apple-idapplicationsios-appstoreitunessharing
We have a number of iDevices in the family, and each user has their own Apple ID. Also, each person has their own computer to sync apps and other content.
If I purchase an app for my iPod, Can I share it with my wife and son, each of whom have their own IDs?
If so, how do I share purchased apps, if each person has their own computer or iTunes library?
Yes, simply coping your entirely iTunes folder to an other computer will do the trick. This assumes all of your media is consolidated within the iTunes Media and iTunes Music folders. iTunes will assist in copying music to the folder and organizing a library if you would like to ensure all the media is portable when it comes time to transfer.
Do not forget to reauthorize the old computer if you are not going to use it regularly in case it crashes and one of your 5 slots is taken up. You can reset things after a lost computer, but it is somewhat time restricted to prevent abuse of that feature.
Home sharing should allow you to see each other's libraries over your home network, and drag apps from your wife's onto yours and vice versa. You can definitely do this despite having two accounts - my wife and I have a similar problem. You may have to enter both passwords from time to time to authorize purchases, though.
I found some help setting this up from "Activating Home Sharing in iTunes".
I believe you can also sort hers by "items I don't have" so you can see what she might have bought of interest to you, although I'm not sure you can automatically sync them.
This SuperUser question seems to suggest that merging two accounts is not an option:
Can I merge 2 iTunes Store accounts?
Best Answer
Unfortunately the only way to share apps is to use the same Apple ID for purchases on every device.
You can use different IDs for iCloud, but you need to sign into the App Store with the same ID.
If you're signed in to the App Store with the correct ID you can download previously purchased apps for free, each person haven their own computer and iTunes library doesn't matter.