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Changing Apple ID - Beware!

Avatar Rick Churchill
My phone was playing up when I changed my Apple ID. It was asking me to sign into the previous Apple ID even though in Settings it was showing the new ID under my name and also in "iTunes & App Stores". After an hour with one Apple man then, when he couldn't solve it, with an Apple man from Portugal the only way out was to reset the phone. This is more trouble than it sounds.

So before changing your Apple ID on the Mac, especially from a 3rd Party email address (like talktalk) where there is no way to go back now Apple do not allow 3rd Party addresses, make sure that the phone and iPad are both signed out of ALL iCloud services. The one I left was Find My Phone/iPad.

Else your phone/iPad will nag you to sign into the previous ID account which no longer exists! Had Apple allowed me I could have altered it back and closed all the services down.

Re: Changing Apple ID - Beware!

Avatar Richard I
I am about the change my apple ID to an Apple one.

So just to clarify, when you say "make sure that the phone and iPad are both signed out of ALL iCloud services" are these the icloud services to be found on the Mac in system preferences, icloud?

And is signing out just unticking all the boxes, or will just clicking "sign out' sign you out of them all?

Thanks
Richard

Re: Changing Apple ID - Beware!

Avatar Euan Williams
Caution! Any purchase from App and other Apple stores can only be re-downloaded under the identical Apple ID then used. Passwords can be changed at any time.

Re: Changing Apple ID - Beware!

Avatar Trevor Hewson
Can Family Sharing help here? I’ve never changed Apple ID or used Family Sharing so this may be a red herring!

Re: Changing Apple ID - Beware!

Avatar Tony Still
I had a similar experience to Rick. However, the reason I needed to change it was that (unbeknownst to both me and Apple Support) iCloud was having a bad day and lots of things were misbehaving. So the cause of me changing it may also have been the cause of the change being problematic.

I have no other experience of changing an Apple ID but Apple's advice is here. It rather sounds as though Richard has already read that.

Re: Changing Apple ID - Beware!

Avatar Richard I
Thanks Tony!
That link looks really useful.

Re: Changing Apple ID - Beware!

Avatar Rick Churchill
Sorry Richard I didn't see your reply.

I did not ask the Apple technician where I should have signed out of the service but I presume this is where it could have been done.

I note that the link highlighted by Tony advises that before you change your Apple ID you should "sign out of every Apple service and device" which is a link to a page called "What to do after you change your Apple ID or password" and provides the following advice:

Find My iPhone
Open the Find My iPhone app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:
If you're signed out, enter your updated Apple ID and password.
If you're signed in with your previous Apple ID, tap Sign Out. Then tap Sign Out again when asked to confirm, and enter your updated Apple ID and password.

The last paragraph implies you can leave the service on and reset it later which is contrary to the advice from my "man in Portugal".

Re: Changing Apple ID - Beware!

Avatar Rick Churchill
More to the above I have signed out out of Find my iPhone on the iPad using settings then signed back in using the App so it looks as if you can sign out using either method. Try it before you change your ID.

Re: Changing Apple ID - Beware!

Avatar Richard I
Thanks Rick.

I have yet to summon up the courage to do the change. It feels like you risk stuffing everything up in one go!

However, Your and Tony's replies have helped a lot..

Re: Changing Apple ID - Beware!

Avatar Mick Burrell
I'm coming late to this discussion - possibly too late - but nobody has explained why they are changing their Apple ID. I assume we're talking about the user name part as it's straightforward to change your password at any time.

My understanding is that the user name part needs to be unique to you. In the olden days (!) you could choose what name you'd like to use. Apple would check that nobody else was using that name and if that was the case you could. I still have an Apple ID which is like that.

As the popularity of Apple grew, they started to ask you to use your email address as that was already unique to you and that is how most people's IDs are now. However, the confusion comes when you abandon that email address. There is nothing to stop you continuing to use it as your Apple ID user name - it's still unique to you - there is no need to change it. However, it usually doubles as the address Apple use to contact you so you do need to update the email section of your ID management page to show your new email address but you still sign in to Apple services using the old one.

Re: Changing Apple ID - Beware!

Avatar Richard I
In reply to Mick....I am changing my ID as I wish to dump the email address that I used when setting up. (BT want £7.50/month-just for an email service!! -this appears to be a penalty for not using their broadband or phone services)

It's interesting that I could possibly continue using the address as a user name, despite it not being a valid email address (although another Richard Iles may well take it). However it worries me that this approach might backfire later.

Hence the change.
It's down to me now to get on and do it!

Re: Changing Apple ID - Beware!

Avatar Trevor Hewson
I’m wondering why nobody’s picked up on my remark about Family Sharing - if only to tell me it’s irrelevant!

My thought was that if Family Sharing was set up between the new and old Apple I.D. then as I understand it, as long as the same credit card is registered to both accounts, they both have access to all purchased apps and music. As I said, I’ve never used the facility and haven’t researched the idea so it may be a non-starter.

Re: Changing Apple ID - Beware!

Avatar Tony Still
Possibly because none of us are clever enough to understand why you brought Family Sharing into the discussion?

Re: Changing Apple ID - Beware!

Avatar Trevor Hewson
Because the concern was raised that, if you change ID, you lose access to items purchased with under the old ID. I just wondered whether treating your new ID as an additional family member rather than a replacement for the old ID was a way of overcoming this?

Re: Changing Apple ID - Beware!

Avatar Mick Burrell
Trevor - I understood your suggestion but don't use Family Sharing at all so was unable to comment.

Re: Changing Apple ID - Beware!

Avatar Tony Still
OK, I was way too subtle in how I suggested 'red herring': Richard appears to be trying to get rid of his old Apple ID so presumably would not wish to Family Share with it since that would imply retaining it.

You lot are no fun sometimes!
 
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