Managing multiple i-thingy household (2 iphone + ipad) on itunes

[Traquy]

I did a lot of looking around and didn't find anything that adressed my specific question. If there is a thread out there please feel free to direct me there.

My husband and I both have iphones and our own itunes accounts. We want to buy a "family" ipad for Christmas (Probably like 80 million other people, yeah we're sheep). It will likely be mostly for our daughter to play her games and educational stuff, as well as watch movies/tv shows.

My question is this: What is the best way to manage this ipad in itunes? Both hubby and I want to be able to check our e-mail on it from time to time, and we both have apps in our itunes that we want to use on the ipad. This is where I get really pissed off at the "we are god" attitude Apple has. If I buy an app it should be mine to put on whatever device I want, but in reality that app still belongs to Apple and I can only use it where they tell me I can. Are we going to have to buy apps we ALREADY BOUGHT a second time just so we can put them on the ipad? Does Apple not get that ipads are going to be used by multiple people (unlike most iphones that are user specific)?

So, how do you manage a family ipad and do you have to re-buy apps to put on it? icloud is not an option right now because we don't have Windows 7 machines. Is it going to be better to have the ipad with it's own account, or link it to mine or hubby's account? Really confused about all this. My iphone is so easy to use, but itunes is the biggest most confusing PITA I've ever worked with.

 

[twerppoet]

Apple limits apps by account, not device. If you have the same account on several devices you can download and use that app on all the devices, and only purchase it once. If you use the iPad with one of your already existing Apple ID's then you can load whatever compatible apps you have on that account to the iPad. Apple even specifically permits this for families in the EULA. There is no need to open another account just for the iPad. Just pick the account that has more of what you don't want to buy again, or the person who thinks they will use the iPad the most, or is most willing to keep it up to date for your daughter.

It is possible to use two iTunes accounts on the iPad to download apps. However, you will have to sign in and out of the accounts each time you want to download or update them. I'd avoid the compare iTunes for this, and simply do it through the iPad's App Store app. You can sign in and out at the bottom of most of the App Stores pages. This is also true of the iTunes and iBooks apps.

Personally, I'd pick one account and stick with it. It will keep your life simpler.

You do not need a Windows 7 computer to use iCloud. As a matter of fact the whole purpose of iCloud is to help you do without a computer at all. Yes, there are tools to let you sync your computer with iCloud as well, but it is optional. More importantly, iCloud and iTunes accounts do not have to be the same on any device. That means you can keep different backup and files on devices that use the same iTunes account to buy and update apps. There are several service in iCloud, but they are all optional. You can turn off anything you don't want.

The email problem is trickier. There is no way to lock or require a password on the Mail app (or any other stock app). There are two possible solutions. You can access your email through Safari, or you can purchase a third party email app that does have password protection.

You should also explore the General > Restrictions option on your iPhones. The ones for the iPad will be similar. That will give you an idea of some of the things you can/can't do to lock down the iPad.

Apple IDs and iCloud

How to use multiple iPods, iPads, or iPhones with one computer