Q: Merge apple id's, me.com and itunes account?

Having read through everyone's issues here (I have the same concern before switching) it occurs to me that if you can live without your @me.com email address (I don't use mine) then why can't you just cancel your MobileMe service before signing up to iCloud with your AppleID. You will have to make sure you backup (export) all your Calendar, Contacts and Bookmarks before you remove MobileMe. Then you should end up with the ability to use a single AppleID for both your iTunes purchases and iCloud. You may even get a pro-rata refund from MobileMe. Am I missing something here?

I have a friend who did just that, and I think I may go that route as well. He even got a prorated discount.

I am with you on this. I am trying to abandon my old @gmail.com adress for some time and now that I was given a @me.com adress I just want to use that and not use my old adress anymore. Of course you can't create a new Apple ID with a @me adress, which is just frustating. And if I create a new Apple ID with another adress (which I won't be using for actual mail) all of my purchases worth hundreths of dollars will be lost. It is awkward to say the least, registering for iCloud with one e-mail and as a result being given another one. I iMessaged my girlfriend from my iPhone and it was delivered just like a proper text message and then from my iPad and it was delivered as it was from "myusername@gmail.com". **** I f-in hate this, I need to get rid of my old e-mail, why would I need two of them, and why I am still being represented by the old one from Google

Please SORT this OUT!

Could work, but (1) you have to think about this before hand - forget a quick upgrade and quick enjoy, (2) you really think they will give a refund?  I'm pretty sure I've already heard 'no' on that so your money already paid would go wasted, and (3) what a pain in the butt! 

Seriously, I've not yet seen a good explanation as to why Apply can't just create a way to join accounts.  Apple's database could just join usernames and passwords and personal data and keep track of various goods and services purchased.  How hard could that be, really?

nichnic wrote:

 

Having read through everyone's issues here (I have the same concern before switching) it occurs to me that if you can live without your @me.com email address (I don't use mine) then why can't you just cancel your MobileMe service before signing up to iCloud with your AppleID. You will have to make sure you backup (export) all your Calendar, Contacts and Bookmarks before you remove MobileMe. Then you should end up with the ability to use a single AppleID for both your iTunes purchases and iCloud. You may even get a pro-rata refund from MobileMe. Am I missing something here?

I think the issue is that Apple didn't provide a way to migrate iTunes to iCloud.  Only MobileMe to iCloud.  At least I don't see any place to do it.  You see orginally iTunes accounts weren't email addresses.  Now you're required to link your iTunes account to an email address.  You used to be able to link it to a MobileMe account but an iCloud account is already linked to it's own iTunes.  So now it seems you're required to maintain a seperate email account outside of Apple.  They have to do something about this.  Each time they add a new service it just further exacerbates the problem and alot of us have significant amounts of cash tied up in iTunes purchases by now.

Ok I have another issue with this.. I want to use the cloud match/storage service for our family media. I have 2 iphones, an ipad, 2 macbook pros, 2 itvs, 2 ipod touches and 4 desktop computers. That all currently use the same itunes apple ID for media play & purchase. however the 2 iphones use different  mobile me accounts for sync of contacts calendars and such and one of the ipods is set up with a mobile me for my son with his desktop for sync. I want the seperation but I want the sync... can I keep my itunes accound synced and iCloud based for my family amongst the devices and still have seperate iCloud accounts for myself, my wife and my boys.

I asked this same question in another thread.  You can have both an iTunes account and an iCloud account. Go to settings on the device and select iCloud and log in using that account and then go to the Store tab and log into itunes using that information and voila, both accounts same device.  That way, all of your purchases are still under one roof! See: support.apple.com/kb/HT4895.  It doesn't consolodate everything like we all would want, but it seems to work......

Yes, you can all use your own Apple ID for 'iCloud' (contacts, calendars, photos, etc.), and all use the same Apple ID for 'iTunes in the Cloud' (music, apps, TV shows, etc.).

It's less confusing if you just think of them as two different services.

I tried this but after updating the Apple ID in the Store tab to my pre-existing iTunes account, it allows it, but then won't allow 'Automatic Downloads' for Music, Apps and Books, which is supposed to be the big luxury of iCloud on mobile devices.......

