iTunes Survival Tips Part 2

Usage of an AppleID

As I said in part 1:

# 3. Keep a single Apple ID.

Yes as annoying as it sounds, the best practice is to keep a single Apple ID. Why because you can never merge the extra accounts, and you'll have content in one you won't in the other...

However this should only apply to your Apple ID and devices. If your girlfriend or boyfriend also have an iDevice (particularly an iPhone) you really need to have separate ID's.

Don't use the same Apple ID in 2 or more iPhones

When setting up an iPhone use the apple ID of the person the phone belongs to. Why? Because otherwise both phones are setup as belonging to one Apple ID. What that means is that Apple's servers then think they are supposed to send all notifications, all messages and all events to both devices.  Like if you had a iPhone and an iPad and wanted both to get the iMessage notifications. While it may be interesting to read other people's messages it can get a annoying, cumbersome, and obtrusive. Each individual iPhone should have its own individual Apple ID.

Don't use the same AppleID for iCloud backups of different phones.

You should never share an Apple Id for iCloud backup as that can cause issues with the backed up data. This is specially problematic as the backed up contacts of one iPhone can merge with another, or in worst cases overwrite them. So you get either a mess of contacts, or none of your own. I'm sure I don't have ti explain the problems you get from having merged contact lists, or having yours overwritten by your girlfriend's.

Don't share an Apple ID for iTunes purchases

As much as you'd want to, or think its a good idea, it isn't. While having purchased content across the your own devices is good, having purchased content across devices owned by different people is not. Even if its your girlfriend or wife and you want to share the content avoid it. Why because it invariably comes down to having content you don't want downloading to your device. I for instance don't need to have the complete set of Sex & the city episodes downloading to my iPhone because my wife decided she wants to watch them. Also I don't need it using up space in my iPhone or iPad.

With that said, I can appreciate the need for a shared AppleID when purchasing content and being able to use it across everybody's devices, however the iTunes platform is not set up for it, and while you can use say a House Apple ID where you purchase movies and Tv shows to watch at home through an Apple Tv or even an iPad connected through HDMI to the TV it come back to the original issue. The account is independent, and its purchases cannot be merged with Apple ID's iTunes library.

All in all, iTunes, and Apple's platforms were designed for personal Apple ID's sharing was never intended because they first and foremost wanted to prevent piracy, and content copying. So while you may feel inclined to share an Apple ID, don't. In the long run it will only cause more issues than it will solve.