how do I manage multiple Apple IDs on one iMac

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how do I manage multiple Apple IDs on one iMac

We just purchased my oldest child her first personal iPod Touch 5th gen. Up until now, we have all managed our music/devices (2 nanos, 2 iPhones, iMac, iPad, and now Touch) on our iMac under one Apple ID (mine!). We use this ID for everything from Apple TV purchases to iTunes to apps etc. as one big pool all charged to one credit card. Now that my daughter has her own Touch we want to allow her to redeem gift cards to buy things (rather than go to credit card). The problem is, her Touch is now somehow (automagically) synced to MY Apple ID - I am guessing because we plug it into our iMac and downloaded all the OLD songs she had from before. Is there anyway that my daughter can have a separate Apple ID than our main one and still manage them both on our iMac??

iPod touch, iOS 7.1.2

Posted on Aug 17, 2014 8:15 AM

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Answer 1

lllaass

Level 10

210,417 points

Aug 17, 2014 8:24 AM in response to jeff_esi

What do yo mean by manage?

This may help:

iTunes: How to share music between different user accounts on a single computer

Note:

- Apps are locked to the account that purchased them.

- To update apps you have to sign into the account that purchased the apps. If you have apps that need updating purchased from more than one account you have to update them one at a time until the remaining apps were purchased from one account.

ALso note the 90 day time period for changing accounts. Tha effects the ability to redownload previous iTunes purchases.

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

CHANGE ID

The ID is used in the following locations and you have to change them.

Settings>Messages>Send and Receive

Settings>FaceTime

Settings>GameCenter

Settings>iCloud

and Settings>iTunes and App store

You have to sign out of ID (for iCloud you delete the iCloud account from the iPod) and sign in with other ID.

If the iPod has iOS 7 then you have the enter the password for Apple ID presently sign in Settings>iCloud.

Also, a Restriction can be set (Settings>General>Restrictions) the prevents changing accounts

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Answer 2

jeff_esi Author

Level 1

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Aug 17, 2014 10:15 AM in response to lllaass

By manage I mean download songs to the music library on the iMac and sync to devices. I was hoping that I could open iTunes and long in as any apple ID I wished (either mine or my daughters) and see the specific library associated with that ID. What I think I have taken from what you replied is that my daughter will need to manage all her downloads from her device, under her apple ID. Any songs that she ever downloaded on MY apple ID can never be on her iPod if it is associated to any other Apple ID than the one that paid for and downloaded the original songs (my ID).

The only follow up is - if she plugs her iPod into our iMac how do I stop the automatic process that runs and turns her iPod Touch into just another device on my apple ID on my mac?? hope that makes sense and thanks for your help

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Answer 3

lllaass

Level 10

210,417 points

Aug 17, 2014 10:34 AM in response to jeff_esi

You can create/change libraries in iTunes by:

iTunes: How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one

You should go to iTunes>preferences>Devices and check the box that says Prevent iPods... from syncing automatically.

Also consider using the manual method of syncing to help avoid getting medi not wanted on the devices

Managing content manually on iPhone, iPad, and iPod

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