My husband and I share an apple account. When one of us gets a phone call or text message, both of our iPhones receive the call. It seems to worsen with each update installed. It also has merged our contacts and calendars.

lkkjburns wrote:

Is there a way to separate these items?

No.

Do we need to create separate iCloud account, and if so, how is this accomplished easily with the apparent merger of our two iPhone information?

Yes. Each should have a separate account. You can then share content and calendars via the Family Share option. As to the "separation" of the contacts, you will have to do it manually once the new account is set up. You could probably export the contacts you want to "move" via the export function on the computer (if using a Mac, use the export function in Contacts) and then reimport them to the new user account. It is probably going to be a bit tedious, especially if you have a lot of contacts. The export/importing is best done via a computer and not via an iPhone/iPad.

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.

My wife and I also share accounts. I fixed the problem by turning off FaceTime.

Others will recommend not to share accounts, that is a solution that I have also tried, but we prefer to share the same account. It simplifies other aspects.

Sharing accounts will normally end in a mess. iCloud is intended to be used by one person. You will need to export any data that you want to have in the new account & then setup the other device with that data.

If you sync to a Mac/ PC that makes it easier, you can use the various apps to export the calendars, contacts etc. Then move that data to a new user account, import it and setup iTunes to use the new ID & then import all your apps (transfer purchases in iTunes).

If you want to share purchases or music between both of you the options are to use home sharing (music etc) or Family sharing (for app store apps).

Yes, you need separate AppleIDs for iCloud and the communication services. You can still use the same one for iTunes and app Store. Separating (as far as getting them individually to where you want them) them will, unfortunately, be a manual process.

By definition all data in an iCloud account is shared across all devices that are logged in to that account. That means calendars, iCloud email, contacts, notes, reminders, files in iCloud drive, messages, facetime calls and probably some that I've forgotten. The messages and phone calls can be managed, but the others are working they way they were designed.

For messages go to Settings/Messages and you can choose the addresses that you want to receive and send messages from.

For calls go to Settings/Phone and turn off "calls on other devices"

If you don't want merged calendars and contacts create a new Apple ID for one of you, then link it with Family Sharing - Apple Support