iPhone call history shared between devices after iOS 17 Update

For most people, that's the way it has worked for years. I don't know why it worked differently for you. What I can tell you is that, every time Apple releases a major update, it has a tendency to break workarounds people used in order to make Apple IDs function differently than Apple intended.

Are you sharing an Apple ID with someone else?

AlFrued wrote:

I carry 2 iPhones with the same Apple id since ages, and I don’t want to get confused by which phone initiated personal or business calls.

Its unreasonable to maintain more than one Apple ID after all of this years.

I already reported a bug to Apple. And I came here to see if anyone else noticed/fixed this.

It's not a bug. If you carry two phones – one for work, and one for personal use – for "security" reasons, then it stands to follow that you should "firewall" your accounts and have two Apple ID accounts, as well.

The call history sharing might be new, but there is all sorts of other sharing linked to having the same Apple ID. Sharing that's been around for a long time. E.g., keychain passwords, photos, contacts, calendars, reminders, notes, and files on iCloud Drive.

iMessages are also linked to your Apple ID, whether you use "Messages in iCloud" or not.

AlFrued wrote:

Hello Idris, I strongly disagree, assuming that Apple intention is to force a user to maintain different Apple accounts to use different iPhones is defying the purpose of iCloud & the entire eco system.

That is not Apple's purpose at all and not what I've been saying. I did not say that each device should have it's own Apple ID. I said each person should have their own Apple ID.

If you are not sharing an Apple ID with another person but want the ability to maintain separate Recents, et al, I think you're out of luck. Submit your feedback to Apple.

You know how to can set up imessage to receive and reply to messages sent to a additional phone numbers? That's only possible if the same ID is used on two phones- and if I'm wrong on that, please tell me how to do it because it would solve my entire issue instantly. So if they didn't want people doing that, you'd think they'd remove a feature like that first. Sharing an ID is not the same as one person using it on two devices they own. The security risk of me using it on two phones that I keep in the same pocket is the same as me using it on one phone and an Ipad. Do they not want that either? I highly doubt that merging the call lists and voicemails is intended as a punishment to dissuade people from putting the same ID on two phones. Seems more like they see it as a feature, and I'm simply trying to understand the intention of it. Surely someone has noticed this and is thrilled that its now a thing. Otherwise we are simply going to have to agree to disagree and say good day.

Thanks for the research. Out of curiosity, I just went Settings > FaceTime and turn off the People Can Contact You On All Devices switch, phones will stop sharing call logs and I don't see any setting to turn off the People Can Contact You, setting?

You keep saying that apple doesn't want Apple ID's to be shared, but nobody here is talking about sharing an ID with someone else. They are talking about using it on multiple devices, which is exactly what the Apple ID is designed to do...seemlessly connect several devices with the same Apple ID. There are toggles to have imessage show up on two phones with the same apple ID, ways to have facetime work on two phones with the same Apple ID, ways to have health, photos, etc shared on two phones with the same ID, ways to have two phones ring at the same time when on the same Apple ID...etc The difference is, that for some reason, Apple has provided toggles to turn off everything but the phone logs. Seems more like oversight than intent.

Log out of your ID account on your work phone. Log back in and follow the popups, don't merge and pay attention to the prompts for permissions to avoid allowing something that may sync. Go back in and deselect, separate the devices on facetime, and calls on other devices like before. Now after that there will be a prompt with a red dot on the settings app, it will tell you that certain things have not resynced, do not push resync and allow that resync, or you will have to do the above process all over again, I made that mistake So I know. To me so what if that red warning dot is on my work phone, it doesn’t bother me, may get thw odd banner telling you to resync but ignore it on the second device.

For those of you that have one account for two personal phones, I do not know how that will affect the operation of certain apps ect. I only did that process with my work phone, so its not a big deal to me if I lost some syncing on the work phone, all that matters to me is my personal phone that I paid for, and my personal phone is not loaded with my work calls.

Apple isn't listening here. This is a user to user only forum. For you and your husband however, you both should stop sharing the same Apple ID and then use Family Sharing to share apps between the two iPhones. I can see someone who has a work phone and personal phone and want them both on the same Apple ID. But you don't have that situation and sharing an Apple ID is causing this and likely won't change.

The only way we will ever know if it is a bug or not is if the behavior changes in the future.

Of course the way to stop it from occurring immediately is to never share an AppleID.

Security and your Apple ID - Apple Support

Don't share an Apple ID

Don't share an account with other people, even family members. Sharing an Apple ID means that you're giving someone else access to all of your personal content. If someone else helped you set up your Apple ID and password, change your password.

To share App Store purchases, photos, a calendar, and more, use Family Sharing, iCloud Photo Sharing, and other easy-to-use sharing features.

I can see where there might be some special cases – like needing to leave your survivors a way to take over your Apple ID in the event that you die. But this seems pretty clear. Using the same Apple ID is tied to sharing. Using separate IDs (and keeping passwords secure) is what you do if you want the opposite of sharing.

Aalsalsalm wrote:

Any joy?? This so frustrating as my husbands phone and mine are synced and we have no idea who is calling who

Paulam280 wrote:

Any word from her on a fix? Ours just updated and it’s very annoying, we run a business using both phones but also have kids and we never know who’s calling which one of us.

Don't share AppleIDs.

Make sure that each family member has a unique Apple ID - Apple Support

Every device logged into the same AppleID will be treated as a single device, and information will be shared between them just as apps are.

Apple generally doesn't issue "clarifying statements" but feel free to ask for one at the link below.

Remember, no one reading your comments here has the power to do anything as we're all just users like you.

Feedback - iPhone - Apple

AlFrued wrote:

Thanks for replying.

few years ago I looked for a way to stop sharing call history between same Apple ID Devices, and I learned that if I turn off contacts sync on my device it will stop sharing the call log, so I did that and it was all good since iOS 13, but now it is different

if users want to share call history, they can turn on iCloud contacts sync.

Apparently, that is not the way Apple sees it. Apple seems largely unconcerned if changes they make cause workarounds for sharing Apple IDs to stop working. Their stance has been quite clear that Apple IDs are intended to be used by one person only.

You can certainly let them know your thoughts here:

Product Feedback - Apple

But, I seriously don't expect this to change.

AlFrued wrote:

I’m NOT sharing Apple ID with other person.

im using MY Apple ID on MY PHONES

Yes, and Apple designed the system to sync call history between multiple phones belonging to the same person.

See:

https://www.imore.com/apple-comments-icloud-call-history-sync-what-you-need-know

"We offer call history syncing as a convenience to our customers so that they can return calls from any of their devices," an Apple spokesperson told iMore. 

View and delete the call history on your iPhone - Apple Support

"To keep call history up to date across all devices, turn on iCloud Drive."

So apparently the official way to prevent syncing is to turn off iCloud Drive.

There was also a suggestion on a reddit thread to go to Settings > FaceTime and turn off the People Can Contact You On All Devices switch. It wasn't clear why doing that would have that side effect (or whether that side effect was a bug). Normally the use for that switch would be to allow iPads, iPad touches, and Macs on the same Apple ID as a nearby iPhone to place cellular calls with the aid of that iPhone.

As of this morning my call logs have resumed syncing unfortunately. 17.2 doesn’t appear to have been the answer.

Back to waiting for an actual fix.