stephenfromuxbridge

Q: Password problems - two accounts sharing iTunes

Hi there, I'd be really grateful for any advice on resolving a longstanding problem.

 

My girlfriend and I each have an iPhone and iPad and we have our own iTunes accounts, but we both sync to iTunes on my desktop PC. This works fine for sharing music, etc., but we encounter problems with passwords when trying to download apps that the other already has. For example, at the moment, my girlfriend wants to download Whatsapp, which I already have. When trying, her iPhone prompts her for MY password - but when entered it is not accepted.

 

Any help in resolving this would be wonderful! It's not always an issue, some apps download fine, but there are several apps we'd both like to have that we can't!! I've just tried Family Sharing but it didn't make any difference.

 

Not sure it makes any odds, but I'm on an iPhone 6 (IOS 9.3.4) and iPad Air (9.3.2), she is on a (very soon-to-be upgraded) iPhone 4 (7.0.6) and iPad 2 (10.0.2).

 

Thanks,

 

Steve

Posted on Sep 25, 2016 1:12 PM

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Q: Password problems - two accounts sharing iTunes

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  • by ed2345,

    ed2345 ed2345 Sep 25, 2016 6:24 PM in response to stephenfromuxbridge
    Level 7 (24,938 points)
    Sep 25, 2016 6:24 PM in response to stephenfromuxbridge

    Using Family Sharing, she should have her phone authorized to her account, and then she can use her phone to get WhatsApp from the App Store.

  • by stephenfromuxbridge,

    stephenfromuxbridge stephenfromuxbridge Sep 26, 2016 4:50 AM in response to ed2345
    Level 1 (5 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 26, 2016 4:50 AM in response to ed2345

    Thanks for replying. Her phone is authorised to her own account and I tried using Family Sharing last night but without any success. Is there something else I need to change after setting up as a family to make it work?

     

    Also just spotted that Family Sharing only works on IOS 8 or later, which her iPhone 4 isn't on. She is out of the country at the moment (which has prompted the need for Whatsapp, as it is being used to keep in touch with colleagues working on the same project) so I'm not sure she'll be able to backup/upgrade to IOS 8 where she is.

     

    Any other thoughts appreciated! How would this have been dealt with before Family Sharing was introduced?

  • by ed2345,

    ed2345 ed2345 Sep 26, 2016 6:00 PM in response to stephenfromuxbridge
    Level 7 (24,938 points)
    Sep 26, 2016 6:00 PM in response to stephenfromuxbridge

    Stephen,

     

    When she is back in the country, she can go to the AppStore and download her own copy of WhatsApp.  This will not require Family Sharing.  (Note that each iTunes Store can only be used while in that country, which is why she cannot do this step while she is away.)

     

    Meanwhile, use Facetime to communicate with her.

  • by stephenfromuxbridge,

    stephenfromuxbridge stephenfromuxbridge Sep 27, 2016 2:07 AM in response to ed2345
    Level 1 (5 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 27, 2016 2:07 AM in response to ed2345

    Thanks for the info, I didn't know that about iTunes Store, but that's not the whole solution - she has been trying to download WhatsApp for a few weeks since before she left the UK but coming up against this problem where her phone asks for my password. As I mentioned, this is a common problem for us when downloading apps.

     

    Maybe we can only sort it when she's back, but I'm still hoping for help with what the problem with the passwords is. We're both about to upgrade phones but there's no point having an iPhone 7 if we can't both download what we want! Perhaps there's something simple that we are doing / not doing to cause it. I have tried changing us both to the same password but it didn't help. Perhaps we should both use separate computers to back-up to but as we share a media library that doesn't make much sense. Perhaps we need to make sure that her phone is never attached to the PC when I am signed in to iTunes and vice versa.

     

    The issue now is not me communicating with her, but she is in Africa at an endangered species conference and WhatsApp is being used as a communication tool for groups. But she'll have to work round that if she can't download it. I've asked her to check that she is signed in on the App Store on her phone.

     

    Thanks again for help so far.

  • by ed2345,Apple recommended

    ed2345 ed2345 Sep 27, 2016 6:45 AM in response to stephenfromuxbridge
    Level 7 (24,938 points)
    Sep 27, 2016 6:45 AM in response to stephenfromuxbridge

    stephenfromuxbridge wrote:

     

    Thanks for the info, I didn't know that about iTunes Store, but that's not the whole solution - she has been trying to download WhatsApp for a few weeks since before she left the UK but coming up against this problem where her phone asks for my password. As I mentioned, this is a common problem for us when downloading apps.

     

    Stephen,

     

    When she is back in the country, she can look on her phone at Settings > iTunes & App Store.  It is probably showing your Apple ID.  Click on it and Sign Out.  Then sign back in with her account.