IPhone – Two Apple IDs on one iPad

iphone

Is there a way for both my husband and I to have our information (apps, photos, etc) on one iPad? He's the original owner and now I have my own iPhone, but I want to be able to do the same things he does, but on separate accounts with one iPad.

Best Answer

In general, what you are suggesting is a Bad Idea™.

iOS devices such as iPad and iPhone do not have user accounts as you would have on a computer, where each user's data is stored separately and switching between accounts shows your data/apps/photos/etc. versus his. Simply signing in and out of an Apple ID on a device is not only time-consuming (to cover everything, there are at least 4-5 places I can think of off the top of my head where you'd have to log him out and you in, or vice-versa) but it's will wreak havoc with lots of things.

If you use iCloud calendars, they will either be deleted from the device each time you sign out, or if they are left, will be merged with the calendars of the next person who signs in. Notes stored in iCloud would be the same way. Calendars and notes don't necessarily take a huge amount of data, so maybe deleting them each time isn't that big a deal. What does take a lot of data is photos. If you use iCloud Photo Library, signing out will either delete all photos on the device (and therefore have to be re-downloaded each time you sign in), or if left, will be merged with the iCloud Photo Library of the next person to sign in (and eventually you'll end up with identical photo libraries).

If you use other systems for Calendars, Notes, and Email, such as Gmail, your stuff won't be accessible by just signing in and out of an Apple ID - you'd have to remove his account(s) and add yours, or vice-versa. That will cause all such data on the device to be deleted and have to be re-downloaded every time.

Apps do not get deleted by signing in and out, but by the same token, apps don't get downloaded just because you sign in. You can have apps purchased with different Apple IDs on the same device, but to update them, you have to be signed in with the ID that purchased them, which can create a headache. Also, app data, such as your progress in a game, does not go anywhere just by signing in and out. For games which don't have multiple save files (i.e. the majority of them), only one of you can save your progress. For other apps which contains data specific to one of you, the same idea applies.

The specific setting I mentioned in my comments requires signing in and out of iCloud, which I didn't think about when I mentioned it before. As mentioned above about calendars, notes, email, photos, etc. it would actually cause a lot of problems.

In short, no, it's not possible.