How can I resolve Apple Account association issues on my iPhone?

Thanks for posting. I had my phone replaced after the back glass broke on my previous phone. Next time I restart I’ll choose the Transfer option and see how I get on.

Same issue with error message after installing 18.1.1.No issue prior to update.Bug!

It's a BUG, Apple. Fix it!

Further update- it’s actually got worse. Every 10 minutes. I’ve lost years of game play deleting and restoring Apps but nothing seems to stop the rampaging beast.

I just updated to 18.3.1 and it's happening more than ever on my iPad.

Thanks for letting me know. I don’t think i’ll risk another update until i really have to. Once a day i can live with, if it’s constant that would really p me off.

So what did you lose by doing that?

OK, so far it's not clear what the solution is, only that (cancel) leads to the popup reoccurring, and that ((transfer) stops it from popping up. That indicates nothing about what is logged as data and what access is limited as a result. The issue would be multi fold:

A) trying to restore your phone again only to find out you are now locked out of downloading any previously purchased app for ~90 days

B) You have multiple apple ID's / accounts because you have had to do this to get around traveling/living in different countries, so how are these affected in the onboarding process or later trying to restore those apps through the restore option later offered by apple in the restoration user path.

C) it affects nothing at all, though that seems unlikely as the terms are clear, though the actionable buttons provide no insight as to what will happen as a result.

I imagine this is more than a bug, it's likely a safe-guard to theft in general, where just wiping a phone and another bug allowed individual phones to be resold after stolen, but now having to erase the phone from an Apple ID account which it was tied to marked as lost stolen etc would brick it, potentially. You get what I'm saying and it seems obvious, but this is why you are meant to check serial numbers because Apple didn't want to automate this. I imagine this is their fab solve.

Additional issue I encountered having two accounts: I was asked to sign into my other Apple ID in order to download the apps purchased under that ID, after doing so I had to provide a verification number sent to the numbers associated with the account. Well, I lost my phone down a manhole and can only receive texts and FaceTime calls on one of those numbers. Apple never made it clear who was sending the verification code, which country, and they never came through. So I will continue to monitor this and report my findings as they are unique.

I would call Apple, but, lol, no way if I can find the answer by googling it, stupid suggestion by whoever thinks all your time is best spent on hold then battling tech experts, why do you think these forums exist. I've called 911 countless times and they have not once come to my rescue. I hope for hope.

Exactly the same here too: I have this iPhone for years already, was not second hand, and after updating to 18.1.1.- I started to get this message. Tapping either cancel or transfer does not help: the message keeps reappearing randomly.

Thank you so much! Apple support didn’t solve the problem, I’ll try the transfer box next time it pops up. It is a very scary, cryptic message. Apple really need to get a grip, thanks for the red pill!

Hiya, thank you for posting this. I get this message daily. My phone is somehow linked to my son’s - which is fine. If i click transfer do you happen to know if either phone would be affected please? Thank you

I pressed Transfer and it worked. It only happened on my 2018 iPad Pro 12.9" which I think was purchased from Apple as a refurbished unit. It did not happen on our two iPhone 13 Pros or iPhone 14 Pro, both purchased new. I have a theory this only happens with devices which had an ownership transfer. They were legitimately transferred by signing off the Apple ID and registering the new Apple ID, but it seems there is an Apple Account also associated with each device, different from the Apple ID, and that was not transferred. With the nee iOS 18, this is being checked, and we are offered the option to now Transfer the Apple Account. So with a device legitimately transferred, clicking Transfer should resolve the problem.

This is happening on both the iPhone 14 Pro I handed down to my daughter and the iPhone 12 Pro she handed down to my sister. Are they going to fix it in an update? Reading this thread it’s IOS 18.x.x bug and impacts 12, 13, 14 iPhones.