Transfer purchases to another ID

Enjoy your afternoon.

Hi,

I have a simular question regarding transfers. No I'm not stealing so please read on.

Years ago I register on iTunes with a @gmail address. I was a Windows user then. Over the years I have spent many $ on iTunes with my ATV.

I recently got a Mac (along with all the other iApple goodies) and want to use the full power of the iCloud, but to do that I need a @me address, which I now have. But I don't want to lose all those purchases made with my @gmail.

Is there a way to change my Apple ID to @me and not lose my purchases. Evertyhting else will stay the same. Credit card billing address everything.

As I already own the purchases, this should not be that bigger deal.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

Marc

I have come to the same situation but from different way - transferring the purchases will be one solution but are there any other options?

The use of my [originally] @mac.com ID is shared within my family for AppStore and iTunes purchases in iPhones and iPads. I am the only one using the ID for e-mail and synchronizations.

I want to use iCloud so that every family member has his/her own AppleID in iCloud for personal data and there is a shared ID for AppStore and iTunes purchases. -> So I want to split the current ID to two separate ID's, one for my email etc. and another for purchases.

When I hope to be able to go on with the current email address in iCloud, the first idea was to create a new AppleID for purchases and transfer the current purchases to the new one. Apparently this is not possible?

Any other ideas? I'm afraid that I cannot use old email-address as an alias in another AppleID? Or can I have an AppleID without an e-mail/mailbox capability?

Message was edited by: discusmsi

I've got the same problem in that my wife and I have been purchasing from appstore and iTunes under separate Apple IDs for years. Recently we added our son to the mix by giving him a Touch. I'm been researching and understand the right way to share is for us to set up a family apple ID. So I'm looking at how we can tranfer our independent purchases to the family ID. The news on this board seems to imply it is impossible but I can't believe Apple truely is that evil a company.

I'm gifting my wife my iPad2 since I'm getting a 3 for a work service award. When I plugged it into her iTunes account, iTunes asked if I wanted to transfer ownership of the apps on my iPad to the "new" iTunes account. Is that the solution? Simply load the idevices with all the goodies from each AppleID and transfer the purchases to the new family iTunes account?

If I do this, will me and my wife be able to access the same iTunes account on our respective computers to sync our devices from our own pc and have iTunes keep the programs we want in sync whether she downloads it or I do?

The latter sounds promising, but I don't want to screw any thing up with the transfer ownership function without knowing for sure.

Any help is appreciated.

It has nothing to do with Apple being an evil company. No, you cannot transfer content from the ID that acquired it to any other ID. Period.

Dah veed, you're not reading. Clearly there is a 'transfer ownership' option as the previous poster just mentioned. The problem is that the fine-print on what's involved there is in legalese and not plain-english for the rest of us humans. What the poster has asked is what's buried in there, and what will happen if he tries that option.

I've read through the 5 pages of this post, and your shilling for Apple is not helpful. Please contribute to the technical support and provision of answers or do not contribute at all, as you could save people 3 pages of unneccessary reading of arguments between people over the good/evil nature of Apple, etc. And Philly and whoever else, don't provoke him please.

Now, who can answer the question- hopefully someone who can decipher and has time to actually read the EULA?

This is NOT a transfer of ownership issue. Yes, he is giving an iOS device to his wife, but he CANNOT give her his content. Period. There is no EULA confusion on that issue. Period.

This is an issue that a family started acquiring content under one Apple ID and now they wish to change course. As much as anyone here may sympathize with them on their desires,Apple has a long standing policy that content cannot be transferred from one ID to another and that IDs cannot be merged period. The content from multiple IDs can be shared on multiple devices and that content can be synced to the different devices separately, but the content will remain assigned to the ID that acquired it and that ID will be required to update the content.

If you think that anyone is a schill because they explain that to folks over an over because they don't appear to get it, that is your opinion and you are welcome to it. That won't change the Apple policy. A policy that you agreed not to question or discuss when you agreed to the Terms of Use for the ASC when you opened your account to participate here. What you also don't have is a right to say is who may or may not participate here.

Well, if it truely is like as Dah Veed says, they truely are money sucking evil. Why make families pay 100's of dollars twice? Perhaps they are not as bad as Oracle, but it sounds close.

Still, an explanation of the point of Transfer Purchases option would be nice. If you can't transfer purchases from on account to another, then what functionality does it provide. It must have some use.

Thanks

The Transfer Purchase option is to transfer purchases from an iOS device back to the computer.

Families don't have to pay for apps twice.

All apps - all paid and free apps include DRM protection which is tied to the iTunes account that was used to download the apps. App updates can be installed with the iTunes account that was used to download the apps only.

There is nothing preventing someone from having apps on their iOS device that were downloaded with more than one iTunes account, but app updates can be installed with the iTunes account that was used to download the apps only.

That is very helpful, but how do I get the sharing?

The computers do show our accounts as authorized on both computers. However, when I try to consolidate libraries, the iPad gives me two options. 1) erase and replace and 2) transfer purchases. So it doesn't seem to be letting me consolidate. What am I missing? How do I upload to two computers with multiple devices? It seems there might be a log in issue I'm missing. How do we see our combined library? How do families share?

It seems to me I have to set it up in a painful way. First our individual pcs recognize each others devices and we have to switch accounts when updating. Second, we set up a third account to act as the family AppleID. Then, slowly over time, the family ID takes over and makes the switching unnecessary. Is that how it works?

iTunes includes an option to transfer iTunes content that was purchased/downloaded from the iTunes store from an iPod, iPhone, and iPad, but this is for iTunes content that was purchased/downloaded from the iTunes store only.

iTunes on the computer must be logged in with the iTunes account to transfer content from the device that was downloaded with that iTunes account.

With the device connected and without syncing, at the iTunes menu bar go to File and select Transfer Purchases From - the name of the device.

iTunes also includes an option to automatically download music, apps, and books that is downloaded direct with an iOS device without having to manually transfer or sync. iTunes must be logged in with the same iTunes account that was used to download the content direct on the device to be automatically downloaded with iTunes on the computer.

Additionally to Allan's advice, you must Authorize the content from all IDs for the iTunes libraries on a computer to use the content. You can Authorize up to five computers to use the content. That includes separate user accounts on the same computer. Once the content is Authorized it can be synced to multiple iOS devices. To Authorize the content, go to the Store menu in the iTunes app on the computer.

OK Allan and Dahveed. So tell me if you think this will work.

1) I go to iTunes and open a new family ID

2) I log in that account in iTunes on one of the computers after authorizing the computer to use that new ID

3) I plug in the iDevices and transfer purchases from the file menu without synching.

4) I log into the family account on the other computer's iTunes and tell it to search for app and music purchased from Apple but not already on the machine and it will update because all IDs are authorized.

5) I put up with the hassle of trying to remember which account was used to purchase which app and occasionally log into the old IDs to update those apps. Obviously, free apps should be redownloaded with the family ID.

6) Overtime the apps from the family ID will take over and it will become less of a hassle.

Is that how it works? Am I missing anything before I start this venture?

At first blush it appears to be something that would work.