Solving an Apple ID problem if I move to iCloud

Question

Solving an Apple ID problem if I move to iCloud

After many years of being a Mac user, I still contend the most un-Apple like thing they do is the restriction process of Apple IDs. I might be wrong, and hopefully I am, but here is my current situation and how I'd like to change it.

1. I'm currently a Google Apps user (because I can use my own domain) so I now live in the Google Cloud. That said, now that I've switched from Android to the iPhone 4S and I'm about to get an iPad, I would rather just be "all Apple" (you'd think Apple would like this and make it easy for people to come back 100% into the Apple corral...but they don't).

2. My current (and only) Apple ID is my Gmail email address, as is my iTunes ID. But if I dump Google completely and move everything to Mail.app, iCal, iCloud, etc. I'll "forever" have to use my old Gmail email address as my Apple ID and iCloud login (I think I can change my iTunes one to my @me.com address, though...not even sure about that).

3 In a perfect world, I'd like to simply make my current Apple ID disappear and use my @me.com email address as my Apple ID for everything on iCloud and iTunes. One thing I will not do is move everything over to iCloud and then have to use an old Gmail address as my Apple ID for the rest of my life.

I'm sure I know the answer to number (3.) is "no", but thought I'd ask anyway, just in case there is some magic that can be worked. If not, does anyone know if Apple is ever going to change things to allow changing the Apple ID? I know there are thousands out there with the same issue...all you have to do is Google the problem. Thanks for any help or ideas.

MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.7.3), 256GB - 24" LED Cinema Display

Posted on Mar 25, 2012 5:53 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 25, 2012 6:45 AM in response to Larry McJunkin

You can change your Apple ID, you just cannot change it to a me address.

If you sign up for an iCloud account, you will be given a me address. You can use that me address for mail, or for logging into any of your accounts. You will however receive any notifications at your primary address, which will be your Gmail address.

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Answer 2

Mar 25, 2012 6:59 AM in response to Winston Churchill

@Winston Churchill: This is what makes no sense. (Bear in mind I already have an iCloud account and @me.com address). What I said in my original post was that I was going to get rid of my primary email (Gmail account) and move to using nothing but my @me.com email address. So you're saying I could change my Apple ID to a different email address than my current Gmail address...like xxxx@hotmail.com...and that would be OK. But I could not change it to my current xxxx@me.com address? That is insane. Why would Apple not want me to use their own @me.com email addrress?

They already don't allow the use of other email accounts with iCloud (only my @me.com address) which says "...hey, we want you to be an Apple person, not a HotMail or Gmail person", but yet I can't change my Apple ID to my @me.com address.

One last thing, which might solve this. Can I change my current Apple ID (my Gmail address) to something that is NOT an email address (something more like a username)? Then could I associate the newly changed Apple ID with my iCloud @me.com email address? I just want ONE login for iCloud and iTunes, and have only ONE email address...that being my @me.com address.

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Answer 3

Mar 25, 2012 7:07 AM in response to Larry McJunkin

Yes, it is a little strange, but that's how it is. Also you cannot use a non email address as a primary address, as you need to be able receive notifications and verify your account changes.

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Answer 4

Mar 25, 2012 7:10 AM in response to Winston Churchill

If you have your gmail mail forwarded to your me address, you can effectively operate as you would like.

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Answer 5

Mar 25, 2012 7:31 AM in response to Winston Churchill

@Winston: on Apple's Apple ID page it clearly depicts how to change your primary and secondary notification email addresees for your Apple ID. What I was asking was if I could something other than an email address for the Apple ID itself, and then associate it with a primary and secondary email address?

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Answer 6

Mar 25, 2012 7:36 AM in response to Winston Churchill

Forwarding my Gmail to my @me.com email address doesn't solve the problems. Then everyone is still communicating with me using my Gmail address. The only reason I want to switch to begin with is to have complete sync and compatibility between all Mac and iOS devices.

What I'm simply trying to do here is completely remove all traces of anything Google in my life...move to my @me.com email address for everything in the future, and (here's the difficult part) have an Apple ID and iCloud login that are "identical" and NOT my old Gmail address, which would go away.

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Answer 7

Mar 25, 2012 8:00 AM in response to Larry McJunkin

It also tells you that you cannot change your primary address into a me address.

