Why do I need a new email for iCloud notes?

OK, so I've already explained about the Notes. And you are correct, you cannot see them in iCloud.com either. But they are still being sync'd to iCloud even if you can't see them. So, if you were to sign out of iCloud on your iPhone 4, then all of your iCloud Notes would disappear. But when you signed back in, they would re-load to your device.

Your iPhone 4 wouldn't appear in the devices list. As it states on that screen, you will only see devices that you are signed into that are running iOS 8 or above.

So, not sure why you would have had to create an iCloud email address. If you had already been signed into iCloud, then you should have already had one associated with your Apple ID. Did you just make up a totally unrelated email address? For example, if your Apple ID was joe@gmail.com, were you able to create an iCloud ID that was completely different, like mary@iCloud.com?

Cheers,

GB

No, the only option for me was it went to a box that had a space for me to put the user name part of the email address and the remainder of that address was "@icloud.com". I had no choice except for the user name part.

I now understand the iPhone 4 bit with notes and how it won't play with later tech devices.

But in saying that, why does photos, contacts and everything else work over cloud on the iPhone 4?

Because those are using the same app that updated iOS devices use, so they are able to sync to iCloud. Only Notes was updated.

So, back to the iCloud email address. That's what I meant. So the prefix (user name) on your Apple ID is joeblow, for example. When you put in the prefix or user name for the iCloud.com email you were setting up, were you just able to pick a user name at random? Let me give you a more concrete example. Usually, when someone signs their Apple ID into iCloud, an iCloud email address that looks exactly the same (or very similar with minor modifications that may be required if the ID is aleady taken) is generated.

So, if my Apple ID was alfred.e.neuman@yikes.com, and I signed that Apple ID into iCloud, it would generate an iCloud ID for my Apple account that was alfred.e.neuman@icloud.com.

So what I'm wondering, is were you able to just create an iCloud user name that was totally unrelated to your Apple ID user name? When you go to your Apple account at: Apple - My Apple ID, what do you see for your Apple ID and iCloud email address? Do you see these totally unrelated user IDs showing with the gmail and icloud domains following them?

Cheers,

GB

No, my Apple ID was example@mac.com

I tried to use example@icloud.com but it said that was already taken and then suggested some others that I didn't like so I tried to put 1 extra letter (p) after the first letter like so: epxample@icloud.com and it went on to create and now we have this conundrum .

And do you only see the original Apple ID email and the new iCloud email address when you look at your Apple account on the web? No other email addresses?

If so, then I am not sure what it is all about, but if there are only the two (the Apple and the iCloud email addresses only) showing on your Apple ID page, then it sounds like whatever the iCloud email was before, it could no longer be used, so you had to create a replacement.

That's the only thing I can think of in this scenario.

Cheers,

GB

Gail said: And do you only see the original Apple ID email and the new iCloud email address when you look at your Apple account on the web? No other email addresses?

Correct.

I have since been speaking with Apple about this (during my Personal Setup Session) and they said the new email is only an alias. The real problem is my phone is old tech, sadly.😟

Any how, thanks for your help, appreciated.

Im off to buy a new iPhone I guess.....😕

Well, that's interesting. I have no idea what that means. Because again, I have an iPhone 4 and an iPad 1, and I have never had to set up a new iCloud email account on either of them in order to be able to use Notes.

Here's what I think is going on. Apple is doing a major revamp on iCloud security which will start on June 15 by requiring anyone who is using a 3rd party apps that access iCloud info to begin using App-specific passwords for those apps. Which in turn means that all of those people will have to set up Two-Factor Authentication in order to be able to continue to sign into those apps.

I have also seen the oddest things being asked for on my older devices when I sign out of iCloud and then back in again (which I am sure is directly related to Two-Factor Authentication security processes which I switched to from Two-Step a couple of days ago). When I sign back into iCloud on either my iPhone 4 or my iPad, it asks for my lock screen passcode for that device followed by asking me for my Mac User account passcode. Clearly ramped-up security (which is a good thing!).

So, either your original iCloud email address was compromised in some way, or it was being used by someone else, or Apple felt it was simply not a secure enough email address (for whatever reason). Since you are still only seeing your Apple ID and one iCloud email address on your Apple account, the new iCloud email address you set up appears to have replaced whatever was there before (which was likely the one you tried to use initially).

Of course, we have had no information about this, and it may not be an accurate conclusion, but since this type of issue does not happen with great regularity, it is not the "normal" way that it works.

Thanks for sticking with me on this. On this thread, I don't think we made a lot of progress over the years with this question. It was clearly an issue that was unique to a small percentage of people, but it simply did not seem logical. Don't know if what we are seeing now is even related to the original issues in 2012. Symptoms are the same, but the cause may be totally different.

But the takeaway here is that it does happen, and we at least know that sometimes people are going to have to set up a new iCloud email address for their Apple ID, most often when they try to turn on Notes on an older device.

So, again, thanks for working through it with me!

Cheers,

GB

From your description, it sounds like you are trying to set up a new ID. That's why you get the error you did. Just log into icloud (settings>icloud) using the old ID.

I have exactly the same problem. Did you figure out, dagaz?

I don't understand how Notes has anything to do with having an iCloud email account. I simply want to backup and/or access my notes via iCloud, yet I am told to create a new iCloud email account. Pages, Contacts, Calendar, iWork and Reminders all work fine without an iCloud email account. In another thread someone mentioned activating Notes in their existing gMail account, but that didn't work for me. Frustrated by this!

It is probably a carry over from OS X's Mail. Notes were first introduced as a part of the Mail app on Apple computers. iCloud is probably still using code that requires Note syncing to use part of the Mail app to work. If you want iCloud Note syncing create the iCloud mail account. You don't have to use the Mail account for email or any other purpose. But it will still be there if you do find a use for it in the future.

I have the same problem. I don't understand why Apple has to force me to create an @icloud.com email just to sync simple notes!

As already stated here, the software required to sync Notes is still embedded into the Mail app. It is probably low on the list of things todo to cut this link between the programs. It's no big deal to create the email address, then don't use it. I would still choose a good name since you never know, it could come in handy someday.