iPhone 16 IOS v26.1 and .2 App Updates Request Wife's Password with COSMOTE WIFI SSID

Question

Level 1

4 points

iPhone 16 IOS v26.1 and .2 App Updates Request Wife's Password with COSMOTE WIFI SSID

Since I updated my iPhone 16 to IOS v 26 and also .1 and .2 every time I go to the App Store and try to update Apps for some of them a screen comes up with my wife's user-id asking me for her password to allow update. Most of these apps do not even exist on my wife's iPhone 16 which is still at iOS 18.7.2. We both have 2 eSims in our iPhones one from Verizon, active on both phones and one from a European mobile company COSMOTE (associated with T-Mobile) which is only active on mine and each time the error occurs a message shows up over the key board and under the request for her password it shows

"password for apple.com - Passwords"

"COSMOTE - XXXXXX"

The above COSMOTE - xxxxxx is the SSID of the WIFI of our summer house in Greece none of which showed up prior to updating my iPhone16 to IOS 26 .1 and .2 and also never shows up on my wife's iPhone 16 not updated yet.

We spent almost 2hrs troubleshooting this with AppleCare and tried everything including resets of my iPhone that removed all my cards from my iPhone's Wallet did h/w and s/w tests but none pointed to any problems.

The only option to update my Apps is to delete each and download the current version which is very time consuming for so many apps that have by now piled up.

Is anyone else experiencing such problem with iOS V26?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Aps updates since updating my iPhone 16 to IOS v 26 and also .1 and .2

iPhone 16 Pro

Posted on Jan 15, 2026 1:16 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 16, 2026 10:17 AM in response to LD150

LD150 wrote:

Was your phone once owned (ie signed into) by your wife, but not properly restore to factory first, maybe you just had her sign out and you sign in.

There is no simple way but to go through every app, delete app, install app.

Alternatively, safeguard your data the best way you can, eg fully sync everything to iCloud, and restore your phone to factory settings and start again.

That's an excellent question and would surely explain why some apps are requesting his wife's account details to update them.

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Answer 2

LD150

Level 10

105,238 points

Jan 16, 2026 10:19 AM in response to lobsterghost1

lobsterghost1 wrote:

LD150 wrote:

Was your phone once owned (ie signed into) by your wife, but not properly restore to factory first, maybe you just had her sign out and you sign in.

There is no simple way but to go through every app, delete app, install app.

Alternatively, safeguard your data the best way you can, eg fully sync everything to iCloud, and restore your phone to factory settings and start again.

That's an excellent question and would surely explain why some apps are requesting his wife's account details to update them.

Yes, been there, done that, learned by mistakes!

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Answer 3

Jan 15, 2026 2:43 PM in response to SGT_12603

Apps are tied to the Apple Account used to download them. So if you downloaded an app under one Apple ID and subsequently logged into a different one (without erasing the phone first), you might run into this sort of problem.

However, I have never heard of apps being tied to a Wi-Fi router’s SSID or password.

I wonder if this is a matter of some apps being tied to a particular region (you said your summer house was in Greece). By any chance, did either of you create an extra Apple ID to use when in Greece for downloading apps while there? (Wild guess thst could be completely wrong.). And, if so, did you just happen to pick that password as a memory aid? (Meaning there is no actual link between the apps and the SSID; just a coincidental one you created)?

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Answer 4

Jan 15, 2026 1:57 PM in response to SGT_12603

Do you and your wife share the same Apple Account (formerly called Apple ID)?

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Answer 5

LD150

Level 10

105,238 points

Jan 16, 2026 9:58 AM in response to SGT_12603

Was your phone once owned (ie signed into) by your wife, but not properly restore to factory first, maybe you just had her sign out and you sign in.

There is no simple way but to go through every app, delete app, install app.

Alternatively, safeguard your data the best way you can, eg fully sync everything to iCloud, and restore your phone to factory settings and start again.

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Answer 6

Jan 16, 2026 10:58 AM in response to SGT_12603

The Apple password manager (called Passwords) is confused and requesting a password that you reused for multiple accounts ie using same password over and over. This is not a best practice.

When the password is requested manually enter both the account name (email address??) and manually enter the password. Do not use the password manager.

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Answer 7

MrBill3

Level 10

104,837 points

Jan 15, 2026 3:03 PM in response to Servant of Cats

Hello SGT_12603

In addition to "Servant of Cats" excellent comments:

The solution to the problem is to delete the apps and download them again with your current ID.

Good luck.

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Answer 8

SGT_12603 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 16, 2026 9:41 AM in response to Servant of Cats

Thanks for reply BUT:

Always use my own Apple ID & PW and never tried any other one.
Been traveling back and forth across the US and also US to Europe to several countries and typically update my iPhone Apps as they show up even on a daily basis independent of where I am using wifi or direct VZ mobile which I keep active even when traveling outside of the US.
KEY POINTS the problem started once I updated only my iPhone16 P to iOS version 26 and continues on .1 & .2 and does not show up on my iPad that that I do share Apple ID and PW with and it is at iOS version 18.7.2 also does not show up on my wife's iPhone16 P which also not updated to v26.

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