Q: Ever Since getting my Apple Watch, when Someone Calls my wife, her iPhone rings, my iPhone rings, and my Watch Rings
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May 30, 2015 11:16 PMby Ziatron,The only way to do that is with separate Apple IDs.
We are not going to get separate IDs.
Let me get this straight, so I am not confused. When my WIFE'S iPhone rings. MY Apple Watch MUST ring.
Moreover, apparently I am ONLY able to "separate" the ringing of my wife's iPhone and my iPhone, but NOT my Apple Watch ?
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May 30, 2015 11:20 PMby stevejobsfan0123,Let me get this straight, so I am not confused. When my WIFE'S iPhone rings. MY Apple Watch MUST ring.
Yes, because they are using the same Apple ID.
Moreover, apparently I am ONLY able to "separate" the ringing of my wife's iPhone and my iPhone, but NOT the watch ?
Correct.
We are not going to get separate IDs.
Personally, I don't see what would be so confusing about having separate Apple IDs, especially since Apple is expecting users to each have their own Apple ID and they are not supposed to be shared. On the contrary, I think that SHARING the Apple ID is causing the confusion, as you have experienced with the phone calls. As for purchases, look into Family Sharing, referenced in the article I linked, and Apple's article, Family Sharing - Apple Support.
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May 30, 2015 11:30 PMby Ziatron,As for purchases, look into Family Sharing
I have. It seems highly restrictive and complicated. There appears to be 90 day limits on various things. In my reviewing family sharing I think I would be double purchasing many items. Sharing the same ID has worked perfectly until today.
Right now, I am looking at returning my Apple Watch to Apple.
I suspect that the phone call going to my Apple Watch is traveling through my Wi-Fi. Can I turn off Wi-Fi on the Apple watch ?
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May 30, 2015 11:42 PMby stevejobsfan0123,You could put it in Airplane Mode, but you only want to stop the phone calls, right? You would probably need Wi-Fi for something else.
Would it be satisfactory for the phone call to come through, but not have it ring? Try going to the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, then going to My Watch > Phone. Choose "Custom," and turn everything off.
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May 30, 2015 11:55 PMby Ziatron,Okay, I think I've got it fixed.
I did the below procedure on BOTH of our iPhones
On the iPhone: Settings > FaceTime on the iPhones and turn off "iPhone Cellular Calls".
I performed some testing. Now when someone calls my wife's iPhone it rings and nothing else. When someone calls my iPhone, my iPhone rings and so does my Apple Watch. I tried this a couple of times I cannot cause a failure, (so far). Some future Apple update will probably break this.
Steve Jobs fan, I do appreciate your help, and some others as well. After posting this, I will give you all some points. It's almost 2 AM in my location so I'm getting a little punchy. I will spend some more time trying to learn about family sharing, but as I understand it, it adds a level of complexity to my life that is already too complicated. I have a lot of home automation stuff in my new house and it requires almost continuous maintenance. When I was a kid all we had was a telephone by the front door and Yellow Pages, we were perfectly happy!
Again, thanks for sticking with me on this issue.
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May 31, 2015 8:58 AMby gail from maine,Ergo my post: Again, are you both signed onto the same iCloud account? If you are, then you need to turn off iPhone Cellular Calls in the FaceTime settings on the devices.
But glad you got it fixed
Just another note:
You can keep the Apple ID that you are currently sharing for your iTunes account (i.e. all purchases, and the Apple ID you would both have signed onto Settings>iTunes & App Store on your individual devices), but you could then set up a new, separate ID for one or both of your for your iCloud, Messages, FaceTime, etc. stuff.
You can set up a new Apple ID with @icloud.com email address by signing out of iCloud on your device (Settings>iCloud, scroll to the bottom), and then click on Create New Apple ID on the same screen (Settings>iCloud). If you set up the new Apple ID that way, you can pretty much set up any name you want for your iCloud.com address (I set up one with gailfrommaine, for example).
As far as the same Contacts, when you sign out of the existing iCloud account, you can elect to keep the Contacts for that iCloud account on the phone. Then when you sign a new iCloud account on, it will ask if you want to merge those contacts. Going forward, you each would have to update your contacts individually, but the initial set of Contacts could be merged.
Just at thought....
Cheers,
GB
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May 31, 2015 10:06 AMby Ziatron,You can keep the Apple ID that you are currently sharing for your iTunes account (i.e. all purchases, and the Apple ID you would both have signed onto Settings>iTunes & App Store on your individual devices), but you could then set up a new, separate ID for one or both of your for your iCloud, Messages, FaceTime, etc. stuff.
You can set up a new Apple ID with @icloud.com email address by signing out of iCloud on your device (Settings>iCloud, scroll to the bottom), and then click on Create New Apple ID on the same screen (Settings>iCloud). If you set up the new Apple ID that way, you can pretty much set up any name you want for your iCloud.com address (I set up one with gailfrommaine, for example).
As far as the same Contacts, when you sign out of the existing iCloud account, you can elect to keep the Contacts for that iCloud account on the phone. Then when you sign a new iCloud account on, it will ask if you want to merge those contacts. Going forward, you each would have to update your contacts individually, but the initial set of Contacts could be merged.
Just at thought....
What you are describing seems more complex compared to my wife and I just sharing the same account. Remember, the ONLY thing we do with iCloud is contacts and find my iPhone. Nothing else. I always buy software on disk when available, I only download as a last resort. I do occasionally by software from the Mac App Store, I then install the software on all the Macs in our house.