I now realize this is a SYSTEMATIC problem -- not a glitch experienced by a few users. Anyone who already had an AppleID that dates back to the days before MobileMe probably has two email addresses set up in some kind of account capacity.

And it never mattered much before, and now it does: In my case, all my MUSIC got purchased on the computer by way of my old iTunes AppleID... but now all my APPS have been purchased with the MobileMe address. (And why not? The app purchases were for iPhone apps before these were linked in any interesting way with desktop apps and integrated services.)

If I want to sign up for iCloud, I apparently need to chose WHICH set of purchases to leave out of the automatic loop. (And my experience with iPad upgrade involved being told that certain apps would be *deleted* because they were associated with something other than my primary account. So it's not just about feeling left out of the new Cloudy Synchrony Joy; it's about wondering whether my devices will disown some of what I've paid for -- if not now, then down the line.)

Furthermore, I have a dilemma: the MUSIC purchases, accumulated over years, are quite expensive. So it would seem rational to consolidate around that older (pre-mac.com) ID, which connects with my long-time primary email address anyway...

Yet the me.com address is bound to be better supported by Apple with future features and better integration with the OS across devices. So perhaps I should convert my iTunes music into unprotected formats and cope with not having that music recognized as a past purchase (though I would still be able to play and copy the files).

I used to feel like I somehow *messed up* in finding myself with two AppleIDs, each with a long list of purchases.

Now I realize that my experience is probably REPRESENTATIVE among long-time users of Apple services.

Here's another glitch with this multi-account fiasco (though this might be the wrong discussion group, I feel confident that it's all related):  My contacts are royalty screwed up due to multiple accounts.  Having "groups" was the advantage over other contact services.  I just made a group and tried to email to it from Mail, and nothing.  Sent an email directly from the group within the address book, and nothing.  Frustrating.

Just for kicks, I thought I would point out that I've had this same problem in the past with Microsoft. I had a Zune account, an Xbox Live account, and a MSN Messenger account - each with separate email addresses, two of which I no longer had / had access to. When they implemented Windows Live ID's, they did not allow them to be merged. It was much worse (and still is) than this situation with iTunes and iCloud, so I guess Apple is doing something write.

A lot of people assume it would be easy to merge the accounts on the back end. Unfortunately, it's probably not one database with all of the information, but rather a set of multiple databases. If this is the case, it will be a lot of work and they are probably worried that they will cause more inconvenience for the majority of their users (who only had one Apple ID to start with) than they would create convenience for the minority (us).

Studio Psyclone, Inc. wrote:

 

Ok I have another issue with this.. I want to use the cloud match/storage service for our family media. I have 2 iphones, an ipad, 2 macbook pros, 2 itvs, 2 ipod touches and 4 desktop computers. That all currently use the same itunes apple ID for media play & purchase. however the 2 iphones use different  mobile me accounts for sync of contacts calendars and such and one of the ipods is set up with a mobile me for my son with his desktop for sync. I want the seperation but I want the sync... can I keep my itunes accound synced and iCloud based for my family amongst the devices and still have seperate iCloud accounts for myself, my wife and my boys.

Yes having the seperate iTunes account is actually handy for letting family members use your library through the home sharing feature.  The only problem is which email address to use for subscriptions and what not.  Maybe if enough people bring this issue up Apple can bring back the MobileMe Family accounts and let five or so people access a single collection of iTunes media but still have their own seperate accounts.

I am suprised and disappointed that Apple still does not have a solution to allow MobileMe users to merge Apple IDs with iTunes/App account!

This is an added agrevation on top of the fact that iCloud would only work under Lion, which does not support some of my existing Apps.

I'm in the same boat.  It seems that my old mac.com account is in Apple's permanent record; I just accessed it and saw my information, even though I gave up on me.com about 6 months after its debut.

I'd very much like to merge my current yahoo.com Apple ID into my old mac/me.com ID.  I tried to on the iCloud part of preferences but it says that the ID is taken and offers me alternatives....

I guess it's still new, so maybe I should wait before I sign up for iCloud...?

Dave in Maine