j0ni
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Why is my daughter asked to enter my AppleID password to open *any* app on her iPhone?

Preamble:

 

When iOS 8 dropped and my family of 5 had all upgraded, I set up Family Sharing. As it turns out, it's an incomplete solution and is therefore completely useless for isolating the spendy account (home sharing, iTunes share, etc.), but setting all that aside, I figured we might give it a shot.

 

It's OK - it's annoying that my kids need permission to download free apps, but OK. However, there is this strange bug I can't explain of figure out how to fix.

 

Problem description:

 

My daughter is logged into the iTunes store with her own AppleID and all looks well. However, any time she attempts to open any app at all other than the builtin apps, she gets a popup asking for the password for my AppleID! ***? Why is my AppleID even a thing on her phone?

 

Post-description rant:

 

Perhaps I was foolish to switch this on so soon - or indeed at all; I still have inexplicable inabilities to play a huge number of tracks in iTunes Share, across all devices (though it is not the same set of tracks on each device). But on the other hand, I don't see this issue described when I google around, so perhaps this is an anomaly, maybe some inconsistent/corrupt data, and there's a standard set of "switch it off and on again" steps that people might be able to suggest to take care of it.

Posted on Dec 24, 2014 3:06 PM

by tmaag,Solvedanswer
tmaag tmaag
Level 1 (120 points)
A:

It could depend on when and how the app was downloaded.

If the app was downloaded using the Apple ID not using the Family Share.

If it's a free app, just delete it and download it under her account.

If not make sure it is in the shared purchases and then delete it and download it again.

Posted on Dec 24, 2014 6:24 PM

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j0ni

Q: Why is my daughter asked to enter my AppleID password to open *any* app on her iPhone?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by j0ni,

    j0ni j0ni Dec 24, 2014 3:09 PM in response to j0ni
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 24, 2014 3:09 PM in response to j0ni

    j0ni wrote:

     

    Preamble:

     

    When iOS 8 dropped and my family of 5 had all upgraded, I set up Family Sharing. As it turns out, it's an incomplete solution and is therefore completely useless for isolating the spendy account (home sharing, iTunes share, etc.), but setting all that aside, I figured we might give it a shot.

     

    It's OK - it's annoying that my kids need permission to download free apps, but OK. However, there is this strange bug I can't explain of figure out how to fix.

     

    Problem description:

     

    My daughter is logged into the iTunes store with her own AppleID and all looks well. However, any time she attempts to open any app at all other than the builtin apps, she gets a popup asking for the password for my AppleID! ***? Why is my AppleID even a thing on her phone?

     

    Post-description rant:

     

    Perhaps I was foolish to switch this on so soon - or indeed at all; I still have inexplicable inabilities to play a huge number of tracks in iTunes Share, across all devices (though it is not the same set of tracks on each device). But on the other hand, I don't see this issue described when I google around, so perhaps this is an anomaly, maybe some inconsistent/corrupt data, and there's a standard set of "switch it off and on again" steps that people might be able to suggest to take care of it.

    Wherever I said "iTunes share" I really meant iTunes Match. Sigh.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Dec 24, 2014 3:13 PM in response to j0ni
    Level 10 (271,794 points)
    Desktops
    Dec 24, 2014 3:13 PM in response to j0ni

    If your daughter has her own phone and her own Apple ID, then she is not permitted to use apps on her phone that were purchased by another person's Apple ID unless she has that person's password. This is a serious security fault because no one should know your password but you, unless you don't care about your privacy. Along these same lines no one should be pirating another person's purchased software and using it on their device. Thus, all software purchased in the iTunes and App stores is tied permanently to the Apple ID with which it was purchased.

     

    Your daughter should remove all the apps that were purchased with anyone's Apple ID except her own. But as long as those apps remain, she cannot use them unless she can provide a password for the Apple ID tied to the software. If she likes your apps, then she needs to purchase her own copies using her Apple ID.

  • by j0ni,

    j0ni j0ni Dec 24, 2014 6:11 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 24, 2014 6:11 PM in response to Kappy

    Kappy, thanks for your response.

