All my apps seem to show the wrong apple ID in spite of the fact that I've never used that ID on this phone

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All my apps seem to show the wrong apple ID in spite of the fact that I've never used that ID on this phone

I believe that my iPhone (14 Pro Max on IOS 17) has somehow associated one of my email addresses (used in my mail app) as my apple ID for my apps, despite me never having used it as an apple ID on this phone. (My account and Media & Purchases settings both show the correct ID.) This forces me to uninstall and reinstall every app that needs updating, and I only find out about this when I attempt to start an app and it immediately backgrounds (disappears).

I think this is possibly a terrible IOS bug that should be better understood by apple engineers and not covered up. The only references to this problem I've seen assume that the user has originally installed the app using the non-current apple ID, but this is not the case for me.

iPhone 14 Pro Max

Posted on Oct 25, 2023 11:07 AM

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Answer 1

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Phil0124

Community+ 2024

Level 10

199,783 points

Oct 25, 2023 11:58 AM in response to jeffelling

This is not a bug.

By design, apps downloaded with one apple ID remain tied to it forever and cannot be associated with a different one ever.

If you made a backup of a device for instance, that held these apps downloaded with this previous Apple ID, and restore said backup to a new device, those apps will be set to download to the new device and continue to be associated with the previous Apple ID. You should be asked for the relevant Apple ID when it tries to download the App the first time. Changing the Apple ID in Media & Purchases does not change the Apple ID associated with already downloaded Apps.

Apps will not magically associate to an Apple ID that was not the one used to download them originally. And an email account added to Mail in Settings cannot in any way overtake apps that were downloaded with a different Apple ID. It simply does not work that way.

There should be no real reason to be changing Apple IDs. You should continue to use your Apple ID on your new devices to maintain access to your purchases and downloads.

Why are you using a different Apple ID?

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Answer 2

jeffelling Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 25, 2023 1:02 PM in response to Phil0124

I've never used that email as an apple ID on this phone. One of the apps I need to update was first installed this past summer, so I'm quite certain it was on this phone.

My point is exactly what you're denying--that the app registry may have "magically" associated a different apple ID/email with an app that was installed with the correct one. Are you saying software never behaves differently than it was designed? Try telling that to any software engineer.

I will investigate the exact date I got the phone and installed the app (if possible).

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Answer 3

jeffelling Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 25, 2023 1:20 PM in response to jeffelling

OK, it looks like I don't have a leg to stand on, as this app was installed well before I replaced my phone, so it was probably that my old phone was using my other email address as the apple ID (and so carried the old apple ID with the restored apps from the old phone). I have no idea why I ever changed from my original (and current) apple ID, but I seem to recall one of my devices, maybe an older iPad, complaining about using the same apple ID?

I should have verified that I had installed this app on this phone before posting so certainly, but I also thought I was using the same ID on my last phone, which I apparently was not. Apologies.

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Answer 4

Oct 26, 2023 10:38 AM in response to jeffelling

No worries. No apologies necessary.

As to the iPad error, you probably tried to create a new Apple ID using the same email address rather than logging in to the existing Apple ID.

Glad its clarified now.

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All my apps seem to show the wrong apple ID in spite of the fact that I've never used that ID on this phone

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