iOS: One account for store, another for everything else?

My kid’s getting a new iPod Touch for Christmas from his grandparents, an upgrade from his current no-speaker-or-camera-can’t-run-most-new/upgraded-apps, iOS 3.2, generation 1 hand-me-down iPod Touch.

I just set it up, and used my Store account as obviously I want him to be able to use the bazillion iPhone apps and games I’ve bought over the years. But when I set it up, it also set iCloud to my address, etc.

Now, I’m not even setting it up for e-mail/Facetime/etc. for him – he’s too young to be unleashed with that stuff given Apple’s complete apathy towards doing any kind of parental controls for its customers. But I do want him to be able to set up a Gamecenter account we can use for multiplayer gaming. And when he gets a bit older, I might lighten up on some of the other communication features.

So, the question is, can I have the store set up on my account, but create different addresses, etc. for Gamecenter and other apps?

I don’t know for certain, but I know whenever I change my Apple password, I have to re-input it into my phone a bajillion times. Which leads me to believe each of the main areas is subject to storing its own user account.

I do not believe so. Apple, in the past, has shown a strong ‘one user, one device’ preference with how it sets things up.

What I have done in the past is sync a device through iTunes on my computer to transfer all my paid apps to the device, then…on the device change the account to the new person using it. They can then use all the apps.

Now, if I recall correctly (as I haven’t done this for a couple of years), this person then syncing their device on a computer would erase everything, but you shouldn’t have that issue.

I’m also not sure how iCloud handles all this now.

You can skip iCloud setup. Login to the AppStore (Settings) specifically later with your account. Re-download the apps you own on that account. Sign out. You will need to sign-in again to update.

Yes, this works just fine. It’s the setup the wife and I use (one iTunes account, separate accounts for iCloud, GameCenter, and such). I can’t remember the setup at the moment, but I’ll have a refresher soon when I set up the Christmas iPhones for the kids.

I do this for my kids. Everybody has an icloud/apple id. They all use my appleid for the store which is the main one I use to purchase apps. For icloud and everything else though they use their own account. You can change the icloud account in settings | icloud | account.

You can also change:
settings | itunes & app stores | apple id
settings | facetime | apple id
settings | imessage | send & receive

Account setup in iOS is surprisingly granular and flexible.

Cool, thanks, guys. I’ll set it up for him after he goes to bed tonight.

Bought him a copy of Sid Meier’s Pirates to go with the existing games. 99 cent sale! :)

My wife and I share an account for use with the App Store (and iBooks & iTunes) but have separate accounts for everything else, so it definitely can be done.