Fifteen days ago, Apple released a tool for iPhone and iPad that allegedly allows you to migrate purchases from one Apple Account to another.The primary requirement is that you must be logged in with both Apple Accounts on the same iPhone or iPad.The only problem is that there are also secondary, tertiary, quaternary, quinary, senary, septenary, octonary, nonary, and denary requirements as well.
There were so many requirements that I had to learn what comes after tertiary! Best of all is that the tool doesn’t explain what went wrong when your two Apple Accounts don’t meet the very strict criteria.It just fails.Some of you at home may be wondering how one could end up with two actively used Apple Accounts.
My situation is like that of the others for whom Apple apparently made this Rube Goldberg migration tool.I primarily use the Apple Account that is associated with iCloud.However, my iTunes and App Store purchases are associated with a different Apple Account that I used prior to the Apple Account used with iCloud.
Since iOS 5, this issue has haunted me.It requires maintaining separate passwords and billing information for each Apple Account.At times, I’ve accidentally subscribed to iCloud storage using my Apple Account associated with App Store purchases.
It’s surprisingly difficult to cancel an iCloud subscription from an Apple Account not associated with iCloud.I think the process has required going through the Music app or App Store app on the Mac.The way I’ve realized I paid $10 for iCloud using the wrong Apple Account is also a pain.
Past examples include realizing that my photos haven’t been syncing for days, my devices haven’t backed up to iCloud in weeks, and my iCloud Mail has been bouncing back for senders who had to find other ways to contact me.As I mentioned, I’ve been dual-wielding Apple Accounts on each device since 2011.It started even before that.
When I was 18 or 19, I started a free trial of Apple’s MobileMe cloud service with the email address [email protected] and sweet.(The only better email address I’ve had was [email protected] when I worked at an Apple Store in college, and shoutout to whoever has [email protected].
I envy you.) Anyway, being a broke college student, I didn’t see the value in paying $99/year for 20 GB of email and file storage when Gmail and Dropbox were free.(Dropbox was also really good for Mac users at the time, and you could add capacity to your free storage quota in a number of simple ways.) MobileMe ran from 2008 to 2011.Then iCloud replaced the artist also formerly known as .mac and iTools, and the still unchanged 5GB tier meant iCloud was free to use.
During the iOS 5 beta period, I changed my one and only Apple Account from using a Gmail address to using a free iCloud email address.That’s when [email protected] became my Apple Account for my many iTunes and App Store purchases.Once iOS 5 came out of beta and iCloud.com officially launched, Apple unlocked access to Apple Accounts that were previously tied to a lapsed MobileMe/.mac/iTools subscription.
At last, [email protected] was available for me to use again — and without an upfront payment of $99 or any money for that matter.At that point, I wanted to switch from using [email protected] anywhere to using [email protected] everywhere.The only problem was that I couldn’t merge Apple Accounts, and there was no mechanism for transferring purchases from one Apple Account to another.
Since 2011, I’ve maintained two Apple Accounts with two passwords and two sets of billing information on each Apple device, carefully remembering not to subscribe to iCloud or AppleCare+ from the wrong Apple Account.AppleCare+ is another subscription that cancelling from the Apple Account used for purchases is near impossible to do.For the reasons listed here, I was rather ecstatic when Apple quietly released the ability to migrate purchases from one Apple Account to another.
Who was this tool for? Picture me standing under a dozen illuminated signs all pointing down at ME! But alas, two weeks later, I’m no closer to migrating purchases from my Apple Account used for iTunes and the App Store than I was 14 years ago.I’ve tried fulfilling each requirement listed by Apple, including saying goodbye to every TestFlight app associated with my Apple Account used for purchases.Workflow, the predecessor to Shortcuts that Apple bought years ago, was the hardest TestFlight to remove from my history.
I guess my next move is to stop making any purchases or maintaining any subscriptions and seeing if that helps.I could also make a third Apple Account to which I could transfer my kids’ Apple Accounts, but there’s a real chance they could get stuck there for a while and not return to my theoretically unified Apple Account.For now, the “Migrate” button in the Settings app on my iPhone and iPad is just something that I’ll stare at in utter confusion, poking it from time to time while asking, Why?” Best Apple accessories Wireless CarPlay adapter iPhone MagSafe battery USB-C iPhone charger Apple AirTag AirPods 4 AirPods Pro 2 Apple Pencil Pro Follow Zac Hall on X, and listen to Runtime with co-host Sophia Tung on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
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