People wouldn't need to communicate with you by using your gmail address, they could use your me address (your alternate address), you would just need to use the forwarding for your notifications from Apple.

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Answer 8

Mar 25, 2012 12:14 PM in response to Winston Churchill

Winston...I'm not so sure about what you're saying. If you'll go to https://appleid.apple.com/ and click on "Manage your account" you'll see the following in the upper left:

"Edit your Apple ID.

You can make changes to your Apple ID at any time. Change your Apple ID and password, change your name and email address, or update your contact information."

So I clicked on "Edit" for my Primary email address and Apple ID and the boxes clearly would have let me change my email address. There was nothing that said I could NOT change it to my existing @me.com address...which is what I want to do.

I also Googled "using an @me.com address as apple ID" and got many hits saying that's actually what Apple recommends. But before I make any changes, I want to be certain what I'm seeing on the Apple ID page and online are actually true.

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Answer 9

Mar 25, 2012 12:43 PM in response to Larry McJunkin

If you had actually typed in your me address and hit save, you would have seen a message saying you cannot use a me address as a primary ID.

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Answer 10

Mar 25, 2012 12:56 PM in response to Winston Churchill

OK...I give up :-( I will file this in the (nearly empty) folder labeled "Dumb Things Done by Apple" since they spend half their energey competing with Google and could actually attract thousands of Google users from the Google Cloud to the iCloud by simply letting this happen.

The only thing still unanswered for me is: let's say I kill the Gmail account and only want one address in the future. In fact, let's say a refuse to have more than one address...and that would be my @me.com address. What would I use for my Apple ID since it's currently my Gmail address?

Taking that a step further, let's say a newbie buys a Mac, has no email account of any kind, and now he has to have an Apple ID. Apple sure isn't going to tell him that in order to have an Apple ID you must go get a Hot Mail or AOL, etc. account? That's in essence what I want...ONE email address.

BTW, thanks for all your help, Winston. I'm not being obstinate, I'm trying to be practical and even after all these years with a Mac find it hard to believe I'm forced to have a non-Apple email account just in order to have an Apple ID.

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Answer 11

Mar 25, 2012 2:15 PM in response to Larry McJunkin

I don't know what would happen if you stopped using your gmail account, I assume it would cause problem if you needed to verify anything on your account.

I can't explain Apple's decision here, only try to explain how it works, I wouldn't know if they decided to do things this way or were forced to because of a technical problem.

However, on your other point, I don't believe it's possible to have an Internet connection, be it at home or on a phone without also getting an email address.

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Answer 12

Mar 25, 2012 2:24 PM in response to Winston Churchill

However, on your other point, I don't believe it's possible to have an Internet connection, be it at home or on a phone without also getting an email address.

I agree, but still, to me it's insane for Apple to "require" people to have an email address "other" than their @me.com address. That's the one thing I just don't get. Oh, well.

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Answer 13

mmacnama

Level 1

0 points

Apr 27, 2012 10:42 AM in response to Larry McJunkin

Correct me if I'm wrong but there's nothing stopping you from creating a new account using apple's iCloud service. Therefore if you wanted to abandon your gmail account all together. Head over to iCloud.com and create a new account, then over to the iTunes store to set up an Apple ID using this new address. Now you're all setup with a single @me.com account for all of your apple communications.

Where YOU might run into trouble is where you have made previous purchases using a different email address in the past (in this case your gmail address). Those purchases will remain associated with that old account. Therefore any time you want to update those Apps or redownload music that's been purchased with the other account you will need to sign in with the old ID.

Hopefully at some point in the future Apple will make it possible to merge iTunes accounts associated with different Apple ID/email addresses. Until then, new users will be able to go the single @me.com route and older users will either have to start fresh from today or continue using two accounts.

Hope this helps.

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Answer 14

Apr 28, 2012 3:06 AM in response to mmacnama

mmacnama: good idea, but it won't work because I already have a .me email address I don't want to give up. Thanks, though.

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Answer 15

mmacnama

Level 1

0 points

Apr 29, 2012 10:34 AM in response to Larry McJunkin

Then you could just use this .me email address as your iTunes/Apple account from now on. The only issue is that at this point you will not be able to transfer old purchases from your gmail account to the .me account.

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