My contacts on my iphone and my son's contacts on his ipod touch merged with the icloud update. How do I just have my contacts on my device and his on his device?

My iphone contacts and my son's ipod touch contacts merged with the 5.0.1 update to icloud. How do I separate the contacts so this doesn't keep happening?

iPhone 3GS, iOS 5.0.1

Posted on Dec 20, 2011 6:52 AM

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11 replies

Dec 20, 2011 7:09 AM in response to rebecca182

Both of you need your own separate Apple ID's in order to use iCloud, iMessage & FaceTime. Otherwise, you'll have a mess on your hands. You can still share iTunes content using, I assume, your Apple ID/account. Just get your son his own Apple ID to use for iCloud, iMessage & FaceTime:


https://appleid.apple.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/MyAppleId.woa/wa/createAppleId?loca lang=en_US


He will need an email address to do this, so if he doesn't have an email account, set that up first.

Dec 20, 2011 7:27 AM in response to rebecca182

Yep. Delete the iCloud account on his phone, then re-create it with his ID. For iMessage: Settings>Messages>Receive at...edit here...Apple ID...sign out...then sign back in with his ID. Same with FaceTime: Settings>FaceTime...tap the Apple Id shown, sign out, then sign back in with his ID.


When you delete the iCloud account, this will also delete ALL contacts on your son's phone, if he's syncing them with iCloud. It will also delete ALL of your contacts, & YOUR iCloud account. So make sure that both of your contacts are in supported applications on your computer FIRST. That way you can sync them back to both of your phones, then setup iCloud again & each start syncing contacts with iCloud, if that's what you want to do.

Dec 20, 2011 7:39 AM in response to wjosten

I don't think either if us have our contacts tied to Outlook on our computer, in fact, I know he doesn't. Will this complicate things? We can live with the duplication if it does, but now I will know how to set up my husband's phone when I do the update on that. We can still use the same iTunes account, but after the update to iCloud, set up a separate email address and account for iCloud. Is this correct?

Dec 20, 2011 7:48 AM in response to rebecca182

rebecca182 wrote:

I don't think either if us have our contacts tied to Outlook on our computer, in fact, I know he doesn't. Will this complicate things?


If it were me, I'd first get the contacts into Outlook...otherwise you're relying solely on iCloud. I've never found it smart to rely on one thing when it comes to important computer data, but it's your choice. You can do so by first turning iCloud syncing for contacts off on both of your phones. You'll get a prompt to keep on your phone or delete. Select keep on phone. Then make sure Outlook has at least ONE unique entry, then select to sync contacts with Outlook on the Info pane in iTunes. You'll get a merge or replace prompt, select merge. Now you both have your contacts in Outlook, you can edit them there, then re-sync your phones & get that sorted out.


We can still use the same iTunes account, but after the update to iCloud, set up a separate email address and account for iCloud. Is this correct?


Yep. Separate Apple ID's for iCloud, iMessage & FaceTime, but you all can still use the same Apple ID for iTunes & app store purchases.

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My contacts on my iphone and my son's contacts on his ipod touch merged with the icloud update. How do I just have my contacts on my device and his on his device?

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