Local User Account Photo Shouldn't Be Tied To Apple ID Photo

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Level 1

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Local User Account Photo Shouldn't Be Tied To Apple ID Photo

Hi all. It's terribly frustrating that our Apple ID profile photo is now automatically synced to replace the user account photo of any/all local MacOS user account(s) that use that Apple ID. Is this a bug, or by design? (Based on responses to other similar threads, I think it's by design.)

After upgrading to Monterey (my MacBook Air is running 12.2), the profile photos for each of my user accounts suddenly changed to display the same image I use for my Apple ID photo. I was just at my local Apple store earlier today, and the folks at the Genius Bar confirmed this isn't unique to me and that I should post here in the community support pages in the hopes that Apple engineers consider changing (or giving us the option to disable) this new feature.

Here's why automatically syncing the Apple ID profile photo to MacOS user accounts is a bad idea:

A lot of us use our same Apple ID across multiple user accounts on a single Mac. There's no point in having user account images on the login screen of a Mac computer if all the photos are going to be the same (i.e. all user accounts pulling the same Apple ID profile photo).
A lot of us use a headshot of ourselves as our Apple ID image for external-facing purposes, but that doesn't mean we want to see that same photo of ourselves on the login screen of our personal computer each time we start/wake up.

Here's my own situation as a quick example ...

I have two user accounts on my personal MacBook Air. One is for everyday use, and the other is for work related to a non-profit community group I support. I'm using my same AppleID for both user accounts, because I want all of my contacts, calendars, music, messages, etc. syncing and popping up across both user accounts. Previously, I had the user account photo for my "everyday" account set to a shamrock (Irish pride!) and the user account for my work with the non-profit set to the organization's logo. Great, right? But *now* both of the user account photos are my Apple ID profile image. Not only is this not useful, it's super annoying to be greeted by not one but *two* photos of my own ugly mug on my login screen multiple times a day, every day.

So, I humbly request that the fantastic crew of Apple engineers who monitor these threads please consider giving us the option to disable this automatic syncing. Pleeeeease stop making me look at pictures of myself! ; )

Many thanks,

m

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.2

Posted on Feb 8, 2022 4:49 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

MattyOClark Author

Level 1

6 points

Feb 9, 2022 10:49 AM in response to steve626

Hi @Steve626. Glad you aren't having the same issue, and thanks for trying to help.

I have actually edited the user account photo in systems preferences as you were suggesting. As soon as I change one of my user account images, it then automatically updates my Apple ID image to match that user account image, which in turn updates the *other* user account image to be synced with the Apple ID image.

In other words, when I edit any one of the images -- either one of my two local user account images or my Apple ID image -- it automatically updates the other two images to match. Changing one image quickly updates all three images.

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Answer 2

Feb 9, 2022 1:42 AM in response to MattyOClark

... And it isn't. As far as I can tell, the Apple ID photo is used as a default, but you are free to change the user account photo in the same location that you always have: in System Preferences->Users & Groups

My Apple ID photo is an actual photo me.

My regular account photo is a memoji, and my second admin account (yes, I too have a second admin account, as you do, and everyone should, IMO) is an eagle:

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Answer 3

steve626

Level 6

11,309 points

Feb 8, 2022 9:14 PM in response to MattyOClark

I don't understand this because I see precisely the opposite on my Mac. On Monterey 12.2, I have two user accounts both of which are me, plus one for my wife. Both of my accounts are administrator accounts, and one is the main one I use all the time, while the other is a backup administrator account that I set up just in case I needed to fix something and I almost never use that one (have never had an emergency requiring logging in to a different admin account).

The main one has some old photo of me that is from years ago, I have no idea how it got associated with that account. The backup admin account, the one I never use, has the Apple ID photo of me. I can check my Apple ID in System Preferences and see that Apple ID photo. So I have two different accounts, same Apple ID, and two different account photos, only one account gets the Apple ID photo, but ironically I would actually prefer to switch the photos between these two accounts. But to me this is a trivial item and I haven't bothered to figure out how to swap them.

But different from your situation. But if my Mac has different photos for the two accounts, there should be a way to do that for your account?

By the way, when I hover the cursor over the photo in the Apple ID Preference pane, or over the photo in the user account in the Users and Groups Preference Pane, both offer the option to "edit" the photo, e.g. replace it with a different photo. Have you tried to "edit" (replace") either photo -- either the one in your Apple ID Preference Pane or the one for your username in the Users and Groups Preference Pane?

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Answer 4

MattyOClark Author

Level 1

6 points

Feb 9, 2022 10:51 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Hi @Luis. Glad you aren't having the same issue. My setup used to function just as yours did, but sometime after upgrading to Monterey it no longer does.

I have actually edited the user account photo in systems preferences as you were suggesting. As soon as I change one of my user account images, it then automatically updates my Apple ID image to match that user account image, which in turn updates the *other* user account image to be synced with the Apple ID image.

In other words, when I edit any one of the images -- either one of my two local user account images or my Apple ID image -- it automatically updates the other two images to match. Changing one image quickly updates all three images.

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Answer 5

Feb 9, 2022 10:54 AM in response to MattyOClark

I have to retract my previous post.

It probably took a little while to sync... now I checked and the image associated to my Apple ID did, just like yours, change to that memoji that I had selected for my local account.

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Answer 6

MattyOClark Author

Level 1

6 points

Feb 9, 2022 2:13 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Sorry to hear it's now also happened to you, @Luis. Super annoying, isn't it? At first I was hopeful that it was a bug that'd be corrected in the next update, but based on multiple threads I've read elsewhere, it seems to be by design. Really hoping that the Apple engineers will give us the option to turn off syncing between local user account images and Apple ID images.

All the best,

m

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Answer 7

MattyOClark Author

Level 1

6 points

Feb 9, 2022 2:20 PM in response to MattyOClark

I saw a thread or two here in the Apple discussion groups with people encountering the same thing, but now I can't seem to surface those threads again. It didn't seem like anyone had an answer in any of them ... bummer.

[Edited by Moderator]

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Answer 8

lllaass

Level 10

210,459 points

Feb 9, 2022 12:46 AM in response to MattyOClark

Make a suggestion to Apple to allow different profile/user images using same Apple ID

Feedback - macOS - Apple

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Local User Account Photo Shouldn't Be Tied To Apple ID Photo

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