iOS8 constantly asks for the iCloud password and don't recognize it

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Level 1

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iOS8 constantly asks for the iCloud password and don't recognize it

Hi,

My wife has an iPhone on iOS8 that has a weird bug. The iPhone has been fully configured with her Apple ID (all iCloud options, App Store, iTunes, etc.). She later changed her Primary Email Address for her Apple ID. The password stayed the same.

The iPhone continued to work for a long time with the old email though. But now she constantly gets the iCloud modal asking for the password. The email can't be changed in this modal. And the iPhone says the password is wrong (we verified, it is the right password for the new email! So I suspect the issue is the use of the old email). I tried to disconnect iCloud and login again in the settings put to do so we need to enter the password without being able to changed the old email again…

To summarize: it looks like the iPhone is configured with an iCloud account (iCloud email really) that is no longer a valid account! I can't change it, I can't remove it, I can't restore the iPhone. What are my options? 😟

iPhone 4S, iOS 8.3

Posted on Jul 10, 2015 2:37 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 10, 2015 3:54 AM in response to Seewak

If you mean that Find My Phone is asking for a password to a different Apple ID to your current Apple ID and that ID is a previous version of your current ID, not an entirely different one.

This feature has been introduced to make stolen phones useless to those that have stolen them.

However it can also arise when the user has changed their Apple ID details with Apple and not made the same changes to their iCloud account/Find My Phone on their device before upgrading to iOS 7, or if you restore from a previous back up made before you changed your details and some other circumstances.

The only solution is to change your Apple ID back to its previous state with Apple at My Apple ID using your current password, you don’t need access to this address if it’s previously been used with your Apple ID, once you have saved these details enter the password as requested on your device and then turn off "find my phone" and delete the account from your device. It may take a short while to remove the account.

You should then change your Apple ID back to its current state, save it once again and then log back in using your current Apple ID. Finally, turn "find my phone" back on once again.

This article provides more information about Activation Lock.

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Answer 2

Seewak Author

Level 1

10 points

Jul 14, 2015 6:55 AM in response to Winston Churchill

Thanks for your answer. I don't know if it was "Find My Phone" constantly asking for the password, the modal window was just appearing quite often whatever the screen underneath was.

I was ready to do what you suggest on your 4th paragraph, namely reverting the Apple ID to the old email, make the necessary changes on the iPhone, and finally change back the Apple ID to the "new email" (current state) BUT somehow the iPhone finally accepted the current password with the old email, which allowed me to remove the iCloud login associated to the iPhone and set it up again with the latest credentials. The only thing that changed between the several attempts was using a different WiFi, go figure (firewall issue then?).

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