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different apple id for subscriptions

Do I still need two AppleIDs? How do I get rid of one?


Years ago I was somehow forced to start a second AppleID. I think it was when they phased out me.com.


Now I have a main AppleID, say ID-1, and a second one, say ID-2, for

  • Subscriptions
  • Media and Purchases


I would like to get rid of ID-2. It's confusing having two. All my devices seem to be logged in to both. And they both show linked to my same credit card for payments.


Help!?

iPhone XR, iOS 14

Posted on Aug 16, 2021 1:21 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 1, 2021 2:01 PM

hi, I deactivated one of them, about 2 weeks ago, and so far so good. I had to adjust a few things on iMessages the first time I used it on each device I own. No big deal.


I dont' buy a lot on iTunes, so haven't had any issue with unavailable purchases. I'm glad I only "deactivated", as now I can go back to it if needed.

5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 1, 2021 2:01 PM in response to Eric Root

hi, I deactivated one of them, about 2 weeks ago, and so far so good. I had to adjust a few things on iMessages the first time I used it on each device I own. No big deal.


I dont' buy a lot on iTunes, so haven't had any issue with unavailable purchases. I'm glad I only "deactivated", as now I can go back to it if needed.

Aug 16, 2021 6:30 AM in response to sfronh

With the exception of one very minor and unusual case for iCloud subscriptions, you can't have two Apple IDs on a device.


Read this document about the consequences of deleting an Apple ID. Depending upon details of your setup it may not matter or you may discover you no longer can redownload some purchased items.


How to delete your Apple ID account - Apple Support

Aug 16, 2021 10:11 AM in response to sfronh

It sounds like you may have done as outlined in How to set up a second shared Apple ID for the App Store


Purchases cannot be transferred from one Apple ID to another so if you plan on wanting to re-download or update items purchased with that ID you will need it active in your store. However, the other ID is being used in other services to identify you for thing such as Facetime and iMessages. You can deactivate an ID then switch to just using one. Since purchases cannot be transferred, in this case you would try using the one you have for iCloud to start using Gmail.

Merging Apple Accounts or transferring data is not officially supported, nor can it be done easily or completely.


Apr. 2018 post by ASC helper Winston Churchill on transferring data from one Apple ID to another. https://discussions.apple.com/message/33333380#message33333380


Feb. 2021 tips from Eric Root https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252468781?answerId=254653802022#254653802022


Look into using Family Sharing to continue to be able to use items purchased with one Apple ID with other Apple IDs.


Family Sharing - https://support.apple.com/HT201060


Set up Family Sharing - https://support.apple.com/HT201088


Aug 16, 2021 9:44 AM in response to Limnos

Thanks. I read this previously and am thinking it may be safer to just Deactivate first--see how it goes--since it can be undone. What do you think?


So, seems like I'm in the "minor and unusual case", or I'm a different case from what you've seen?


See below: my AppleID starts with "sfc", but my second AppleID, starting with "pou", is listed for Subscriptions and Media Purchases. I never wanted two ID's, but at the time I didn't seem to have a choice. But that's water under the bridge.

different apple id for subscriptions

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