iCloud set-up: existing Apple ID and new @me.com ID

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Matthew Palm Author

Level 1

46 points

iCloud set-up: existing Apple ID and new @me.com ID

Hi all:

I have just downloaded OS X 10.7.2, and am currently downloading iOS 5 (or at least trying to).

I have not yet set up iCloud since I'm not totally sure how best to do it.

Here is my situation:

I currently have an Apple ID which is a single word (created years ago when iTunes first came out). Let's call that "matthew."

The email associated with that Apple ID we'll call "matthew@example.com."

My "matthew" Apple ID is what I use for iTunes, the App Store, Game Center, this discussion forum, etc.

What I want to do is create a new @me.com ID, which I'll call "matthew@me.com," and then use that as my new primary email address. Also, I would like to use this with iCloud.

I know that Apple does not allow IDs to merge, meaning I can't have my old "matthew" Apple ID become a part of my new "matthew@me.com" ID.

So, I believe my only option is to have two Apple IDs: my existing "matthew" Apple ID and my new "matthew@me.com" ID. Right?

However, I am not sure how best to do this.

If I set up a new "matthew@me.com" ID in iCloud, how will iCloud know all my previously downloaded apps and music that were downloaded using my "matthew" Apple ID?

Will I be forced to continually sign in and out within apps such as the iTunes Store?

And what if I simply wanted to try iCloud right now using my existing Apple ID? I know that first I would have to change that ID ("matthew") to an email address, right? And then I would sign into iCloud.

But what if I later decided no, I want iCloud to be administered through a new @me.com ID? Can I sign out of iCloud, set up "matthew@me.com," then sign back into iCloud and start using it with the new @me.com ID?

My main concern is that I do not want to close any doors on myself by setting things up in the wrong order.

Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Oct 12, 2011 3:48 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 12, 2011 4:14 PM in response to Matthew Palm

These support articles should help you decide the best course of action: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4895 and http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4436

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Answer 2

Matthew Palm Author

Level 1

46 points

Oct 12, 2011 4:32 PM in response to Julian Wright

Thanks, Julian. I saw thopse support pages, and they were helpful.

But I still have questions.

Of course, I could just sign into iCloud with my existing Apple ID, but I am in a minority situation I think -- I want to use iCloud AND I want to set up a NEW primary email account, using @me.com.

I just want to be sure I understand what exactly I will sacrifice by basically dividing up my Apple IDs into my existing Apple ID (with 5+ years of info attached to it, including iTunes purchases and Apple Discussion forums postings) and a new ID using the @me.com domain.

Any thoughts?

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Answer 3

RJG1999

Level 4

2,945 points

Oct 12, 2011 4:43 PM in response to Matthew Palm

Hi - I could be wrong, but if all you want is a new @me.com primary email address, you can use your existing Apple ID. You should be prompted for an email address when you activate mail in iCloud. For example, I have an @gmail.com Apple ID and a new me.com email address that I just created.

Also found this:

Can I use an Apple ID that isn't an email address to sign up for an iCloud account?

No. Your Apple ID must be a full email address (e.g. name@example.com) in order to sign up for an iCloud account. You can change your existing Apple ID to be in the format of an email address if it is not already atappleid.apple.com.

Hope that helps.

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Answer 4

Oct 12, 2011 7:57 PM in response to RJG1999

I'm in the exact situation that Matthew poses, if I understand correctly. I changed my one word Apple ID to a gmail account address. I then used that to activate iCloud so everything is together. While on my Mac, iCloud automatcially activated calendars, bookmarks, contacts syncing, but left Mail unchecked. When I checked Mail in the iCloud settings, it prompted me to setup a @me.com address.

I've now done that thinking that I could then circle back and change my Apple ID to this email address and then have it perfect. However, when trying to do that, it said that I can't use a MobileMe address for this. Since it would be obvious for somebody to want to make their @me.com address the primary address for this, it seems like a strange error. On top of this, I am not able to get into the Mail application on the iCloud website without error, and any emails I send to my new @me.com address get returned.

So, I think that my procedure may be exactly correct, but there are currently issues on iCloud preventing it from working at this time. I'm not sure of this, but it doesn't seem right. So, I'm going to call Apple tonight or tomorrow to check it out and will post back if an answer isn't found before I get it.

I hope that helps.

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Answer 5

Matthew Palm Author

Level 1

46 points

Oct 12, 2011 8:18 PM in response to supermurph

Hi supermurph:

What you described is exactly what I want to do, too.

But from what I understand -- and from what Apple has said repeatedly -- you cannot change an Apple ID to an @me.com email address. Apple just doesn't allow it.

But maybe that will change. Obviously, there is the demand for it.

Meanwhile, I am torn about whether I should just jump in and start using iCloud with my existing Apple ID, and then set up an @me.com email address later. I worry that that will close a door for me if/when I do set up my @me.com email address and then assign THAT new ID to be my iCloud ID.

