When I bought an iPad for her a few years ago it was put in my name either for convenience or carelessness in getting it set up. Now I want to set her up as a trusted person on my Mac for security reasons, and Apple says I can't designate her because she doesn't use iMessage, which she doesn't use because her phone is an Android.
MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
Macsince1984-2 wrote:
My dear sberman, I appreciate your explanations for why I can't do what I need to do because it is not Apple's way, but I am now 88 years old and she is 84. When I was younger and more mentally agile, I was a member of BMUG and ran my office on an improvised network of early 1984 Macs joined with ordinary telephone wire, before wifi and before ethernet. But now we are old and decrepit. What I am looking for is a viable and easily understood solution, not merely an explanation of the obstacles. I am sure that if Steve Jobs, may he rest in peace, was still alive today, there would exist a solution capable of being executed by our aging brains. I am hoping that there is one and that you, who have been so kind, would be further patient and kind enough to consider laying out the steps, at least out of pity for our situation created by my stupidity in how I originally set this up.
Notwithstanding sberman's advice, it is possible to change and use an entirely different AppleID with the iPad without losing data.
To do so, first ensure that you have disabled the Activation Lock that will otherwise cause difficulties in the future. You can disable the Activation Lock by disabling the Find My service from iPad/iPhone settings before trying to use a different AppleID account:
Settings > [Your Name / AppleID] > Find My > Find My iPad - set to OFF
Having disabled the Activation lock, you can now sign-out from your AppleID:
Settings > [Your Name / AppleID] > Sign Out
Presumably you’ll want to keep any iCloud data that is locally stored on the iPad. If so, accept the opportunity to keep a local copy of your data (e.g., Calendar, Contacts, Notes, Keychain Passwords etc.) - as otherwise this data will be wiped from your iPad as you sign-out from iCloud.
Also ensure that you have signed-out from Messages and FaceTime:
After signing out, a restart of your iPad is recommended:
Restart your iPad - Apple Support
Force restart iPhone - Apple Support
After restarting, you can sign-in to your wife's AppleID account from iPad settings (creating a new AppleID account if necessary) - and also sign-in to Messages and FaceTime. Any iCloud data that you saved to your device during the previous sign-out will be merged with the new AppleID account.
Be aware that once the data saved on the iPad is merged with the new AppleID, this process cannot be reversed. Any data or sensitive information that you don't want must be manually identified and deleted.
You may also wish to consider setting-up Family Sharing - as this will allow you to share purchased Apps and subscribed Apple services:
Set up Family Sharing – Apple Support
Share App Store, iTunes Store and Apple Books purchases with Family Sharing – Apple Support
https://www.imore.com/how-set-up-family-sharing-iphone-ipad
Hopefully this will resolve your current difficulty - and meet your immediate need.
Macsince1984-2 wrote:
My dear sberman, I appreciate your explanations for why I can't do what I need to do because it is not Apple's way, but I am now 88 years old and she is 84. When I was younger and more mentally agile, I was a member of BMUG and ran my office on an improvised network of early 1984 Macs joined with ordinary telephone wire, before wifi and before ethernet. But now we are old and decrepit. What I am looking for is a viable and easily understood solution, not merely an explanation of the obstacles. I am sure that if Steve Jobs, may he rest in peace, was still alive today, there would exist a solution capable of being executed by our aging brains. I am hoping that there is one and that you, who have been so kind, would be further patient and kind enough to consider laying out the steps, at least out of pity for our situation created by my stupidity in how I originally set this up.
Notwithstanding sberman's advice, it is possible to change and use an entirely different AppleID with the iPad without losing data.
To do so, first ensure that you have disabled the Activation Lock that will otherwise cause difficulties in the future. You can disable the Activation Lock by disabling the Find My service from iPad/iPhone settings before trying to use a different AppleID account:
Settings > [Your Name / AppleID] > Find My > Find My iPad - set to OFF
Having disabled the Activation lock, you can now sign-out from your AppleID:
Settings > [Your Name / AppleID] > Sign Out
Presumably you’ll want to keep any iCloud data that is locally stored on the iPad. If so, accept the opportunity to keep a local copy of your data (e.g., Calendar, Contacts, Notes, Keychain Passwords etc.) - as otherwise this data will be wiped from your iPad as you sign-out from iCloud.
