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I’ve lost several iPhones in my day, and I have lost multiple apple ID’s and have recently regained one of them back. I noticed apple says they can’t merge two or multiple ID’s together but doesn’t give much of a reason. So basically, why?
iPhone 8 Plus
Well, first, thanks for attempting to answer my question with another question or reiterating my question to better suite your understanding of Apple ID importance. Second, life isn’t all black and white. There is an array of colors in between and when you lose an iPhone without insurance and your mobile carrier won’t give you the same number your previously had, two factor authentication can tend to get in the way. Love apple’s security, but it’s a love-hate relationship with this guardian. So before I have to exert any more energy into this response, I’m going to say the reason to my inconsistent apple ID’s and breaking/losing of iPhones, is a personal matter and not one of which would help generate a better answer as to why apple can’t simply use a series of questions to merge Apple ID accounts, because they can use the same or similar set of questions to recover old ones. Thanks for your response LotusPilot, but it didn’t answer my question.
Well, first, thanks for attempting to answer my question with another question or reiterating my question to better suite your understanding of Apple ID importance. Second, life isn’t all black and white. There is an array of colors in between and when you lose an iPhone without insurance and your mobile carrier won’t give you the same number your previously had, two factor authentication can tend to get in the way. Love apple’s security, but it’s a love-hate relationship with this guardian. So before I have to exert any more energy into this response, I’m going to say the reason to my inconsistent apple ID’s and breaking/losing of iPhones, is a personal matter and not one of which would help generate a better answer as to why apple can’t simply use a series of questions to merge Apple ID accounts, because they can use the same or similar set of questions to recover old ones. Thanks for your response LotusPilot, but it didn’t answer my question.
Losing a device doesn’t mean losing an AppleID. I’ve had the same AppleID for 20 years. I’ve used 2FA since it was introduced with iOS 10, and used 2 step verification for years before that, so the extra security is also not inherently a reason to abandon an AppleID.
And the reason is because the AppleID is associated with all the licensed material purchased from the App, Music and Book stores. And consumer law does not allow those software and IP usage licenses be transferred to another online ID.
You cannot merge Windows Store IDs, Google Play login IDs, Sony Store login IDs or any other login ID used to purchase usage licenses for software or IP, for the same reason.
Not an answer to your question, but for purchases, you can try setting up Family Sharing between the IDs if you want to be able to share purchases made with the IDs.
Perhaps a better question is to ask “why” you don’t use a consistent AppleID for all the devices that own (have lost) - as this would entirely resolve your initial problem.
By using a consistent AppleID, as intended, you would retain access to all your data and purchased Apps, media content and services for all your devices.
Please don’t take umbrage at my genuine question. Many users of devices don’t realise that it is in most cases beneficial to use a consistent AppleID across all their current and future devices - often assuming that a new AppleID account is required for each.
As you have knowingly elected to follow this path, as is your choice, you have discovered one of the significant limitations of this approach. AppleID accounts cannot be merged; all purchases and subscriptions associated with an individual account remain permanently tied to that account from which the purchase was made.
Why can’t you merge two apple ID’s together
