Can I merge 2 Apple IDs?

As I understand it, we never actually "own" any software, we buy the rights to use it. Same with downloaded music.

The rights holder can impose any restrictions they want at any time, hence the ever-changing TOS agreements.

Software not only is covered by terms-of-service, it is always full of security flaws that are sold to you and only safe to use if you continually keep it updated to fix things as the problems become public knowledge.

Music, however, may be packaged as a 'product' in the form of a CD or something physical. In that case there are consumer protection laws that provide you with certain rights that apply when you purchase a product, like the right to resell, give away the product, or to leave it to heirs. Personally, I do not buy any music or videos packaged in a way that does not convey these rights. But you can make your own choices.

My participation in this thread happened when the change to email addresses was forced and I could not use my own gmail ID that I had created separately. But when I tried again after a long time of not using the gmail ID, I was allowed to convert to it. With no idea why it didn't work at first or did eventually.

I've always used a non-Apple email address as my Apple ID, first my Earthlink address, then my Gmail address. To the best of my knowledge, once Apple moved from "user names" to "email addresses as user names", you've been able to use any address you chose. At this point, without seeing the error messages, it's almost impossible to say why you had a problem using your Gmail address as your Apple ID.

For even more mystery, when I logged into this conversation in a browser it prompted me for a verification code - which popped up in a nearby area of the same screen.

You've apparently set up Two-Factor Authentication.

Two-factor authentication for Apple ID - Apple Support

And now it seems like you can log individual apps into different accounts. Is that a good idea?

I'm really not sure what you mean by that. Apps that you download are always tied to the Apple ID that you used when downloading them. If you mean something different, can you try to explain in a different way?

LesMikesell wrote:

My problem was that I saw somewhere that Apple was starting to require Apple IDs to be email addresses, so I created a new one using my gmail address. Then when I logged into my old Apple ID account and was prompted to change it to one that was an email address, but I could not use the one I had just created. So I ignored it for a few months and tried the same thing again and it worked. I don't know if the new ID had expired from lack of use or if they changed the way things worked. Fairly confusing either way. Basically I'm not buying anything new tied to accounts that I don't know how to manage.

You were supposed to update your existing ID, not create a new one. That's where most people get into trouble. Once you created a new Apple ID with an email address, you can't use that email address in another Apple ID. I suspect that you never verified the new Apple ID.

As long as you don't create a new Apple ID for yourself, there's really nothing much to manage. Update the Apple ID if your email address changes. Don't share an Apple ID. Use Family Sharing for sharing content.

Start here:

Managing your Apple ID - Official Apple Support

Can someone please explain what we own and what we are leasing since not we don't own much of what we buy these days.

Except that this issue is an relevant today as it was then. Even more so since it comes to the top in Google searches, which is why is often good to keep them running.

jonesiam wrote:

A fat lot of good that does.

You're apparently new here but that doesn't give you license to be rude. You may not like Gail's answer but it's factually correct. And, it is still as true now as it was almost a year ago when this thread was last active that you can't merge Apple IDs.

Is there a comprehensive description of how Apple ID and its recommended use have changed over the years? For example, I started with one long ago that was not an email address and used the same on my wife's phone because there was no other way to share app purchases. My participation in this thread happened when the change to email addresses was forced and I could not use my own gmail ID that I had created separately. But when I tried again after a long time of not using the gmail ID, I was allowed to convert to it. With no idea why it didn't work at first or did eventually. For even more mystery, when I logged into this conversation in a browser it prompted me for a verification code - which popped up in a nearby area of the same screen.... And now it seems like you can log individual apps into different accounts. Is that a good idea?

My problem was that I saw somewhere that Apple was starting to require Apple IDs to be email addresses, so I created a new one using my gmail address. Then when I logged into my old Apple ID account and was prompted to change it to one that was an email address, but I could not use the one I had just created. So I ignored it for a few months and tried the same thing again and it worked. I don't know if the new ID had expired from lack of use or if they changed the way things worked. Fairly confusing either way. Basically I'm not buying anything new tied to accounts that I don't know how to manage.

And yes, I have two-factor authentication on now - I just don't quite see the security benefit of asking for a code and popping it up in plain sight on the same machine.

As for multiple ID's - maybe I'm mistaken but I thought originally you logged into the phone with one ID that was then used for everything and now the app store, icloud, facetime, etc. could use different IDs if you want. If all of this was clear, I wouldn't be asking where to find documentation about the changes...

Family sharing is a relatively new concept compared to how long ios devices have been around. And it still does not address how to merge ownership with a new marriage or split items up in a divorce or when children move out and start their own family. Until it does, I'm not interested in buying anything trapped in that system.

LesMikesell wrote:

Family sharing is a relatively new concept compared to how long ios devices have been around. And it still does not address how to merge ownership with a new marriage or split items up in a divorce or when children move out and start their own family.

Well, with a marriage, I imagine you just add your new spouse to family sharing. But, as I have neither a spouse nor family sharing, I can't verify.

I think it's important to remember that this is not a problem all of Apple's making. Buying a digital copy of an album or a movie is, legally, somewhat different than buying a physical copy. The licences and your ability to transfer those licenses tend to be more restrictive.

Yes, I agree that it is different. And as such I'm not interested in buying anything that does not give the same rights as buying a physical copy. But, I think it should be made more clear before they take anyone's money. I doubt if most people understand the difference.

LesMikesell wrote:

Yes, I agree that it is different. And as such I'm not interested in buying anything that does not give the same rights as buying a physical copy.

Good luck with that in the future.

Did you ever read what rights you had for the CDs you bought? Probably not. I can't imagine people will be any more likely to read anything about digital media.

The thing is that there are consumer protection laws covering physical items that apply no matter what nonsense the people taking your money would like to happen. If my son wants to take the the CDs I bought for him when he moves out, he is allowed to do it - and then he can sell them if he wants. Even if the vendor tries to say he can't.

When there are equivalent purchase protections for digital media, I'll consider spending money on it. But not before.

LesMikesell wrote:

When there are equivalent purchase protections for digital media, I'll consider spending money on it. But not before.

But, what you aren't allowed to do, legally, is transfer that CD to digital, then sell the CD but keep the digital copy. Will anyone find out if you do? Probably not. But, of course, that's not the point.

I doubt we'll ever see a doctrine of first sale for digital media that looks exactly like that for physical media. So, keep buying those CDs.