Apple working to allow users to merge multiple Apple IDs
Two users who reached out to Apple CEO Tim Cook via e-mail received a phone call from the company explaining they are aware of the issue, according to MacRumors. The problem is expected to grow after Apple launches iCloud, its free wireless syncing service, this fall.
While there is not currently a way for users to combine their accounts into one unifying Apple ID, a representative from Apple reportedly said that the company is working on a solution. The person recommended that, in the meantime, users stick to a single account and make all future purchases on it.
As developers test iOS 5 and iCloud ahead of its release, the problem of having multiple Apple IDs has become even more of an issue, as it is difficult to switch between logins for the Automatic Downloads feature. In addition, devices are locked to a single Apple ID for 90 days.
The apparent response after a user wrote to Cook is yet another example of how the new CEO of Apple is working to satisfy customers. Earlier this week, AppleInsider revealed an exchange another customer had with Apple regarding the transition from MobileMe to iCloud.
Specifically, the user bemoaned the loss of services that will occur when MobileMe becomes iCloud, including syncing of application preferences, keychains, and iDisk. After e-mailing Cook, the user received a phone call from Apple, in which a representative explained that features like iDisk and system preference syncing could return in the future if is demanded by users.
Cook's accessibility to Apple customers is an approach carried over from his predecessor, company co-founder Steve Jobs, who was known to personally respond to e-mails on occasion, like last November when he said "hardly anyone" was buying the company's Xserve rackmounted servers, which resulted in their discontinuation.
59 Comments
Can't happen too soon!
Best news this week!
I have a teenager who had an iTunes allowance funded by my credit card. He went away to school out of state and stopped using his account. It grew a significant credit balance, so, since I had funded it, I started using it for my own App and music purchases. Now my content is registered under two separate account IDs and it makes updates and media library consolidation more difficult than it needs to be.
This, (and a couple of small but critical iWeb sites I operate) have been nagging issues for me as I contemplate the coming iCloud rollout.
Please, please, Apple and Mr. Cook - pursue this path!
This initiative would solve a significant issue for me and, I'm sure, many others in similar circumstances.
Won't this drop the number of individual accounts with credit card numbers that apple has on file? Isn't this something that SJ always made a point of during his keynotes?
"The person recommended that, in the meantime, users stick to a single account and make all future purchases on it."
Thank god they have a rocket scientist on hand to give this advice...
Won't this drop the number of individual accounts with credit card numbers that apple has on file? Isn't this something that SJ always made a point of during his keynotes?
But I have two darned accounts where I thought I only had one. They have the same:
Email address
User name
CC #
Address
And it won't see my mobileMe account ID, the ID is a registered developer, access to iCloud. RPITA.
It all happened when it went from .mac to .me, what a mess.