Your Apple ID is much more than a simple username. It’s a key that unlocks a long list of Apple products and services on any of numerous devices. iCloud uses an Apple ID, as does Apple Music; the App Store; the Music, TV, and Books apps; and more. An Apple ID protects your personal information, including email and iOS/iPadOS backups; helps you find a lost iPhone; and can even unlock your Mac. So it goes without saying that if something goes wrong with your Apple ID, you could be in for a world of hurt.
Unfortunately, things go wrong with Apple IDs all the time. Fortunately, Glenn Fleishman, a veteran technology journalist and the author of Macworld’s “Mac 911” column, is ready to help with expert advice on how to manage your Apple ID—including how to prevent, solve, or work around most common problems!
In this book, Glenn answers questions like:
- What all is my Apple ID used for?
- How does my iCloud account relate to my Apple ID?
- What problems can two-factor authentication (2FA) solve, and how do I use it?
- Are there other mechanisms I can use to ensure that I can recover an Apple ID in the event of a problem? (Spoiler: yes!)
- What if I have a device that’s too old to work with two-factor authentication?
- What should I do if I have two or more Apple IDs or iCloud accounts?
- Will I lose access to all my Apple media purchases if I move to another country?
- Can I share an Apple ID with someone else?
- What exactly should I do if I think someone is hacking my Apple ID account?
- How can I recover a forgotten Apple ID password?
- What steps should I take if Apple locks me out of my account?
- If I lose access to an email address associated with my Apple ID, what can I do?
- What Apple ID changes in recent versions of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS do I need to know about?
- How does “Sign in with Apple” work?
- How can I use Family Sharing to share data and purchases within my family?
- What types of subscriptions can I manage with my Apple ID, and how?
- Which payment methods can I associate with my Apple ID, and how do I manage them?
And that’s just the beginning. Glenn has packed a remarkable amount of concise problem-solving information into this compact, 140-page book. Read it before you encounter Apple ID problems to minimize your risk, and if you’ve already encountered a problem, read it to find the best path to a rapid solution.
Glenn Fleishman is a veteran technology writer who has contributed to dozens of publications across his career, including Macworld, Fast Company, and Increment. He has also written dozens of editions of books in the Take Control series. He spent 2019 and 2020 building 100 tiny type museums full of real printing artifacts. Glenn lives in Seattle with his wife and two children.
What’s New in Version 3.3
This update of the book brings it in line with Apple’s expected September or October 2022 operating system updates: iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS 13 Ventura.
The most substantial change has to do with system configuration. After two decades, Apple abandoned System Preferences for System Settings starting with Ventura. It’s an interface overhaul that mostly reorganizes settings and brings configuration closer in appearance to the Settings app in iOS and iPadOS.
To highlight these changes and make it clear where to look, you’ll see the following formulation throughout in different ways: “Go to System Preferences > Apple ID (Catalina through Monterey) or System Settings > Account Name (Ventura).” While it may become repetitive, it’s the only way to make sure I point you to the correct location.
Note: This version applies best to anyone with devices running 10.15 Catalina through 13 Ventura and iOS 13/iPadOS 13 through iOS 16/iPadOS 16. I reference earlier versions where appropriate for backward compatibility with some features.
Apple also renamed “Family Sharing” to “Family” in System Settings and make changes to how you access Family Sharing members’ details that aren’t the same as iOS/iPadOS or macOS Monterey! See “Share with Your Family” for specifics.
Other updates in this version that appeared in iOS 16/iPadOS 16 and macOS 13 Ventura include:
- Passkey: Apple added a new form of website login called a passkey. A passkey is a cryptographically clever, highly secure way of validating your identity, and will replace two-factor authentication in many cases. Apple hasn’t yet said whether sites at which you use your Apple ID to log in that currently require two-factor will use passkeys. Just in case, I’ve included a sidebar that explains how they work, “Where Passkeys Fit In”; I’ll update the book in the future depending on Apple’s actions.
- Hide My Email for apps: The Hide My Email feature that’s part of iCloud+ only let the Mail app directly generate an aliased address. Now, any Apple or third-party app can tie into Apple’s framework. See “Where Hide My Email Fits In with Sign in with Apple.”
- iCloud Shared Photo Library: Apple introduced a new kind of photo sharing called iCloud Shared Photo Library. While it appears to be an extension of Family Sharing, it is not: it lets you or the library’s creator invite up to five other people who don’t have to be in each other’s or any Family Sharing group. That’s distinct from the album shared via iCloud for Family Sharing groups. I spell out the differences in “Family Sharing Album” and “iCloud Shared Photo Library.”
Posted by Joe Kissell on April 23, 2021
Glenn Fleishman joined Chuck Joiner on MacVoices in a massive, three-part series to discuss updates to several of his books, including Take Control of Your M-Series Mac, Take Control of Securing Your Mac, Take Control of Your Apple ID, and Take Control of Home Security Cameras. The three episodes are:
You can also watch them right here:
Posted by Glenn Fleishman on February 15, 2019
Apple recently told software developers that two-factor authentication (2FA) will be required as of February 27, 2019, for Apple ID accounts used to log in to the company’s developer website, and which are used for other purposes to create identification and encryption documents. That’s a concern for some developers who haven’t enabled 2FA on the account or accounts they use for development purposes.
Apple requires that you use macOS or iOS to enable 2FA for an Apple ID, as I describe in Take Control of Your Apple ID in some detail (along with how to take steps so that you set up 2FA with the right recovery details in case you have a problem with the account or someone tries to hack into it). That requires a given Mac or iOS device has that Apple ID used as its iCloud login account.
But some developers use one or more Apple IDs for development that they don’t employ with iCloud on any device. They were left wondering how they could possibly enable 2FA, even though they can use telephone-based SMS or automated-voice codes to confirm logins after setting it up.
Fortunately, Take Control of Your Apple ID has the answer (in the section “Set up 2FA Without a Device”). Here’s a brief rundown:
- Set up a separate login account on a Mac, even one you don’t routinely use.
- Log in to iCloud via the iCloud preference pane using the Apple ID you want to upgrade to 2FA.
- Make sure to set at least a couple phone numbers to use as verification codes in the process of set up.
Now, whenever you log into a developer resource or any Apple site or service that requires that Apple ID, Apple will attempt to send a verification code to the macOS account you logged in with, which won’t do anything. Instead, click or tap “Didn’t get a verification code” and then you can choose to receive an SMS or voice-based code to complete the login (as explained in depth in the section “Log In with 2FA by SMS or Voice Call”).
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