General Is it ethical to share my Apple ID with others?

[mon999]

I was just thinking whether it is ethical to share an Apple ID with family and some close friends so we don't have to pay for an app more than once. of course it is not my primary ID which I use personally and on iCloud, but I got another ID that I don't mind sharing.
I know it is legal since Apple allows apps to be installed on any number of devices with the same ID but is it ethical? or to put it in other words, is it fair to the developers?

 

[Comeagain?]

I don't think so.

 

[view2darrel]

i have 2 apple id's. both have good app purchase history. i gave my other apple id to my cousin. he uses it for icloud. the other apple id is my main. some good apps are tied on my main apple id like 1password , dayone etc. i gave my main apple id password for to my cousin and other friends for app updates. i told them not to login on icloud. only app updates. though ichange my apple id password once a week. if they need updates. they message me for the password. -only give your apple id to those who you trust and also you'll get notification when others login your apple id on their devices

 

[irDigital0l]

Why wouldn't it be?

I don't think anyone expects/would buy an app 4-5 times or a movie 4-5 times for each person in a family.

If its friends...then thats a little more.

If your just plain pirating apps...that's unethical.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Would you let your friends borrow your car and never pay you for using your gas?

That's the way I see it anyway. The only thing that happens is that you're buying the apps, and they're pocketing the money to use on something else. And no, that's not fair to the developer. In my case, developers would lose a lot of money considering I buy apps in the $10-50 range.

If they can buy the device, they can buy their own apps. It's like people who come into class everyday looking for pencils/pens/paper.

 

[mon999]

Would you let your friends borrow your car and never pay you for using your gas?

It is not like im gonna post it on facebook and share with all my facebook friends. i was mainly talking about family members and added close friends that i trust which one can't have many of nowadays. i wouldn't ask a person that i trust with my car for $5 when they borrow it for a short errand.

----------

The only thing that happens is that you're buying the apps, and they're pocketing the money to use on something else. And no, that's not fair to the developer. In my case, developers would lose a lot of money considering I buy apps in the $10-50 range.

well, why would i mind my close friends saving a few dollars rather than giving them away to Apple and strangers (developers)?
you didn't convince me there at all.

I'm only thinking to use this for expensive apps like navigators and whatnot. I'm still confused.

 

[maxosx]

My Apple ID is exclusively mine. I wouldn't let anyone use it, or even know what it is for that matter.

That said, I understand why the OP is thinking as stated. In today's society millions feel entitled to cheat the system. Expect things for free, and have no concern for the impact on others.

I get paid very well for my work. I would never work for free, or expect anyone else to. I expect to pay for what I get. Period.

 

[Stooby Mcdoobie]

well, why would i mind my close friends saving a few dollars rather than giving them away to Apple and strangers (developers)?
you didn't convince me there at all.

Supporting the developer(s) of your favorite app(s) is one way to ensure that they will create more content for you to enjoy. A lot of time and effort goes into making apps; if everyone used the same loophole as you and your friends, the devs would just stop creating content because it wouldn't be worth their time. Seems like you're trying to justify piracy, but whatever.

 

[Nermal]

Ignoring whether it's ethical or not, I don't even think that Apple knows whether they should be shared or not. For example, Home Sharing requires each computer to use the same ID, but Apple also says that you shouldn't share your account with family members. The whole thing is a bit of a mess!

 

[Jessica Lares]

I'm only thinking to use this for expensive apps like navigators and whatnot. I'm still confused.

Let's say the app cost $20, and you shared that app to 5 of your closest friends. That developer loses out on $100 of potential revenue. And just because you say it's just for one app, doesn't mean your friends won't go digging into your account for other paid apps, which eventually leads to developers losing out on even more money.

 

[Dented]

why would i mind my close friends saving a few dollars rather than giving them away to Apple and strangers (developers)?
you didn't convince me there at all.

I'm only thinking to use this for expensive apps like navigators and whatnot. I'm still confused.

You are confused - you asked whether it was "ethical" to share IDs, not whether it was best for your friends or not.

The simple answer is no, it's not ethical, because you're effectively giving away other people's work for free without their permission. I don't know what you do as a job, but I imagine that if your boss got you to work for his friend for a day, and then told you that you worked that day for free and weren't going to get paid, you'd be pretty annoyed. It would be swell for your bosses' friend though, and why shouldn't he save his friend a few dollars right?

If the ethical argument means nothing to you (and judging from your responses so far it actually doesn't, so you needn't have asked) just know that sharing ID's is bound to inconvenience you in other ways, like making it awkward to use iCloud etc.

 

[SomeZeros]

i have just one account which i use it for iCloud and app updates etc.. the reason to have just one account is because all my friends and my family each one has personal account .

 

[irDigital0l]

just know that sharing ID's is bound to inconvenience you in other ways, like making it awkward to use iCloud etc.

Everyone has their own iCloud but use the same iTunes account.

 

[Ashin]

Sharing your ID is as bad as lending someone a music CD, a book, a DVD movie... which in turn is the same as being "lent" a pirated version over the internet. All these these scenarios the dev gets no money.

Saying that, Apple made it easy to do it, so why not... they don't seem to care.

 

[dhlizard]

I was just thinking whether it is ethical to share an Apple ID with family and some close friends so we don't have to pay for an app more than once. of course it is not my primary ID which I use personally and on iCloud, but I got another ID that I don't mind sharing.
I know it is legal since Apple allows apps to be installed on any number of devices with the same ID but is it ethical? or to put it in other words, is it fair to the developers?

Why not ?
Even in their support pages, Apple speaks about a family or couple using the same AppleID.

There is no prohibition against a family or couple using the same AppleID.