Very confusing.

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Answer 6

Oct 12, 2011 8:23 PM in response to Matthew Palm

I've had a MobileMe account for a few years, but was not using the email. So, it was an easy decision to use my iTunes "purchases" account because I did not want to lose my purchase history. I might have it wrong, but am assuming that you want to maintain that history for iTunes in the Cloud, so if you choose to migrate MobileMe, you are choosing to retain two seperate accounts.

Therefore, I think where I've ended up is that I can have a new @me.com address and start to use it on the same account where I have purchases and all of my sync items. Seems like a win over the dual account way except for not having the @me.com address be a sign in. Not perfect, but still better than two accounts.

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Answer 7

Matthew Palm Author

Level 1

46 points

Oct 12, 2011 8:47 PM in response to supermurph

Thanks, murph.

Let me see if I follow you.

I do indeed have an existing Apple ID that I have used for years with iTunes, and there are a lot of purchases (music and apps) tied to that account. So yes, I would very much like to keep using this ID (or at least all the metadata associated with that ID).

The ID I have is a single word, let's call it "Matthew." I know that if I want to use this existing Apple ID with iCloud, I have to change it to an email address, which I understand is pretty easy to do on Apple's website. So, let's say I go ahead and do that -- I would then have a newly named Apple ID that was "Matthew@exampleemail.com."

This is where I get lost. If I did then want to go set up an @me.com email, how would I be able to tie that to my existing Apple ID? It seems everything Apple says is that that's not possible.

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Answer 8

faxao

Level 1

8 points

Oct 14, 2011 12:40 PM in response to Matthew Palm

Now this is getting really tricky and I am getting kind of lost.

I too have a "one word" Apple ID since many years and when I try to set up iCloud on my Mac I am prompted with the usual warning for using an e-mail address instead of the single word. Apple suggests me to use my verified @gmail.com address.

Now if I do use my gmail account, that means that all my one word Apple ID account track record will be lost ?

Really confusing....

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Answer 9

Matthew Palm Author

Level 1

46 points

Oct 14, 2011 1:03 PM in response to faxao

Hi faxao:

No - changing your Apple ID to your email will not affect your account information.

Here is what I did:

First, I went to the Apple ID management page (http://appleid.apple.com) and I changed my existing one-word ID to the primary email address associated with that ID.

From that point on, my Apple ID now became my email address. My password remained the same, and my 8+ years of history with iTunes/Apple remained the same. All this did was change the name of my Apple ID -- my Apple ID account is still the same.

Then, I opened up iCloud in System Preferences and I signed in using my new email address ID (which was really my existing Apple account, just with a different name).

From that point on, after signing in on other devices, I could sync anything and everything I wanted between my iPhone, iPad, and iMac, and all my years of purchase history (not to mention Discussion forums, App Store, Game Center, etc.) remained intact and accessible by iCloud.

In my cae, however, I also wanted to create a new @me.com email address. I did so in System Preferences > iCloud, then checking Mail & Notes. At that point I was prompted to choose an email address. (Do so carefully as you cannot change it once you select one.)

So far so good. But my ultimate goal was to then make my NEW @me.com email address the primary email address associated with my Apple ID. And of course, this is not possible.

Interestingly enough, this all happened while an Apple rep was on the phone. He walked me through all of the above (his good advice was to sign into iCloud with whatever existing Apple ID you have, to insure all history gets ported over). Then he said, "OK, now let's go back to the Apple ID management page and change your email to the new @me.com email."

I told him, "Um, I don't think that will work."

And sure enough, when I tried to change my Apple ID email to my new @me.com email, I got a warning saying that wasn't possible.

The good news is that my iCloud ID and Apple ID are now one and the same for me, and all seems to be syncing without any problems. The bad news is that if I want to change my email to @me.com, I will be stuck with an old email address as my Apple ID.

The guy on the phone said Apple is working on this, so maybe they'll make Apple ID merging possible soon.

One can dream...

I hope this helps.

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Answer 10

mercsd

Level 1

21 points

Oct 14, 2011 4:10 PM in response to Matthew Palm

Hey Matthew,

It's all actually very simple, though the documentation makes it sound like a mess. To do this correctly:

Use your existing Anonymous Apple ID when asked during the initial setup if iOS 5. (Anonymous Apple ID is any non-Apple email based account.)
Go through the setup for using a SINGLE Apple ID.
When you are ready to setup iCloud, make sure that you are using this Anonymous Apple ID and it will create an iCloud account for it after asking you the primary @me.com email address that you want to use. It must be a new address that has never been used before, not evan as an alias.
You can now sign in to www.icloud.com as either your Anonymous Apple ID, or as the primary @me.com email address, using the password from the Anonymous Apple ID account.

