My household has 2 iPhones and 2 Apple Watches on the same Apple ID. When using the Apple Watch to contact one another (taps, drawings, heartbeat), the alert is duplicated on both Apple Watches. Is there a fix to this?
iMessage has a setting that allows each device to select from which phone number (or email) alerts are received. I see no setting like this on the Apple Watch for watch-based communication...
Watch Sport 42mm, iOS 8.3
Hi
For calls and Messages along with other features and services to work as intended by Apple, you should each have a separate Apple ID and be signed in accordingly on your iPhone.
Should you wish to share eligible past and future purchases (iTunes music, apps, books, etc), you can still do so via Family Sharing.
Other features of Family Sharing include a shared family calendar. shared photo album and the ability to set reminders that will alert both of you:
The following articles provide instructions for:
Creating a new Apple ID:
How to use that new Apple ID on an iPhone:
The person who sets up a new Apple ID should also first unpair their Apple Watch from their iPhone and then pair it again after the iPhone has been configured to use the new Apple ID:
Using More than One iDevice on the Same Computer
This applies mainly to couples who are adding another device and do not want their email, messages, etc. being duplicated on both devices. To begin read: How to use multiple iPhone, iPad, or iPod devices with one computer. You need to establish a separate Apple ID and password for whomever will use the new iDevice. See Apple - My Apple ID and Frequently asked questions about Apple ID. The easiest way is to do this on the computer using iTunes: iTunes- How to set up an Apple ID within iTunes.
On the computer create a new user account for the person with the new iDevice. This will be the user account that person will always use. He/She will no longer use the other user account. This way that person will have a separate iTunes Library. Note that once done you cannot "share" apps under a single Apple ID. Each of you must purchase your own apps under your own Apple ID. When you decide to split up like this one of you will need to re-purchase the apps that they want to use.
Start by transferring the new device(s) to a new account along with all your data. Save any photo stream photos that you want to keep to your camera roll (unless they are already in the camera roll) by opening your Photos app, tap on Albums icon at the bottom. Now, tap on My Photo Stream album; tap Select; tap on the photos you want to select;, tap the share icon (box with upward facing arrow) in the lower left corner; then tap Save to Camera Roll.
If you are syncing notes with iCloud that you want to keep then you need to open each of your notes and email them to yourself. Later you can copy and paste the text into new notes created in your new account.
Tap on Settings > iCloud > Delete Account (only deletes it from this device, not from iCloud; the person keeping the current account will not be affected,) provide the password to turn off Find My Phone and choose Keep on My iDevice when prompted. Sign in with a different Apple ID to create your new account. Choose Merge to upload your data.
Once you are on separate accounts, you can each go to icloud.com and delete the other person's data from your account.
Note: The essence of the above was created by user, randers4. I
have made substantial changes to improve readability and syntax.
I found the best way to do this is have the second person create their own Apple ID just for messaging and FaceTime. Have them sign out of just iMessage and Facetime on the 2nd iPhone then sign back in with the new Apple ID. Then on the second Apple Watch you can sign in to the new Apple ID for messages in addition to the original Apple ID for Apple Pay, etc.
At least this mess and no-good-solutions solves one problem:
I was considering an iWatch. No go. I have enough problems with duplicate messages and phones sometimes thinking they belong to the other person. Add a watch or two 😟
It looks like the bottom line is that Apple is making enough money to not want additional sales. OK, no sale and another unhappy user (we used to be customers). The more things change the more they look alike.
The reason the messages are going to both devices is because you have iMessage enabled to contact you through an email address not just your phone number
Unselect the emails and it will fix the problem
Hello
A fix no, it's designed to send to all devices / Watches using that account.
If you want leave Apple feedback about this.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/watch.html
Best of Luck
Creating a separate Apple ID is not ideal for my family. We have our phones setup so that we don't get duplicate emails/texts.
- We each have different email (hotmail) accounts setup on our devices
- Our iMessage settings are set to only receive messages intended for us
The benefit of using one Apple ID is...
- Using iCloud photo library, all our photos are synced without having to explicitly manage a photostream album
- Convenience of using Find My iPhone without having to remember 2 logins
It sounds like Apple didn't design the watch software to allow 'selective' digital touch notifications like it is available on iMessage. Can this be included in a future software update?
geoffreyfromvancouver wrote:
It sounds like Apple didn't design the watch software to allow 'selective' digital touch notifications like it is available on iMessage. Can this be included in a future software update?
Submit your feedback to Apple requesting such a feature here:
Meanwhile, you might want to look into Family Sharing, the system Apple has designed to allow families to share information without having to use the same Apple IDs.
I have same problem. But when I send drawings to anther watch, the alert is duplicated and I got a sent fail! In the fact, the drawings have be send successfully.
appleID was always meant as a personal identification of 1 person which is why you can't iMessage or facetime the same appleID
I had the same issue. Creating addition Apple ID then on main phone added the new ID to family share. This resolved the problem and continued to allow me to share movies, songs on the original account. Everything was preserved except the "My Photo Stream" sharing which allowed each to see any photo taken by the other. And I feel there is a way to restore this as well. Family Share!
I wouldn't say I have a solution but I think I have a workaround. I had the exact same issue with my wife's watch and my watch. Every time you would do a sketch or heartbeat it would make a duplicate to my wife's watch.
History .... I don't like family share set up. I have 5 devices, wife phone, my phone, my iPad, one kids iPad, and another kids iPad. All purchases are through one Apple ID, so we can share all music, apps, movies, ect. I have a second Apple ID for iCloud which all my devices back up to and share the photos. Then I have a third Apple ID for my iMessages / FaceTime and my wife has a fourth Apple ID for iMessages / FaceTime.
Problem ... when we activated the watches on each iPhone both latched to my iCloud apple id which is on all my devices
Workaround ... I unpaired wifes watch, signed out of iCloud account on her phone, kept her signed into iMessages / FaceTime and App store on her phone, repaired the watch and set it up as a new watch, got it all working, now when I went into watch settings (on her phone) it asks for you to sign in, which i did and it takes you to iCloud sign in, so I signed in with her Apple ID (which we do not use for iCloud) and got everything working (scetches and heartbeat) then when everything was working I went back into the iCloud signed out and signed back into the Apple ID i want to use. Tested the watch again and it still worked even though I was signed in differently.
Conclusion... I do not know if it is a permanent solution or a glitch but it seems to be working
Good Luck I Hope This Helps!
I have a full solution. On the device that is receiving the duplicate; block yourself. My wife was receiving everything she sent me so she blocked herself. Somehow she still gets what I'm sending to her.
This seems like an egregious oversight. Apple needs to allow 'selective' digital touch notifications on apple watch as is available on iMessage. They obviously have figured it out there, I'm struggling to understand why this scenario was not anticipated. The benefits of not using family sharing outweigh the apple watch features, and make using them a non-starter for many of us. Blocking my contact in the "friends" section in the apple watch app is a partial workaround for the digital touch, but still hands off the FaceTime calls, etc... I'm looking forward to a fix!
2 iPhones and 2 Apple Watches on the same Apple ID