Also ensure that you have signed-out from Messages and FaceTime:
After signing out, a restart of your iPad is recommended:
Restart your iPad - Apple Support
Force restart iPhone - Apple Support
After restarting, you can sign-in to your wife's AppleID account from iPad settings (creating a new AppleID account if necessary) - and also sign-in to Messages and FaceTime. Any iCloud data that you saved to your device during the previous sign-out will be merged with the new AppleID account.
Be aware that once the data saved on the iPad is merged with the new AppleID, this process cannot be reversed. Any data or sensitive information that you don't want must be manually identified and deleted.
You may also wish to consider setting-up Family Sharing - as this will allow you to share purchased Apps and subscribed Apple services:
Set up Family Sharing – Apple Support
Share App Store, iTunes Store and Apple Books purchases with Family Sharing – Apple Support
https://www.imore.com/how-set-up-family-sharing-iphone-ipad
Hopefully this will resolve your current difficulty - and meet your immediate need.
immediately stop sharing an Apple ID with your wife.
Make sure that each family member has a unique Apple ID - Apple Support
Thoroughly cleanse your wife’s iPad before she “moves in”.
What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support
Then she can be set up as a trusted person.
You’re looking for a way for your wife to help you with your Apple gear in a crisis situation. You cannot set her up a a trusted contact because by sharing an Apple ID you look like the same person.
Consider this alternate approach. You may create a recovery key. Document the key and keep it with your valuable papers. Perhaps this will achieve your objective.
Learn about this approach here.
Set up a recovery key for your Apple ID - Apple Support
Also:
Macsince1984-2 wrote:
Some of her contents goes back to the first iPad, and some of mine to the first Mac.
All content under one Apple ID is identified as belonging to one person - the unique Apple ID owner.
This is silly - I don't understand the logic of this. Even if Apple considers me the owner of the iPad, why can't I, as the owner use it to get back into my Mac account since obviously I consider myself to be "a trust-worthy person"?
Macsince1984-2 wrote:
why can't I, as the owner use it to get back into my Mac account
Presumably “Mac account” means your Apple ID. If you can’t get in to your Apple ID, that applies to all your Apple devices.
Thank you for that excellent explanation. Now I understand.
But I'm sure she doesn't want me to wipe everthing clean off it! The contents is really hers.
How can I switch it to her with the content still on it?
If “the content is really hers”, perhaps it would be more convenient for you to acquire the new Apple ID and thoroughly cleanse your Apple device(s) before “moving in”.
In either case, Family Sharing is an option.
Neither one of us is willing to sacrifice our years of existing contents. Are you saying that if she acquires and switches to her own apple ID she will lose her existing contents? That would be untenable. Some of her contents goes back to the first iPad, and some of mine to the first Mac.
Macsince1984-2 wrote:
Are you saying that if she acquires and switches to her own apple ID she will lose her existing contents?
If she switches to her own Apple ID, the contents of the previously existing Apple ID is actually your contents, not hers. You would, of course, retain access to this content. She may be granted access to the content using Family Sharing as described in the first article I provided above.
My dear sberman, I appreciate your explanations for why I can't do what I need to do because it is not Apple's way, but I am now 88 years old and she is 84. When I was younger and more mentally agile, I was a member of BMUG and ran my office on an improvised network of early 1984 Macs joined with ordinary telephone wire, before wifi and before ethernet. But now we are old and decrepit. What I am looking for is a viable and easily understood solution, not merely an explanation of the obstacles. I am sure that if Steve Jobs, may he rest in peace, was still alive today, there would exist a solution capable of being executed by our aging brains. I am hoping that there is one and that you, who have been so kind, would be further patient and kind enough to consider laying out the steps, at least out of pity for our situation created by my stupidity in how I originally set this up.
Wow! LotusPilot, thank you so much for sharing your very detailed guidance with which to extract me from my tangled web! I shall print it out and look forward to implementing it. What a relief!
How can I set up my wife's iPad as a trusted device for security when it is in my name?
