Sharing an Apple ID with family members, or anyone else, is generally not a good practice. Those sharing an Apple ID will probably receive each other's data, messages, and even phone calls. If you're sharing an Apple ID to allow others to download iTunes content from your account so they don't have to pay for it, this could be considered piracy. If you're sharing an Apple ID with family members, sharing iTunes purchases will be covered in this article, as well as how to entirely create and manage separate Apple IDs. Creating an Apple ID Each person can create an Apple ID at http://appleid.apple.com. A walkthrough of each step is available in our article here: Creating an Apple ID. To enter the new Apple ID on your device(s), do the following:
Sharing Content If your devices are running iOS 8.0 or later, you can use Family Sharing to share content among family members' Apple IDs. Family Sharing allows you to have a shared calendar; see each others' locations in Find my iPhone, Find my Friends, and the Messages app; share iTunes purchases; and require that children request your approval before being able to buy content. You can learn more about Family Sharing in our article here: Family Sharing in iOS 8 and Later, or Apple's article here: http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201060. One reason you may have been sharing an Apple ID is if you have a child under 13 and you wanted them to be able to use services on their device which require an Apple ID. Normally, creating an Apple ID requires that the user be at least 13 years old. With Family Sharing, you can create an Apple ID for someone under 13 specifically for Family Sharing. See one of the above articles for more information. If you were sharing an Apple ID to be able to locate someone else's device with Find my iPhone, you can do the same thing with Find my Friends from Apple using separate Apple IDs. This app works on older iOS versions, too. If you are told that it requires a newer iOS version when you try to download it, see the "workaround" section of our article here: App Store: Downloading Older Versions of Apps. Forgotten Password If you forgot the password for the old Apple ID which you were sharing, and are prompted for the password before you can sign out, you can reset the password at http://iforgot.apple.com. If you cannot access the email account associated with the ID, or are unable to provide the authentication that the iForgot website asks for, call Apple's main number (1-800-MY-APPLE), and ask to talk to the account security team. Article ID: AA1116 |
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How to Stop Sharing an Apple ID
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