Unfortunately, I learned this too late and ended up with 2 iCloud accounts. If you are in the same situation as myself, you may need to:

Delete the iCloud account fromt he device.
Delete all of the iCloud email accounts from the device.
Remove all the logins from all of your Settings (i.e. iTunes, App Store, etc.).
Go back into iCloud settings and setup iCloud for your Anonymous Apple ID (the reason for this is that it is tied to all of your existing purchases and you will have problems in the future if you don't).
Setup the logins for all of the Settings that you removed, using your Anonymous Apple ID.
Add any additional iCloud accounts that you have as additional email accounts.

I hope this helps.

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Answer 11

Oct 17, 2011 10:38 AM in response to Matthew Palm

Is there a timeline or a way to get notified when this fix goes live?

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Answer 12

Oct 19, 2011 12:46 PM in response to Matthew Palm

Hi Matthew,

Yesterday I was having all the same concerns as you, except that my Apple ID has always been a full email address.

I set up iCloud using my existing Apple ID rather than creating a new one, and chose to create a new @me.com email address.

This @me.com email address now shows as an alternative email address when I check the information on the My Apple ID webpage, but as you say, cannot be used as the primary address.

I have iCloud working perfectly with this set up, and have configured my Mail application on my Macbook to use the @me.com address. This is fantastic, since the main attraction for me in upgrading to Lion OS' and in setting up iCloud, was to have a new apple address which I could configure in Mail. Yahoo never successfully configured in Mail.

I hoped that I would be able to discontinue all other email providers now that Apple were giving us free addresses and webmail functionality. I think it's fantastic - I'm just frustrated that I have to retain my Yahoo account, only because it is my primary Apple ID address.

Something I tried as an after thought was to delete the new @me.com address that was associated with my Apple ID on the My Apple ID webpage, and then create a new Apple ID with the @me.com address that I had chosen. When I tried to choose the @me.com email address that I wanted it was taken, even though I had removed it from my existing Apple ID.

Since that idea hadn't worked, I have stuck with what I had - my existing Apple ID (a Yahoo address) and a new @me.com email address associated with it.

I only hope that in the future, Apple can remove the need to retain non Apple email accounts as primary email accounts for Apple IDs. Then I can finally close Yahoo!!

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Answer 13

Matthew Palm Author

Level 1

46 points

Oct 19, 2011 2:22 PM in response to Audrey Lepere

Hi Audrey:

Yup. We are in exactly the same place.

I, too, have a new @me.com email address, but I am still forced to keep the old Apple ID email address alive. (Mine is also a Yahoo account.)

I do believe Apple will eventually allow IDs to merge. (I think Tim Cook recently sent out an email to someone in the Netherlands hinting as much.)

As far as your problem with deleting your @me.com email address, and then trying to add it back -- the reason Apple did not allow you to do that is because it *is* already in use...by you.

Rest assured, that ID still belongs to you. Unfortunately, we have to wait for Apple to fix this problem before you can add it back into your current/main ID.

It is frustrating...but at least you're not alone!

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Answer 14

Moris

Level 1

26 points

Oct 26, 2011 1:46 AM in response to Matthew Palm

Hi Matthew and Audrey (and all...)

I'm in the same situation, with the slight difference that my goal is to keep my existing Apple ID for purchases on iTunes and Apple Store only (for the whole family), and the freshly created (by iCloud setup)

"myname@me.com" as new Apple ID for iCloud, iMessages, etc.

I also tried to remove the @me.com mail address as alternate address from my current Apple ID and use it as new Apple ID, but without success.

Since after reading a ton of posts on this argument I'm a little confused (...), could you please confirm that till now:

- you can't use the new @me.com email address as new Apple ID

- you can't use the new @me.com email address as primary email address for an existing Apple ID

- Apple is working to remove these restrictions

Thanks 😉

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Answer 15

Matthew Palm Author

Level 1

46 points

Oct 26, 2011 6:31 AM in response to Moris

Hi Moris:

In answer to your questions...

- "you can't use the new @me.com email address as new Apple ID" - That's a tricky question. You can indeed use your new @me.com ID as a new Apple ID (for iTunes purchases, for example, and/or for iCloud features), but this Apple ID will be completely separate from your old Apple ID (see next question), and will not have information on all your previous purchases.

- "you can't use the new @me.com email address as primary email address for an existing Apple ID" - That's correct. This is the one bug that Apple has not yet addressed. You can change your old Apple ID to a new email address name, as long as that new email is NOT an @me.com address.

- "Apple is working to remove these restrictions" - Your guess is as good as anyone's. Apple is notoriously tight-lipped about changes and new features they have in the works. But there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that they are indeed working on this. We shall see...

I hope this helps! (Please click that little button on the bottom right if so. Thanks!)

Matt

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