     

    That's interesting - I have 3 other family members who similarly switched from using my account for app store downloads and purchases, to using a Family Sharing setup via their own accounts. None of the other family members have seen this issue. None of the other family members are presented with any request for authorization when they open apps they have previously downloaded using my account.

     

    Could you link me to some reference material for this functionality? I haven't read about it anywhere, and was not able to turn anything up when googling.

     

    Also, why do you think that she needs to purchase those apps for herself? Is it not the purpose of the Family Sharing, to allow apps to be shared between accounts? Otherwise, what would it be for?

     

    Also, do you have any ideas about how it could be that the other 3 family members are working around this countermeasure?

     

    Thanks.

  • by tmaag,Solvedanswer

    tmaag tmaag Dec 24, 2014 6:24 PM in response to j0ni
    Level 1 (120 points)
    Dec 24, 2014 6:24 PM in response to j0ni

    It could depend on when and how the app was downloaded.

    If the app was downloaded using the Apple ID not using the Family Share.

    If it's a free app, just delete it and download it under her account.

    If not make sure it is in the shared purchases and then delete it and download it again.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Dec 24, 2014 7:19 PM in response to j0ni
    Level 10 (271,794 points)
    Desktops
    Dec 24, 2014 7:19 PM in response to j0ni

    I gave you the scenario in which this can happen. Unfortunately, I don't know how you set up your home situation and whether it was identically configured on every device including your daughter's exactly the same. There is an Apple ID issue on your daughter's phone that you have suggested is due to running apps that she does not have the "rights" to use. I suggest you work along those lines to find the cause and the solution - why are the apps on her phone not hers to use? What is different about the configurations of the devices belonging to the other users in the household? I don't know if your questions can be answered by the following.

     

    When you say "some reference material for this functionality," I'm not sure to what you are referring. Clarify for me, please.

     

    Family Sharing and Apple IDs for kids

    iTUNES STORE - TERMS AND CONDITIONS

  • by j0ni,

    j0ni j0ni Dec 24, 2014 8:12 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 24, 2014 8:12 PM in response to Kappy

    Hi Kappy

     

    I didn't suggest the problem was due to running apps 'that she does not have the "rights" to use' (not sure I'm familiar with this use of scare quotes). I actually explained in my original post that she was participating in our newly established Family Sharing setup, and by implication, that she did in fact have the right to use the apps in question.

     

    When I asked for references, I was hoping you would link me directly to authoritative material that might answer my question so that I could completely sidestep your supercilious tone (maybe those are the scare quote semantics you were going for). Unfortunately the documents at the end of the links you provided don't address my question. You made some specific statements about how digital rights management on iOS works, as an explanation for the problem we're seeing. Do you have any references, outside of your own colourful imagination, which might corroborate those statements?

     

    Thanks again.

  • by j0ni,

    j0ni j0ni Dec 24, 2014 8:14 PM in response to tmaag
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 24, 2014 8:14 PM in response to tmaag

    Thanks tmaag, that was the ticket. Deleting a single free app and re-downloading resulted in this authorization challenge going away. It no longer shows up for the app she re-downloaded, or any of the others (which she didn't need to re-download).

     

    I guess it was a simple bug, with a simple "turn it off and on again" type solution.

     

    cheers!

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Dec 24, 2014 8:44 PM in response to j0ni
    Level 10 (271,794 points)
    Desktops
    Dec 24, 2014 8:44 PM in response to j0ni

    Sorry, but you must be the kind of person who is angered by not getting their desired answer. I gave you exactly the same information that you received from the other poster just in a different form. All you had to do was pass it up instead of telling me my remarks were supercilious and imagination. They weren't. You are in fact merely rude to someone trying to explain what you asked about.

     

    You weren't asking for references. You wanted to prove me wrong or stupid because you did not like what I told you. I made absolutely no remarks about DRM on iOS. Clearly, you don't know what you are talking about nor what I was trying to tell you. Continue treating others here as you have me should assure that you will receive little attention on the forums. I'll pass the word on your behalf.