Fast user switching and iPad

All iPads, iPhones, iPods are synced to a particular user. When you switch users that alert is going to appear unless you disconnect the device first.

It's not a bug. Just unplug the iPad first - takes less than a second.

The iPad is a one user only device as far as user name when connected to your computer. Say you have 2 user accounts on your computer: Work and Personal. You set up and sync your iPad while in the Personal account. You then switch over to the Work account. The iPad sees this as a NEW user and reacts accordingly.

Now THEORETICALLY you can use an iPhone OS device with more than one user by doing something like this:

Sync ONLY different libraries with each user. For example, sync the music library with user Work and other libraries with user Personal (or vice verse) Some have been successful but others haven't, so YMMV.

For suggestions to Apple regarding the iPad, go to http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html

It may not be a bug as in it's working as intended, but what it also is, is godawful stupid.

I share a Mac Pro with my wife, we're both always logged in and switch by FUS, and we both have iPhones. Here's how things go:

1. User1 is foregrounded, but the monitor is blank due to inactivity, and User2 plugs their iPhone in. User1's account happily launches all sorts of apps to do its thing. Switch to User2, where they have an error dialogue that the phone is in use by another user. Unplug and replug, and User1 will have the same complaint dialogue when they switch back.

2. User1 plugs in iPhone while User1 is the foregrounded user. User2 switches to their account, tries to cancel the "in use" warning, but gets spinning beachball of death, and iTunes has to be force quit.

Happens. All. The. Time.

It's just a nightmare for usability. This is Apple hardware connecting one Apple OS to another Apple OS on other Apple hardware. They should be able to have a method where, if N users are logged in, the "correct" user for the iPhone detects the phone, while the "incorrect" users ignore it. It cannot possibly be that difficult.

It's this way with iPads as well, of course. There's the terrible answer of, "Well, don't do that," or, "It's working as intended, live with it," but that's just a bad answer. The real answer is for OSX + FUS to handle this gracefully, without a plethora of error dialogues for what is everyday user behavior.

I agree. Multi-user support in general - and in particular with attached iOS devices - could be much improved. I was just looking for a good way to have fast user switching where passwords were required for the initial login but not later switches, but to no avail.

FWIW, I'd like to be able to have multi-user support ON iOS devices, particularly the ipad. For anyone with a family it just makes sense to have multiple users able to use multiple devices.

All very good ideas, Harry.

Your next task is to summarize exactly how you think it should actually work, support your request as best you can, and then forward that along to Apple via the Feedback pages.

Merely grumbling about how things ought to be here in these user-user forums won't substitute for doing that.