iCloud vs iTunes App Store Part 2: What families should know

iTunes Store, App Store, and Mac App Store accounts should be setup on a different email address and should be shared by the family. I believe this isn't exactly allowed by the Apple User Agreement but I know it works and would almost be impossible to enforce. If you don't share this account with the family, you run the risk of purchasing the same Apps multiple times. In order to purchase a song or app one time, you need to share this account. 

A family can share the iTunes account

Of course there are times when this is not advisable. One day your children are going to grow up and leave the nest. They may should have their own iTunes account instead of sharing the family account. Remember, it should not be the same ID (email) as any iCloud account. Never break that rule. 

If your marriage is on the rocks, maybe it would be a good idea to separate out the iTunes account. I can see the iTunes Library going to one spouse in future divorces as more and more money gets tied into the Apple Eco System. 

There is currently a ten iOS device limit for an iTunes account. If you have more than 10 iOS devices tied to one account, which sounds crazy but a family of four could easily exceed, it may be good to divide the family up into two accounts. These decisions will have to be made by you. For the most part, one iTunes account per family should work just fine.

There is a five Mac limit for your iTunes account that gets tossed in here as well. You can authorize up to five Macs (Mac Book Air, iMac, etc.) to play your iTunes content and no more. If you plan on selling one of your Macs, you must go into iTunes and "De-authorize" that computer before wiping the hard drive and selling the computer. You may forget to do this or your hard drive may crash leaving you without a way to "de-authorize" the account. in that case, you get a one time per year magic Mac eraser. You have to "de-authorize" all of your Macs at once, not device specific like the iOS devices, and then "re-authroize" the Macs you want.

Confused yet? It gets worse. There is iTunes Match to deal with and AppleTV's. I *think* there is a five Apple TV limit to your iTunes account but there is some people that swear it works against your iOS limit. I just don't know because if you add all my iOS devices in combination with Apple TVs, I don't come close to ten. So beware.

It's gets even worse. If you decide to associate an iOS device to an iTunes account and then decide that was a bad idea and try to associate that iOS device with another iTunes account, you will have a 90 day wait period to complete before you can authorize that iOS device on the new iTunes account. Aggravating to say the least.

It is a confusing mess that is hard to keep up with but if you follow the rule that everyone has their own iCloud account and everyone shares an iTunes account on a different email/identity then you should avoid most problems. Have fun!

iCloud vs iTunes App Store: what families should know

The time has come when more than one person in a household has an iOS device. A couple of iPhones, iPods, iPads, Macs, etc. What do you need to know about iCloud, iTunes Store, App Store, and Mac App Store? A lot unless you are made of money and love chaos.

Each person should have their own iCloud account

I make no guarantees regarding the legality of what you are about to read. In fact, some of this may go against past, present, or future Apple User Agreements. I am not aware of any problems arising from these setups but it is better to state this up front.

It is more complicated than you may at first think when it comes to setting up accounts with Apple for all the different services and stores. I am going to help you understand what you are doing before you do it so you don't cuss yourself years later for not doing things differently.

Lets get Eric's rule of iCloud memorized. Every person needs their very own iCloud account. There are no exceptions to my rule. A husband and wife should NOT share an iCloud account. A single person, teenager, whatever, must have their own iCloud account. iCloud controls a lot of person and device specific details that should not be shared between people. Email, documents and data, Keychain, Find my iPhone, Photo Stream, Photo Stream, and Photo Stream.

If you snap a photo it goes directly to your photostream unless you have this option turned off. Most people have Mac's that import the Photostream photographs to their iPhote library in order to backup their iOS device photographs. In this day and age, it is best to keep your photogaphs seperated from your parents, spouse, or children. It just gets messy and you are exposed to double the information and it will cause you to go crazy. Of course, for those celebrities taht love to take photographs of themselves in the bathroom mirror in less than appropriate clothing, this should not come as a surprise that you need your very own iCloud account.

Next blog, setting up iTunes Store, App Store, and Mac App Store accounts.