The sharing of accounts has always worked perfectly until I got the Apple Watch. As I mentioned previously, every family that we know also does this. In fact, since my original posting. I have asked a few other people they also share the same account amongst family members.
I have done the below procedure on both of our iPhones and this appears to be solving the problem. However, I don't understand what I might be "giving up" by making the change below. ( I am guessing that performing the setting below means that we cannot do Facetime on a cellular network ? )
On the iPhone: Settings > FaceTime on the iPhones and turn off "iPhone Cellular Calls".
I do have an open mind and I consider myself, "teachable". So I will try to learn more about having separate accounts. Another issue is the fact that I alone do all of the computer maintenance on our many Macintoshes and our many iOS devices so I thought having just one account would make my life a little easier.
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May 31, 2015 10:46 AMby gail from maine,Well, if you don't use Messages, then a single ID may be the way you want to go.
Ziatron wrote:
What you are describing seems more complex compared to my wife and I just sharing the same account. Remember, the ONLY thing we do with iCloud is contacts and find my iPhone. Nothing else. (So you do not use Messages or Notes? Do not use Photo Stream? Do not back up your devices automatically to iCloud?)
I have done the below procedure on both of our iPhones and this appears to be solving the problem. However, I don't understand what I might be "giving up" by making the change below. ( I am guessing that performing the setting below means that we cannot do Facetime on a cellular network ? ) You aren't giving up anything. You would turn on FaceTime under Settings>Cellular to enable doing FaceTime over Cellular networks. The setting your turned off is specifically and exclusively a Continuity/Handoff setting.
I alone do all of the computer maintenance on our many Macintoshes and our many iOS devices so I thought having just one account would make my life a little easier. If it makes things simpler for you, then you should continue to do it that way. I would just point out that it is extremely important that you ensure that your wife knows all of the passcodes associated with your devices, and especially, that she knows the Apple ID passcode to allow her to turn off Find My iPhone. With Find My iPhone turned on, your devices are protected by Activation Lock (which is a good thing). However, if at any point she needs to be able to restore a device, if she does not know the Apple/iTunes/iCloud password, she will never be able to use that device without a proof of purchase.
Cheers,
GB
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May 31, 2015 11:14 AMby Rudegar,sharing the appleID is a bad idea in the eyes of all things apple you are the appleID
if you use facetime you call up the appleID not the phone or ipod or ipad or mac
if you use the same appleID you get all the same iMessages on all devices
the invention of family sharing was to counter people sharing appleID in the world of apple it's like sharing ones social security number
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Jun 1, 2015 9:26 PMby Ziatron,You know, you are really impressing me with the red text! I have spent a lot of time with the advanced editor and never could figure out how to have colored text. Are you entering HTML codes?
(So you do not use Messages or Notes? Do not use Photo Stream? Do not back up your devices automatically to iCloud?)
I use none of the above. I want my texts on my iPhone's only. I want emails on my mac only. For security reasons, I do not back up anything to the cloud except for my contacts. Apple probably has the best security protocols of anyone. However, the cloud is nothing more than your stuff on someone else's hard drive. However unlikely, the cloud could break, or be hacked. I simply don't need to have all of my stuff in my pocket.
I periodically backup using Carbon Copy Cloner, which makes a partial ( 99,999% ) clone of your hard drive. I also use Time Machine.
You aren't giving up anything. You would turn on FaceTime under Settings>Cellular to enable doing FaceTime over Cellular networks. The setting your turned off is specifically and exclusively a Continuity/Handoff setting.
Understood.
That you ensure that your wife knows all of the passcodes associated with your devices, and especially, that she knows the Apple ID passcode to allow her to turn off Find My iPhone. With Find My iPhone turned on, your devices are protected by Activation Lock (which is a good thing).
Excellent advice. We use a password program called Msecure. It is on our Macs and on our iPhones, she knows how to use it. She is a "decent" Macintosh user. However when things break, I have to fix it. I try to teach her things about computers, she will participate, but she lacks enthusiasm.
I have told her many times, "if I'm ever hit on the head by a meteorite, come to Apple Discussions for help, and nice people will help you". Thank you for being one of those nice people.
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Jun 1, 2015 9:34 PMby Ziatron,sharing the appleID is a bad idea in the eyes of all things apple you are the appleID
if you use facetime you call up the appleID not the phone or ipod or ipad or mac
if you use the same appleID you get all the same iMessages on all devices
the invention of family sharing was to counter people sharing appleID in the world of apple
Perhaps I am a dinosaur. I have been reading the below. Perhaps it's best I start a separate thread on this issue because we've sort of gone off into the weeds.
Sharing purchased content with Family Sharing - Apple Support
it's like sharing ones social security number
Obsolete term. It's called your "Federal ID number", ( FID ). Think about it, when have you ever used that number with the Social Security Administration.
I never have.
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Jun 1, 2015 10:16 PMby gail from maine,You are most welcome! And hopefully you saw SJF's post above about the text color in Advanced Editor.
As for the password stuff, it was the meteorite situation I was thinking of. I can't tell you how many times we have had posters wanting to use a device that was their grandmother's or late father's or someone else who had gone to the great beyond, but had failed to put that critical information in a safe place that could easily be accessed by their loved ones.
And the one thing that I forgot to mention (although it doesn't sound like this would be an issue for you either), is that if you ever wanted to FaceTime with your wife (say you were away for a weekend or something), unless you were signed on with different Apple IDs to FaceTime, you wouldn't be able to....it thinks you are trying to FaceTime yourself....
Thank you for the nice words. We are always here to help if we can
Cheers,
GB
