What impact should I see when my Ipad mini is associated to my Wife's Apple ID

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Level 1

24 points

What impact should I see when my Ipad mini is associated to my Wife's Apple ID

I have a 64gb Ipad mini

My wife has a 16gb Ipad with retina

Both me and my wife have purchased tv shows in iTunes using my Ipad mini and have both downloaded content to that device.

My Ipad mini shows in my wife's iTunes account as being associated with her Apple ID.

To date, I can't see that I have been impacted by that association because we can both log in and out of iTunes on that device, download TV series and play those shows. With my device being associated with my Wife's Apple ID, what impact should it have on me?

I've been corresponding with Apple for over two weeks and am still no closer being given an answer that makes any sense 🙂 I just seems that I am being given stock answers to another question 🙂

I have been given links to many help articles that have been directly and indirectly relevant to my query, but they don't answer my question. I've also read through the community support forum, but there's nothing that I can find that relates to my question.

We are both new to Apple products, iTunes is new territory for us. I simply want to understand whether or not our shared use of my Ipad mini will create a problem that locks either one of us out of certain content. We'd rather know this up front so that we make an informed choice of whether to continue purchasing hard copies or start using iTunes for purchasing TV shows.

Additional information:

We have Apple TV (3rd gen)

Thanks in advance,

John

Example articles that I've been directed to:

iTunes Store: Associating a device or computer to your Apple ID

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4627

Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519

iTunes Store: How to enable Automatic Downloads

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4539

iTunes Store: Frequently Asked Questions for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1689

iTunes: Frequently asked questions about viewing and syncing videos

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2729

Apple TV (2nd and 3rd generation): Purchasing and viewing TV shows

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4743

I found this article for you on the iTunes support website at:

http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/ww

Posted on Dec 29, 2012 2:45 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Fightin' Engineer

Level 1

125 points

Feb 16, 2013 6:01 AM in response to Japple68

Hi Japple,

A long time ago, which iTunes account you used to make purchases was important due to the DRM that Apple used at the time. Now that most music on the iTunes Store is DRM-free the distinction of which account was used to purchase the music is irrelevant. Songs can be copied freely to as many computers and devices that you own.

Movies and TV shows, however, are not all DRM free. They have Apple's FairPlay DRM embedded. What does this mean for you? Probably not much. You can authorize up to five computers to play a video file downloaded from either of your iTunes accounts. iTunes itself keeps track of the associations and, if you change devices in the future, it's very easy to dissociate your accounts in the iTunes Store.

Let me give you an example of how this works. Let's say my wife buys a CD and a movie from iTunes and I want it on my computer in my library too. First thing I need to do is copy the files to my machine and add them to my iTunes library (File --> Add to Library, I believe). When I try to play the music, they'll work immediately, no more configuration required. When I try to play the movie, however, iTunes will ask me to associate my computer with my wife's Apple ID (if I haven't already done so in the past). To associate my computer, all I need to do is enter her Apple ID and password into the dialog box that pops up and I'm good to go. Now I can play that file in my iTunes on my computer without any trouble. I can also download it to my iOS devices (iPad, iPod, iPhone) seamlessly.

An Apple TV is different than the other iOS devices in that its primary purpose is to stream files from computers, other iOS devices, or the iTunes Store directly. The Apple ID that you associate with your Apple TV is only relevant to the purchases you make from the iTunes Store and if you turn on Home Sharing. But both you and your wife can stream files to your Apple TV from your iOS devices. Make sure that AirPlay is enabled on your Apple TV and your iPads. Then select the Apple TV you want to stream to from your iPad and you should be good to go.

My wife and I have a similar environment to the one you describe and have no trouble viewing or using content on any of our devices (including computers).

Best of luck!

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Answer 2

Japple68 Author

Level 1

24 points

Feb 16, 2013 8:51 AM in response to Fightin' Engineer

Thanks for that. You're the first person I've come across that's been able to confirm that what we're experiencing isn't unique. It comes me some comfort to purchase a few more things.

Much appreciated.

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Answer 3

Japple68 Author

Level 1

24 points

Feb 16, 2013 8:57 AM in response to Japple68

Where's the edit button gone?

Thanks for that. You're the first person I've come across that's been able to confirm that what we're experiencing isn't unique. It gives me some comfort to purchase a few more things.

Much appreciated.

Reply