How to use 2 Apple ID's (iCloud & Apple Music/Apps) iOS 16 - Can only sign into 1 account

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Level 1

23 points

How to use 2 Apple ID's (iCloud & Apple Music/Apps) iOS 16 - Can only sign into 1 account

I've had 2 Apple ID's for as long as I can remember (15+ years?). There has never been a way to merge them (as far as I know). One for iCloud and one for App Store and Apple Music.

My iCloud account uses a .me address (for notes, photos, calendars etc etc)

The App Store and Apple Music is a Gmail account.

Until recently I've always been able to sign into those separate accounts.

I had to sign out of iCloud on my iPhone recently (iOS 16) and sign back in, but I only seem to be able to sign into one account.

Obviously my main iCloud account is most important because it's how everything syncs, but now I can't find a way to sign into Apple Music with my other account and have no access to playlists etc.

What am I missing?

Can anyone help?

iPhone X

Posted on Feb 9, 2023 12:27 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Limnos

Level 10

412,789 points

Feb 12, 2023 5:50 AM in response to rairure88

I'm kind of powering through posts this morning so I haven't read yours carefully. See if eitehr of these resolve the issue you seem to be having:

How to Use a Different Apple ID for App Store & Purchases on iPhone & iPad

https://osxdaily.com/2021/10/29/use-different-apple-id-app-store-purchases/

1. Head over to “Settings” from the home screen of your iPhone or iPad.

2. In the settings menu, tap on your Apple ID name located right at the top.

3. Here, select the “Media & Purchases” option below iCloud settings as shown in the screenshot below.

4. Additional options will now pop up from the bottom of your screen. Tap on “Sign Out” to log out of your primary Apple account.

5. You’ll be clearly informed that you’ll only be signed out of App Store, Books, Music, and Podcasts. Choose “Sign Out” to confirm your actions.

6. Next, tap on “Media & Purchases” again to sign in with a new account.

7. You’ll get a pop-up asking you whether you want to use the primary account that you’re signed into with iCloud. Choose the “Not (Apple account name)?” option as indicated in the screenshot here.

8. Now, enter the details of the Apple ID that you want to use and tap on “Next” to log in.

9. You’re pretty much done at this point. You can now open the App Store to confirm that you’re logged in with a different Apple account.

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Merging Apple accounts (IDs) or transferring data is not officially supported, Read the links below for things you may need to do to transfer as much as is possible and to share some others.

Apps and media bought with one ID are permanently associated with that ID. Look into using Family Sharing to continue to be able to use items purchased with one Apple ID with other Apple IDs, and for some data sharing features.

- Family Sharing - What is Family Sharing? - Apple Support

- Set up Family Sharing - Set up Family Sharing - Apple Support

Share folders with iCloud Drive --> Share files and folders in iCloud Drive on iCloud.com - Apple Support

Read How to use Shared Albums in Photos on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac - Apple Support about about how to share photos.

If you have signed into the first ID on a device then fortunately when you sign out of that ID, do not erase the device, then sign in with a different ID, it asks you in most cases if you wish to merge the data from the two IDs on your device. Say yes and later delete individual items from the other ID that you do not want. Note, in How to save apps and progress on one Appl… - Apple Community a Community Specialist says, "you will not be able to transfer the meta data from one Apple ID to another. Once you switch to another Apple ID the information associated with the old Apple ID will be gone except for physical content on the device like photos and videos."

Sign out of iCloud on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, or Mac --> Sign out of iCloud on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, or Mac - Apple Support

If another Apple ID is signed in you may need to enter the password for that ID to sign out of that ID first.

Click on this link to learn how to 'Sign in with your Apple ID' --> Sign in with your Apple ID - Apple Support

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Answer 2

rairure88 Author

Level 1

23 points

Feb 12, 2023 12:53 AM in response to Miche11e_P

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I do appreciate someone trying to help.

The method you mention doesn't make sense to me.

On my iPhone, I'm currently signed into my iCloud Account to sync my data (cal, email, contacts, photos etc) this is a .me email address.

When I open Apple Music it's asking me to "Join". There is no way for me to get to the Apple ID I use for the App Store and Apple Music.

I can currently use 2 Apple ID's on my mac. I'm signed into iCloud with one and can access Apple Music with the other.

If I open "Music" on my Macbook Pro, go to "Account" I can see I'm signed into my Gmail Apple ID. If I click "Account Settings" it opens the "System Settings" where I'm signed into my iCloud account (the .me email). So there's no option to share my Apple Music subscription.

I've spent countless hours over the years building playlists and my music collection, and now I have no way of accessing that on my iPhone?

This has been an issues for so many years. I had my Apple ID (the Gmail one) before 2008 and was used to purchase Apps and buy Music. In 2008 Apple introduced MobileMe (now called iCloud) and forced users to get a .me email address to use it. Hence many old school Mac users to have 2 Apple ID's.

To my knowledge there has never been a way to merge these accounts. So people like me a left with years and years of App purchases, Music purchase's and playlists attached to 1 Apple ID and then have all our data (cal, email, contacts, photos etc) to another Apple ID.

How do I merge these accounts if Apple is now forcing us to use 1?

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Answer 3

Miche11e_P

Community Specialist

Feb 11, 2023 7:01 PM in response to rairure88

Hi Steve,

Thanks for contacting Apple Support Communities!

We understand that you have two Apple ID's, but you can only sign in with one Apple ID on your iPhone.

Although you won't have the option to sign in with more than one Apple ID on your iPhone, you can set up Family Sharing so that you can share your purchases and subscriptions between your Apple ID's on your iPhone as outlined here: Set up Family Sharing - Apple Support

"On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Go to Settings.
Tap your name.
Tap Family Sharing, then tap Set Up Your Family.

Family Sharing is listed in the second section, below Find My.

4. Follow the onscreen instructions to set up your family and invite your family members."

Once you've set up Family Sharing and sent an invitation to join, you can share your subscriptions and purchases: What is Family Sharing? - Apple Support

"Share Apple subscriptions

Whether it’s music, TV and movies, news, games, or fitness, Apple subscriptions have something for everyone. And with iCloud+, you can share storage and features like iCloud Private Relay, Hide My Email, and HomeKit Secure Video support with your family.

When you use Family Sharing, your whole family can share access to the same Apple subscriptions. With Apple One, you can bundle everything together for one low monthly price. You can also share some other subscriptions that you sign up for in apps from the App Store.

Learn how to add a family member to your subscription

Share purchases from the App Store and more

When you set up purchase sharing, everyone in the family gets access to the apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books that family members buy. The content automatically appears on the Purchased page in the App Store, iTunes Store, Apple Books, or Apple TV app. Some items can't be shared.

Turn on purchase sharing"

Take care!

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