January 2022 • Macworld 89ID. Suddenly, you realize you’re all
getting each other’s messages and
email, and everything is a mess.
Apple doesn’t let you split Apple
ID accounts up, something I think
is overdue. But here’s a set of
strategies that can help.
- Migrate non-Apple email addresses
to their own Apple IDs. These are
addresses that don’t end in icloud.
com, mac.com, or me.com. Those
addresses can’t be moved; they’re
effectively permanently associated
with the main Apple ID. - Enable Family Sharing for the group
of accounts to continue to share
and access media and apps across
these accounts. This ensures nobody
loses access to things they bought or
use – as long as the Family Sharing
group remains intact and with the
same members. (Many apps don’t
allow shared in-app purchases and
subscriptions; developers choose
to allow that.) - Create new Apple IDs for everyone
who doesn’t have a third-party email
address, particularly children, even
if they already have aliases in your
main Apple ID account.
Let’s take this one step at a
time. First, if you have added a
non-Apple address to your Apple
ID as a ‘reachable at’ or ‘rescue’
address, this column from 2018
(fave.co/3oNzE7g) should help you
migrate it to a new Apple ID.
Next, enable Family Sharing.
Family Sharing costs nothing, lets
you choose to pool total storage
among family members while keeping
each person’s storage private from
everyone else, and lets people in
the group opt to share purchases. To
enable Family Sharing, go to Settings
> account name > Set Up Family
Sharing > Get Started in iOS and
iPadOS. In macOS 10.14 Mojave or
earlier, open the iCloud preference
pane and click Set Up Family. In
macOS 10.15 Catalina or later, open
the Family Sharing pane.
Finally, create new Apple IDs for
children or other people who have
addresses already associated with
your existing Apple ID.- Log out of Apple ID on all their
existing devices via the iCloud
controls: in iOS/iPadOS, Settings >
account name > Sign Out; in Mojave
and earlier, sign out from the iCloud
preference pane; in Catalina and
later, use the Apple ID preference
pane’s iCloud view. - When prompted to save or delete