Merging of contacts between 2 phones Unwanted

Once again, not a solution to a problem that specifically arose with the IOS 12 update! Obviously, millions of parents DO share an Apple ID for when their little kids use an iPad, etc.

I believe I has been saying that for several posts.

deggie wrote:

I believe I has been saying that for several posts.

Indeed you have!

OK........They're your phones. We've given Apple supported advice. You do with it what you want, which based on your post will be nothing.

Good luck to you.

FYI, most people who have multiple children with phones ONLY use one Apple ID. It has always been this way. This problem did not begin until the IOS 12 update. It is NOT a merging a contacts. The actual contacts are still separate. What happens is when you try and text someone within your Apple ID, it will automatically switch to another user on your Apple ID!!! It is unrealistic for families to use multiple Apple ID's. Try again! This is a major Apple problem and it is spreading as more people update to IOS 12!!! It's hard to believe someone with a "Level 6" expertise could be this clueless as to who uses Apple ID's!!!

The answer, as has been stated, is unique Apple ID's. What is surprising is that you haven't had problems in the past sharing one Apple ID. For example, if you backup to iCloud, you will be seeing each others pictures and conversations......might get embarrassing.

Would you be satisfied if an ONLY level 2 user just makes something up?

When you share an AppleID you share a single account for every Apple online service - iCloud, iMessage, FaceTime, these forums, the App, iTunes, iBook and Mac stores. There is no separation of content when you share an AppleID. Nor is there anything new or novel about that with iOS 12.

AppleIDs have always been Apple‘s form of unique, individual online service account IDs. They were never intended to be shared, just as any personal online account login ID is never intended to be shared.

And Family Sharing, which is not new at all, was designed for this exact situation. You just haven't adopted it. It is the solution to a problem that became apparent several years ago in families. It is only going to get worse when Apple releases Group FaceTime. If it is "obvious" that millions of parents do this then I feel really worried for our future as we have a lot of parents that have no clue as to what they are doing. Maybe in this case you, and the millions of other parents, should let the kids take over and set everything properly.

Here are some alternate steps that may or may not work and could in fact cause more issues:

On each device go to Settings > Messages > Send & Receive At and tap the shared Apple ID to uncheck it. Do the same in FaceTime.

Turn off iMessage and just use SMS (green bubble) texting.

Contact Apple at Feedback - iPhone - Apple and ask them to completely revamp their Apple ID system to allow everyone to share Apple IDs with no issue on all devices.

This change has become apparent with this release most likely due to changes that were made for iCloud Messages, the upcoming Group FaceTime and security issues which Apple does not discuss. Since Apple long ago said you should not share Apple IDs they do not test new releases for that scenario resulting in unexpected results for the minority that do so.

I read an article last night that this is not an issue caused by iOS 12, but is how Apple intended this to work. They've been trying to tell us for years now that sharing an Apple ID is not the way to go and now it's becoming painfully obvious for those who haven't adapted. In other words, it's unlikely the OP or anyone else having this issue will see an iOS update fixing this. If it's working as designed by Apple, it in essence isn't broken.