Can I not have multiple phone numbers associated to my Apple ID?

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gregconquest Author

Level 1

30 points

Can I not have multiple phone numbers associated to my Apple ID?

Because I have a second phone number on an old iPhone X, I am locked out of some services. For example:

Sharing Name and Photo not available

Sharing Name and Photo is not available because multiple phone numbers are associated to your Apple ID.

(This is from Settings - Messages - Share Name and Photo (to use with iOS 17 Contact Poster))

I have a second phone number so I can have a second account on Telegram, Signal, etc. There are other reasons for having second phone numbers too.

The only option I see to fix this is to deregister the second number and set up a second AppleID. But then none of my AppStore purchases would be available on my iPhone X.

What am I missing? Apple seems to be pushing me not to maintain a second phone number. Similar questions to mine are abundant, going back several years, but there is no guidance from Apple on what to do.

If having a second phone number on one AppleID is so problematical, why does Apple allow it?

iPhone 13 Pro Max, iOS 17

Posted on Sep 22, 2023 4:43 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

gregconquest Author

Level 1

30 points

Sep 28, 2023 7:53 PM in response to NewAppleGuyHere

What I've had to do was to 1) sign out on my iPhone X. 2) Sign in/Create new Apple ID for that iPhone X. 3) Turn on Family Sharing on my iPhone 13 Pro Max. 4) Add the new ID to my various services.

I have just started AppleOne, and all the services seem to transfer over. The one problem I'm having is with photos. I had my iPhone X set to keep thumbnails only of all my photos (Settings - Photos - Optimize iPhone Storage (NOT Download and Keep Originals)). But somehow the 30,000 photos that are in iCloud for me, and were on the iPhone X as thumbnails, have become only 6,000 on the iPhone X, AND IT HAS BEEN SYNCING FOR FOUR DAYS ALREADY!

There should be no photos to upload from the iPhone X as it had thumbnails only. And why it is so slow is a mystery. I have one location with fast internet, and two others with medium fast to medium. After it completes the sync of the 6,000 photos it thinks exists, then I guess it will begin downloading thumbnails for the remaining 24,000 photos.

I think Apple should make it much clearer that it expects customers to use separate AppleIDs for each device with its own SIM and to use Family Sharing to "merge" them. I also don't know if this would work with the free level on iCloud.

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Answer 2

Sep 26, 2023 8:14 AM in response to gregconquest

I’m having this problem too. A quick way to create a poster would be to turn off Message on one phone by Setting>Message and switch off iMessage. On the other phone creating a contact poster, after apple servers refresh and associate your Apple ID with one number.

Like you, I don’t want to create a whole new Apple ID because I enjoy iMessage sync and answering Messages on one phone is awesome. Hopefully, Apple addresses this dilemma and allows contact posters on two different numbers.

Even better allowing a contact poster per phone number, and the ability to designate a main poster.

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Answer 3

gregconquest Author

Level 1

30 points

Sep 28, 2023 10:06 PM in response to gregconquest

Update: The syncing sped up today and is finished, but the iPhone X is keeping a separate library now. My two AppleIDs are sharing disk space on iCloud, but they are not merging the photos across the devices.

It seems what I need to do is the set up a Shared Library (Settings -- Photos -- Shared Library (or Shared Albums). But if I go this route, the support document says that I must choose which photos to move to the shared library! How to use iCloud Shared Photo Library - Apple Support The support document is not at all addressing the situation of one person having two phones.

Apple! Wake up! If this is how one person with two phones should be doing this, say so. All of the documentation I'm reading is talking about two people sharing photos. Why can't you get this basic, seemingly common situation right?

I'm going to go ahead and turn on the Shared Library, but I fear what might happen. Having no duplicate photo finding feature makes this even more treacherous. I guess it's good I have Google Photos also installed, and there all devices share one account.

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Answer 4

gregconquest Author

Level 1

30 points

Oct 2, 2023 7:59 PM in response to gregconquest

And now I've discovered that my Notes and Reminders are split between my two phones. Some were created on the iPhone X when using the second phone number; I guess that's why.

This use of Family Sharing to enable one person to use two phones is turning into a disaster. My original way of using one Apple ID for both devices was the right way. The only problem was when trying to share my ID, especially now with Contact Posters. We cannot set up a Contact Poster if our Apple ID has two phone numbers assigned to it. However, if we try to set up a second Apple ID for the second phone, which is what Apple is forcing us to do, chaos across iCloud ensues.

Apple! What is going on?! Surely you have a lot of employees who have more than one device. How could you be missing this huge hole on your ecosystem?

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