Multiple Apple IDs vs Single ID

[volley13]

Hello,

I'm trying to figure the best setup going forward with my wife's and my iCloud setup for our 2 iphone 6's iMac and iPad 2. We use my ID as the primary or sole id so that our contacts, calendars, is sync'd between devices. The problem is trying to adjust this setup so that when my wife sends an email from her Apple ID/iCloud ID, it doesn't have my name as the sender. I'd like to do this without losing the auto syncing of our contacts, calendars, etc.. Our current setup is basically described below....
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Okay, let me see if I can lay out our setup on our iPhone 6's.
My iPhone 6
Go to Settings, iCloud, and there's my name an underneath is my apple id. This is the same setup for my wife's phone.

Go to Settings, iCloud, Advanced, Mail, and there's my name and apple id. Allow sending from shows all of my email aliases.
This is the same setup for my wife's phone.

Go to Settings, Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and under Accounts shows my apple id.
Doing these steps on my wife's phone shows my apple id, her apple id. Click on Accounts, and it shows her apple id/password, and the Description is her apple id.
Click on Advanced, Mail, and it shows her ID.
Click on iCloud Account Info, and Name is my name, Email is her apple id. Under Allow Sending From shows all of her email aliases.
Note: all instances of apple id mentioned above is our individual email address/apple id.

So basically her account is under the umbrella of my apple id. If she composes an email the "From" shows my name, would like it so it shows her name. If I delete her iCloud acct and add it back using her apple id, then we lose the auto syncing features with calendars, contacts, etc., and I'd rather not use other tools for that function if I don't have to….tks.

 

[chscag]

It's best to have two separate Apple IDs, one for you, the other for your wife. You might also want to have separate email addresses setup via iCloud and your regular ISP.

You might also want to use "Family Sharing" instead. Apple makes it easy to set that up and it can actually be more convenient than worrying about multiple accounts.

 

[Exodist]

I likely need to look more into Family sharing.

I used to have separate IDs for my MBA and my Mac Mini. My wife uses the MBA 95% of the time. I just use it when traveling. But most my files sync when using one Apple ID. So all my notes and bookmarks move from one system to another without hassle. Thats the benefit of one ID.

The downside is Messages and perhaps few others will not let you communicate back and forth without having to go in a change them. Mail also becomes a headache. But we have stopped using it anyway as it does not alway do what you tell it to do. Find it easier to use the online versions of GMAIL and YahooMail. I really miss Evolution mail program for GNOME on Linux.

As far as software from the App store, I think you can use multiple IDs on one system. At least I think I did this before. But recently I wanted to stick to the one ID model that way I have no issues downloading Final Cut and my other App purchases to my "our" MBA .

 

[RadDave]

It's best to have two separate Apple IDs, one for you, the other for your wife. You might also want to have separate email addresses setup via iCloud and your regular ISP.......

Guys - this will become an important issue for me this month, since I will likely purchase two iPhones 6 for my wife & me - presently, I have our iMacs & iPads (so, 4 devices) under my one Apple account - this has not been a major issue for us.

NOW, when I add 2 new iPhones, what might be my best choice, i.e. simply adding each to my existing Apple ID or making a new account for my wife? We are retired and really don't have a lot of volume w/ contacts, emails, etc. - thus, what are the suggestions? Thanks for comments - Dave

 

[LancashireArrow]

I've been faced with the same dilemma recently as I have bought now iPhones. Previously we shared one ID and this was not good, loads of problems with messaging and other small annoyances.

I decided to make a new ID for my wife and it is definitely the way to go. We've had no problems at all since.

 

[Exodist]

Guys - this will become an important issue for me this month, since I will likely purchase two iPhones 6 for my wife & me - presently, I have our iMacs & iPads (so, 4 devices) under my one Apple account - this has not been a major issue for us.

NOW, when I add 2 new iPhones, what might be my best choice, i.e. simply adding each to my existing Apple ID or making a new account for my wife? We are retired and really don't have a lot of volume w/ contacts, emails, etc. - thus, what are the suggestions? Thanks for comments - Dave

Dave honestly you said it hasn't been an issue for you so far. IMHO if it isn't broken then why fix it. But in the end its a personal choice.

 

[RadDave]

Thanks Guys for the comments - I am backing up our iPads to iCloud (which is using about half of my 5 GB 'free' storage) - if I add the two iPhones to the same Apple ID, I suspect that additional purchased storage will be needed, so one option might be to put the phones on another ID?

The other issue for me are our many purchased apps - doubt that we will want to download that many to the phones, but w/ the old ID, we will be able to obtain those desired w/o paying again - I've not looked into 'Family Sharing' but that might be a way for me to have two Apple IDs and still share the apps?

Finally, we are only syncing 'Find My iDevice' & 'Backup' to the cloud, so email, messages, etc. is not important and does not cause us confusion. Dave

 

[cradom]

Well, if more than one person is using the same Apple-ID and email, and someone FaceTimes you, who gets the call?
My wife and I have our own ID each and I have a separate one for the laptop.
I used to use the same one for it but when she would FaceTime me, my iMac would ring and I wouldn't get the call at work.

 

[RadDave]

Well, if more than one person is using the same Apple-ID and email, and someone FaceTimes you, who gets the call?
My wife and I have our own ID each and I have a separate one for the laptop.
I used to use the same one for it but when she would FaceTime me, my iMac would ring and I wouldn't get the call at work.

Thanks Craig for the FaceTime issue - actually in September visiting my MIL, we did use FaceTime for her to talk w/ our son - both of our iPads did ring. But the truth is that the last time I used the app was the year before in the same place - we just rarely use FaceTime, so likely not a major concern for us. Dave

 

[Exodist]

Like others mentioned and I touched on earlier. If you use Messages, Mail, FaceTime and any other similar service, the one Apple ID method falls apart. My wife and I use this method because we don't use those services/ apps. But if you do want to use then, then your gonna need two accounts.

 

[RadDave]

Like others mentioned and I touched on earlier. If you use Messages, Mail, FaceTime and any other similar service, the one Apple ID method falls apart. My wife and I use this method because we don't use those services/ apps. But if you do want to use then, then your gonna need two accounts.

Thanks Exodist - as mentioned above in one of my recent posts, I am only using Backup & Find My..... and have no plans to activate other services; and FaceTime is a non-issue for us. My only concern w/ all of our iDevices under the same ID, is the iCloud backup storage, but looking on my iPad, 20 GB is just $1/month - might be able to afford that? Dave