices. 
Next to each device or computer name, you will be able to see when each was associated to your Apple ID. You will also be able to track how many days are remaining before your associated devices or computers can be associated to a different Apple ID.

Removing an associated device or computer from an Apple ID

To remove a device or computer from your Apple ID:

Open iTunes.
Sign in to your Apple ID by choosing Store > Sign In from the iTunes menu.
Choose Store > View My Account from the iTunes menu. 
From the Account Information screen, click Manage Devices.
Click the Remove button next to the device name you would like to unassociate.
Note: Removing a device from your Apple ID does not override the 90 day timer. The timer must complete 90 days from the day the device was associated before it can be associated to another Apple ID.


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## ValeriGail (Jan 21, 2010)

If its not iCloud that has the 90 day wait (which is what I read on two links) then cool. Solves all my issues. Seriously gonna try changing dh's cloud account tonight.


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## Rasputina (May 6, 2009)

By the way, when I logged into my account in iTunes on my iMac it listed the devices authorized for automatic downloads. It only had my iMac, my iPad and my iPhone 4. 

Which means that my daughter and my husband have not updated iTunes on their desktops, iPod touch, iphone and iPad. My daughters iPod touch is 2nd gen I think so it can't be updated to IOS 5. My husbands iPhone 3GS can but I doubt he will bother since he isn't techie at all and has to ask me how to sync his phone every time. My iPod classic and iPod shuffle are also exempt. So I guess I still have plenty of room for more devices.


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## ayuryogini (Jan 3, 2010)

Here's a link to Apple Support regarding Apple ID's and iCloud.

Their recommendation is to have the same Apple ID for iCloud and for Store Purchases.

It also tells you how to set it up if you prefer two separate ID's.


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## ValeriGail (Jan 21, 2010)

ah ha!  I see where I misread the 90 days thing!!  The link above is the link I read, so I read it again and again.. and then I read it right! LOL.  Basically I can change my kiddos Icloud right now, and my hubbies Icloud but they will not be able to transfer any itunes purchases using icloud and the old account.  ?  Since we are just wanting to use Icloud for pictures and the like and are not planning to use it for itunes (we purchase music from amazon and are stored on amazon's cloud! haha), except for maybe apps..this shouldn't be a problem.  But having already set the itunes cloud account to the master apple id, that can't be set to the other new one for 90 days, which he isn't planning on purchasing any itunes stuff under the new id anyhow.  Confused yet?  So changing the cloud account only clears his calender, reminders, pictures and so on from being sent to all my stuff and we can all turn back on our iclouds.  I sure hope it works.


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## Rasputina (May 6, 2009)

The only thing that matters is what account you signed in on the Store app on your device. Period. That is what controls your music, books and apps. Did you even sign in to an account in the Store app in settings?


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## ValeriGail (Jan 21, 2010)

Yes that is the master account that we all share, thought I already made that clear. We all share one apple I'd store account. Have for eternity. We now want seperate iclouds but do not want to seperate the store Id. I do not want to do anything that will mess up how the app purchasing works right now. But I do want to turn on iCloud for each one of us to take advantage of.  Trying to find a happy medium.


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## oscarod (Oct 16, 2011)

Yeap, one account for Apple purchases, apps, etc and another for iCloud services. That way, every person feels secure!


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