“If you use the iTunes Store, or any other Apple online service such as iCloud, you have an Apple ID,” Kirk McElhearn writes for Macworld.
“This is the email address associated with your Apple account,” McElhearn writes. “I get lots of questions about Apple IDs, and in this week’s column I answer a number of them.”
McElhearn covers the two types of Apple IDs, moving to a different country, sharing content from the same iTunes accounts with different Apple IDs and more in the full article here.
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I originally had an Apple ID that was not an email. I bought tons of stuff on it for many years. Then with iCloud Apple forced me to create a new Apple ID that was an email address or else not use iCloud. So now all my devices are logged in with the new ID, thus new purchases go on the new ID, but all my old purchases are on the old ID. This pisses me off always, multiple times a week, actually. My libraries are so fractured it’s actually alienating me from iTunes and the whole iOS ecosystem. So frustrating.
Sorry for the repeats below. I kept getting error messages. Thought it was the name…
I use my icloud email as my Apple ID to log in. I originally signed up with a gmail account. I can sign in with either. So I’m thinking you did this unnecessarily.
What’s stopping you from using the old ID to purchase things?
(same thing that makes you post three times?) 😉
Well I’m pretty sure the whole phone is logged into one Apple ID, so if I put in the iCloud ID I can’t have iTunes be the old ID… So any time I wanted to buy something I would have to log out and log back in, and then after purchasing go back and log out and log back in.
Wrong. Your store login and iCloud login can be different.
Amen!
One word: iTunes Match.
Not so— I had an Apple ID (before iCloud) under my company domain email.
Now I have an iCloud id -and- a separate Apple Id (my old one) I make purchases with.
This is what I was instructed to do (called apple, had an answer in less than 3 minutes) They said there is no way to “combine” the old (non apple domain) with the new because the id has a checksum that is hardcoded onto my existing purchases. But it’s really NOT a problem (and may actually be an advantage in some circumstances)
There really isn’t a lot of downside except I can sometimes (pretty rarely though) confuse which “ID” to use (my iCloud id or the original apple ID)
They don’t actually force you. Maybe some language implied it or you clicked a wrong button but they have never forced us to change or get a new Apple ID. I’ve had the same Apple ID for many, many years, through iTools, .Mac, MobileMe, and now iCloud.
I do have two Apple ID’s because I made one for a certain use at some point, and now I can’t merge them. That is super annoying.
I think he said they forced him to us an actual email address as an Apple ID. They did. It is true and happened to me as we’ll.
For earlier MobileMe users, or was it .Mac users, you could use as a user ID, an actual user ID and not an email address. The at some point they changed that and made us use an actual email address. It pisses me off, too. I agree that at times it seems advantageous to have and use two Apple IDs, but it is often confusing as to which one to put in when AND I would like to have all my purchases on one ID.
I think Larry is wrong on this one and I do like and respect the guy, a true gangsta if you will in tech (along with Steve who was the OG ).
I think he’s basically preserving Steve’s legacy with his comments and that’s what a best friend is supposed to do.
Apple of course will never be the same without Steve, but during his 2nd act where he transformed Apple to become the new King of the Hill, I truly believe Steve laid the foundation for Apple to be successful after he passed.
As long as Apple remains focused on making the best products without compromising their core values , they will continue to thrive imo
oops, posted on the wrong page. i guess i was too stoned
My son’s US-based email address/AppleID was hijacked and the profile began showing a london-based credit card/address/etc. We tried and tried to get Apple to fix it, they wouldn’t. His email address is no longer ‘usable’ as an AppleID in the AppStore and all Apple tech said was that he should use another ID….that means going and getting a different email address. Uh…no. Why can’t they clean it up and let him use his current email address?
traxxtar, because the ID was compromised. To reduce liability on their part, it was easier to say “generate another ID” than for them to “own” the problem and go after the dirtbags in London who stole the identity of your son.
Apple is not the Internet Police. Maybe NSA could take on that role, since they have dirt on everyone anyhow. (snide remark)
It is never best practice to use an email address as a user ID for anything. I can’t understand the requirement. Clearly, it doesn’t benefit the user and is likely for tracking purposes only. Email addresses are easily findable and often the same as a person’s name or company. This leaves only the password as a security measure when it would be much more secure with a randomly generated user name as well. Let Apple tie that to an email in the background, for emailing receipts, etc. I wonder if NSA required using an email?
So what to do? I think we need an email for email and a different one for use as a User ID. Maybe generate the user ID one from one of those do not track email providers, sorry I forgot the term. But, I don’t want all my user IDs to be the same. So now, I have to have several emails or email aliases to accomplish this. Anyone know of a secure email provider that allows the generation of a whole bunch of aliases?