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

This issue did not go away after installing the newer update 18.2 which I had hoped was a fix to this bug. I did not have this issue until I installed 18.1.

The following message started to appear after updating iPad Air 3rd Gen to IOS 18.2. "If you turn on Automatic Downloads with your Apple Account, you cannot auto-download or download past purchases with a different Apple Account for 90 Days."

I have clicked on "Transfer" as suggested and the message still continues to occasionally appear. Does anyone else have a recommendation to resolve this issue?

I have tried selecting transfer as recommended but to no avail.Error message does not resolve regardless of which choice you make.Sent info about error message to Apple

All I did was allow the latest update (18.1) and it doesn’t matter which option I use, the same message keeps popping up. I turned off my phone.

It has to be a bug.

just noticed there is another update (18.2). I will install that one and see if that fixes it.

I believe I finally have found a solution to this exact issue after my third call to Apple Support. The reason for the pop up "This Device is Already Associated with an Apple Account.....", typically when the phone is shut down and powered up again, is because of one of the apps on your phone was or is shared with another apple account, ie your wife, colleague, etc when it was originally downloaded. For us, selecting either transfer or cancel did not prevent this from happening again. I do believe that the ios 18 series update is also relevant as to why this started happening out of the blue. The time intensive workaround is to start from your home page and one by one, delete the third party non Apple apps on the phone, then immediately go to App store and reload that app (data is saved on each app). Once you have done that for home page, shut the phone down and restart it to assess if the pop up recurs. If it does not, this should be resolved. If happens again, go to your second page and repeat the process for each non native Apple app. Eventually, you will have stumbled upon the app causing this pop up, and it should not recur. Takes a while, but it's the only approach that worked for us. Prior to this process, go to settings, apps, app store, scroll down and turn off app updates (automatic updates), then can turn it back on after you have resolved the pop up issue and reloaded your apps, as this may be contributing as well. Hope this helps as it's been a very annoying issue.

Hey Everyone,

First, I'm really sorry to hear so many folks are experiencing this. I have had zero luck reaching Apple or speaking with Support (who have no idea what I'm talking about). I reached out to the company I got the phone from - Assurion - as my phone was a replacement under a Verizon insurance plan. They also claim ignorance, saying "we wipe all phones before they're sent out" which is meaningless in this situation. So, I found out that I have a one-year warranty on the phone so I'm switching it out again. For reference, I got this phone in February 2024 from Assurion, and had NO problem at all until updating to iOS 18.x. Clearly, this issue was flying under the radar until Apple upgraded their theft tracking. Not a bad thing, but obviously we have no way of fixing the issue if we do not know who owned the phone before us. The cynical side of me thinks this could be a ploy to encourage more people to purchase new phones rather than used phones....but let's not get into that. Best of luck to all of you in solving!

He needs to go through the process again as the device is still attached to his Apple ID.

What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

They can scroll down to the “If you no longer have your iPhone” and follow the steps.

Add me to the list of folks getting this. Just updated my iPad Pro… it’s an old 11 inch, I’m the original owner, always on same account. Message comes up about every 15 minutes and is super annoying.

I’ve had my XR for years always been associated with the same account. Started getting this message after updating to IOS 18. I have repeatedly pressed transfer and cancel. I’ve pressed transfer and restarted but I still keep getting the message sometimes 2-3 times an hour which is really, really annoying while you are playing a game. I have also now upgraded to IOS 18.2 in the vain hope they had sorted the bug in the latest upgrade but NO, I still keep getting it. Anyone got any miracle cures?

I have just upgraded my phone to IOS 18.3 in the hope that Apple had sorted this problem out as one of their ‘bug fixes’. No such luck, when I logged into my phone after completing this update the first thing that appeared was the annoying Apple account association notice. I have selected transfer for the umpteenth time but I’m not holding out any hope that this will be the last time I see it.

I would suggest you contact Apple about this. The people reading this forum are just other users like yourself. If you want somebody to look at the software you need to tell Apple about it.

Click on this link for Apple products feedback links --> Product Feedback - Apple

Apple may not respond but your comment will be read.

Refer to this support article about that message —> View and remove your devices that are associated with your Apple Account for purchases - Apple Support

‘When you try to associate a device that was previously associated, you might notice a message that says, “This device is associated with another Apple Account. You cannot associate this device with another Apple Account for [number] days.” You might need to wait up to 90 days to associate the device with a different Apple Account.’

New in 2024: It used to be Apple only talked about restricting app downloads and streaming for 90 days.

OLD POLICY

See and remove your devices that are associated with Apple ID purchases - View and remove your devices that are associated with your Apple Account for purchases - Apple Support - Read "More about associated devices" at the end where it refers to the 90 day wait. This applies to re-downloading past purchases (you can make new purchases), automatic downloads, and iCloud based services such as Family Sharing, Match, and Apple Music.