Apple ID account/device limits gain attention
Trevor Sheridan sent us a note earlier today, asking if we'd look at his blog post about encountering Apple ID limits with iOS devices. Although Trevor just now encountered this issue, the policy actually went into effect a couple of months ago, back in June.
When you use Apple's new multi-device download feature, you will be limited to a total of 10 devices and computers, each authorized with the same Apple ID. What's more, once a device or computer has been assigned to an Apple ID, it cannot be reassigned for 90 days. Apple's Knowledge Base support article details how you can deauthorize devices, and how to check the wait time before they can be re-assigned.
Naturally, this is bad news for anyone who shares an iPhone or other iOS device with a loved one and who switches around the Apple ID accordingly. Once an Apple ID is authorized for media downloads, that authorization is going to stick for a few months at least.
At some point, Apple is going to have to start seriously re-evaluating how real life meets Apple ID accounts, in terms of separating data within a family. Some examples: keeping only kid-friendly material on certain devices, even when iCloud backups and data sharing are in force (also known as the "cheating spouse outed by iCloud" scenario), joining data between adults (marriage and cohabitation), and when joint accounts need to be split (divorce and separation).
For now, all authorization decisions seem to be motivated more by rights management than day-to-day practicalities. This new policy indicates that Apple continues to be a little tone-deaf when it comes to human relationships and how people really use their iOS devices.
Think about the Duggars or the children of divorce; when newly-single Dad buys the kids an iPod, whose account do they get to use? It may seem tangential to drag all this into a write-up about a new Apple DRM protection policy, but these are the real world challenges that make these policies more than a minor annoyance.
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Naturally, this is bad news for anyone who shares an iPhone or other iOS device with a loved one and who switches around the Apple ID accordingly.
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MJ
really bites, I have apps that i loaded on my wifes phone, different IDs but we both know the passwords, not if she wants to update apps on her phone she can't do one set or the other for 90 days. super dumb. no way to merg IDs, no way to go back and get old apps to move them, not well thought out, seems to be a trend with apple lately.
December 08 2011 at 2:38 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyA few days ago I logged out of my iTunes and logged in with my girlfriend's Apple ID on my iPhone. I just wanted to get an album that she had purchased from the iTunes store through the cloud and push it to my iPhone. The album didn't show up so I just logged out and logged back in to my iTunes account. I was logged into her account under a minute. Now I can't push my recent purchases from the iTunes store to my phone with the cloud for 90 days because of this. Here is the message I get:
"This Device is Already Associated with an Apple ID.
You can auto-download purchases on this device with just one Apple ID every 90 days. You cannot associate this device with a different Apple ID for 85 days."
Apple says their is no way to reset my ID and their is nothing they can do about this and I have to wait for the 90 days before I can use the cloud service again. Does this seem absurd? 90 days is a LONG time to wait for just simply logging out and back in with a different ID and not downloading anything.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Benny
So, I have owned a mac back since the graphite iMac CRT. In the many years since OS9, I have picked up 3 user names - not realizing that content would forever be linked to that user name. Is there a way that I can update stuff on all three rather than having to log out of my current ID and going back into my three and 10 year old accounts? Any way to consolodate all my content within one login and one ID?
August 19 2011 at 4:33 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyYou can change your Apple ID email to whatever whenever. This is my situation at home.
I started my own Apple ID that's tied to a majority of Apple-related purchases before my girlfriend and I tied the knot. Then I just changed the email associated to the Apple ID to one that reflect the both of us (instead of firstname.lastname@domain, it is now just lastname@domain). It has a password (still secure) that both of us know. I did the same for my Amazon login, so our Kindles are all tied to it.
Then I created a separate Apple ID for each of us. So we can tie our Game Center, Ping, etc to that account. If iCloud works out I might migrate our emails there eventually. But right now a Google Apps hosted domain works for us.
Every decision Apple makes is motivated more by profit than by consumer rights. This is the dirty little Apple secret -- rotten to the core.
August 09 2011 at 7:23 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyEVERYTHING Apple does should be motivated by profit. Apple has an obligation to its shareholders to maximize their equity. Why would think otherwise? It's not a secret, it's a fundamental business practice.
August 17 2011 at 9:07 AM Report abuse Permalink -1 rate up rate down ReplyThat idea is as short sighted as they come and is flat out wrong. Companies that are purely motivated by profit usually find themselves going out of business. Companies have code of ethics and mission statements. (Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.) Here you go buddy. Does that say anything about being purely motivated by profit...
December 30 2011 at 12:35 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate downApple has said "no" to consolidating AppleIDs. However, one can have and use multiple AppleIDs on a single device by logging in to iTunes repeatedly. I have a work-related AppleID, a personal AppleID and I also use my wife's AppleID -- all on the same machine. I wonder if there is a limit to the number of AppleIDs one can use on a single device.
Clearly, this is getting more complex than Apple customers are accustomed to. The iCloud will only exacerbate the matter.
How does this impact Home Sharing? Or does Home Sharing go away with iCloud?
August 09 2011 at 10:18 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIt doesn't. Home Sharing works exactly as it did before, as does all iOS devices. The 10 device limit *should* only affect redownloads of purchased content on iTunes. You can still sync and home share as many devices as you want to the same computer exactly as you do today, you just won't get the benefits of redownloads once you go past the 10 device limit.
August 09 2011 at 12:18 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyEric - you have misled everyone with this article. This has nothing to do with media downloads or sharing documents.
The restriction ONLY applies to associating a device to an Apple ID for "Automatic Downloads or to download previously purchased apps and books". (Quote from iTunes, Manage Devices page).
This is also a major bummer for education institutions who sync many devices with many computers...
August 09 2011 at 7:45 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replydifferent rules for .edu
http://www.apple.com/itunes/education/faq/
http://www.apple.com/mac/volume-licensing/
I have an Australia and USA account - I live part of year in Oz and part of the year in the US. I have made heaps of purchases in each account in all categories. Does this mean that I have to use only one account even though both are legal and legit? If true, I will stop making any purchases in iTunes from any store. (And I have over 30,000 songs alone I have bought over the years. Some from the USA and some from Oz). This is BS. I have apps for when I am in the US and apps for when I am in OZ. Do I need to now buy separate devices for each of these accounts? I hope to phuque not! This is really BS.
BTW, "copyright attorney", there is no similarity to the BS you posted and this thread!
Your life sounds wonderful, but you seem really angry.
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