 

[eawmp1]

a. Scope of License: This license granted to you for the Licensed Application by Licensor is limited to a nontransferable license to use the Licensed Application on any Apple-branded products running iOS (including but not limited to iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch) (“iOS Devices”) or Mac OS X (“Mac Computers”), as applicable (collectively, “Apple Device(s)”) that you own or control and as permitted by the usage rules set forth in the Mac App Store, App Store and iBookstore Terms and Conditions (the “Usage Rules”). This license does not allow you to use the Licensed Application on any Apple Device that you do not own or control, and except as provided in the Usage Rules, you may not distribute or make the Licensed Application available over a network where it could be used by multiple devices at the same time. You may not rent, lease, lend, sell, transfer redistribute, or sublicense the Licensed Application and, if you sell your Mac Computer or iOS Device to a third party, you must remove the Licensed Application from the Mac Computer or iOS Device before doing so. You may not copy (except as expressly permitted by this license and the Usage Rules), decompile, reverse-engineer, disassemble, attempt to derive the source code of, modify, or create derivative works of the Licensed Application, any updates, or any part thereof (except as and only to the extent that any foregoing restriction is prohibited by applicable law or to the extent as may be permitted by the licensing terms governing use of any open-sourced components included with the Licensed Application). Any attempt to do so is a violation of the rights of the Licensor and its licensors. If you breach this restriction, you may be subject to prosecution and damages.

Ethical? No
Legal? No


Next question.

 

[waw74]

Sharing your ID is as bad as lending someone a music CD, a book, a DVD movie.

none of those are bad.

making a copy and then giving it away is bad. which is essentially what sharing your ID is, as 2 people have copies of the app, while only one paid for it.

within an immediate family with a shared income stream, it gets to be more of a grey area, since in theory they all have access to each others possessions.

 

[Heb 7:4]

Everyone in my household (4 people) uses my apple ID. I thought that is what everyone did. Why on earth would I buy the same app twice for myself and my partner?

I wouldn't buy the same film four times for the household, or the same piece of software for one of our computers, so why would I buy multiple copies of the same app?

 

[pdqgp]

I was just thinking whether it is ethical to share an Apple ID with family and some close friends so we don't have to pay for an app more than once. of course it is not my primary ID which I use personally and on iCloud, but I got another ID that I don't mind sharing.
I know it is legal since Apple allows apps to be installed on any number of devices with the same ID but is it ethical? or to put it in other words, is it fair to the developers?

Ethical, don't know, haven't thought it through. My immediate family and even my brothers and sisters share our ID's so we can pillage from each others apps. If we buy an app, we use our own ID's but when it comes to sharing a good one, we just text each other so we can all download it and enjoy it without having to pay for the same thing over and over and over. I see nothing wrong with it. If we are close enough and trusting enough as we are, then what's the difference if I owned all the devices and just shared one ID among them all.

The only thing is when it comes to updating the apps, we just need to key in various passwords as they are requested by the phone. Not a big deal. None of us use iCloud so I can't comment on the impact there.

 

[Hastings101]

Depends on the situation.. in a family setting I see nothing wrong with it. Why pay for the same app five times if you and your spouse/kids want to use it? Not to mention you can keep an eye on what everyone's buying. On the other hand, just lending it out to friends seems like a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[seble]

Families fine.
Friends er..... maybe. I don't trust some of my friends with my Apple ID.
Me and my best friend share an ID though but theres no card linked to it.

 

[ajxoxo]

I think that many developers work hard and deserve to be able to make a living doing this. I would suggest that you not share, but it is your phone.

Even if you wanted to share your Apple ID, I'm not sure how reasonably workable it would be for you to be able to use your friend's ID? Lets say you download some really cool app and you have to have a username and password for that app that your friend uses. How then, would you be able to share the login to even use the same app, not to mention any individual settings you might mess up for your friend who has the original Apple ID?

 

[Gutwrench]

Everyone in my household (4 people) uses my apple ID. I thought that is what everyone did. Why on earth would I buy the same app twice for myself and my partner?

I wouldn't buy the same film four times for the household, or the same piece of software for one of our computers, so why would I buy multiple copies of the same app?

I know we do. My wife and I own three iPhones. I have one, she has one and our daughter has one. We all use the same Apple ID so each of the apps we buy can be used on the devices I (we) own. Apple allows the apps to be added to my devices so this is what we do. I don't see how this is unethical or illegal. It's permissible.

Sharing with friends on their devices, that's a different story.

 

[Ashin]

Everyone in my household (4 people) uses my apple ID. I thought that is what everyone did. Why on earth would I buy the same app twice for myself and my partner?

I wouldn't buy the same film four times for the household, or the same piece of software for one of our computers, so why would I buy multiple copies of the same app?

In my opinion this is no better than pirating the apps. Dev only gets paid once, but 4 copies are "shared" out... much like piracy.

If you don't think this is like piracy, then at what point does it turn into piracy... 100 shares? 1000 shares? 100,000 shares?

Really grey area.

 

[Gutwrench]

In my opinion this is no better than pirating the apps. Dev only gets paid once, but 4 copies are "shared" out... much like piracy.

If you don't think this is like piracy, then at what point does it turn into piracy... 100 shares? 1000 shares? 100,000 shares?

Really grey area.

Apple allows me to to install an app I d/l from the App Store on any of the devices I own or control. Therefore how is it piracy to put them on the three iPhones and iPad I own and control even if my wife and daughter uses them?

APP STORE PRODUCT USAGE RULES

(i) If you are an individual acting in your personal capacity, you may download and sync an App Store Product for personal, noncommercial use on any iOS Device you own or control.

http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/terms.html#GIFTS