New to AW and love it (gen 6). But I am unable to figure out how to share data with my daughter (gen 3). We share the same Apple ID but I don’t think that’s the issue as I can’t seem to share with my sister in law either, who has a different Apple ID. My daughter can see others (2) with whom I share, but nothing shows up in her app when I invite her. Same when she invites me. Very frustrating. Any guidance is appreciated.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apps Sharing Fitness App information
- Thread starter dbirnbaum7
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
If you use the same Apple ID, there is no "inviting" - you can't invite yourself. Sharing occurs between people with different Apple IDs.
Sharing a single Apple ID used to be beneficial, back when the primary concern was spending money on iTunes and App Store. However, two people sharing common data can be a real problem - any data stored in iCloud is accessible to all users of the account, and any one of those users may end up accidentally (or sometimes intentionally) deleting data belonging to others. There's also the problem of ensuring that data is not merged - you receiving your daughter's iMessage and FaceTime communications, and vice versa. In the case of Activity data it's possible to combine data from multiple Watches - so you could end up contributing to your daughter's Activity or vice versa.
Overall, it's better for data management and privacy to each have your own Apple IDs. Do that, and you'll have no problem sharing your workouts. Family Sharing can address the issue of those iTunes and App Store purchases.
Sharing a single Apple ID used to be beneficial, back when the primary concern was spending money on iTunes and App Store. However, two people sharing common data can be a real problem - any data stored in iCloud is accessible to all users of the account, and any one of those users may end up accidentally (or sometimes intentionally) deleting data belonging to others. There's also the problem of ensuring that data is not merged - you receiving your daughter's iMessage and FaceTime communications, and vice versa. In the case of Activity data it's possible to combine data from multiple Watches - so you could end up contributing to your daughter's Activity or vice versa.
Overall, it's better for data management and privacy to each have your own Apple IDs. Do that, and you'll have no problem sharing your workouts. Family Sharing can address the issue of those iTunes and App Store purchases.
Thanks for your response. It just seems like there should be a way to share fitness info within the same Apple ID. I’ll bet there’s plenty of spouses that don’t establish separate IDs that can share in somehow. Anybody??
No. There is not a provision in Apple ID for a single account to have sub-identities. There's no way for the system to know that an iPad signed into fictitiousappleid@domain.realm is used by someone different than an iPhone signed into fictitiousappleid@domain.realm. (And it's not a safe assumption to say that an individual will only have one iPhone signed into an account at a time - most people have their old iPhone and new iPhone signed in at the same time during the setup process.)
Yes, there are ways to work around that limitation in certain areas, like iMessage/FaceTime's Send & Receive settings, and the Apple TV device/tvOS has a provision for multiple user profiles so each family member can customize their viewing preferences. But Health in particular (and Fitness is part of Health) is designed to be especially private/personal, in keeping with legal requirements for personal health/medical information. As with other iCloud features, if Health is enabled in iCloud settings on your iPhone and your wife's, your Health/Workout data is going to be merged.
Apple changed its approach to the sharing of Apple ID accounts quite some years ago. They recommend that each family member have a personal Apple ID, and that the family use Family Sharing in order to share their iTunes/App Store/Books/etc. purchases and subscriptions. This gives each person a unique identity for iMessage and FaceTime, their own 5 GB of free iCloud storage, can store data in iCloud without the possibility that another family member may accidentally (or maliciously) delete something or merge their data with yours....
Bottom line, Apple doesn't want to facilitate the sharing of a single Apple ID, so there is no provision for sharing workouts in the way you desire.
Yes, it can be a royal pain to unravel/separate shared data if you choose to go the "personal Apple ID" route after sharing for so many years, but in the end you'll have fewer sharing-related problems and workarounds.
I very much appreciate and now fully understand why we need to establish separate Apple IDs. Once I do that, how do I ‘disengage’ / permanently log her from the original/my ID? Is it possible to be logged into two IDs simultaneously? I’d hope not.
I tried to establish a new ID on my daughter’s phone by following directions using the App Store and selecting the ‘person’ icon in the upper right, but didn’t see where / how to create a new one.
Thanks again for the advice!
I tried to establish a new ID on my daughter’s phone by following directions using the App Store and selecting the ‘person’ icon in the upper right, but didn’t see where / how to create a new one.
Thanks again for the advice!
You wouldn't start from the App Store. You can sign out in Settings > [name]. After signing out you have options for creating a new Apple ID during sign-in. (Sign in with your Apple ID > Don't have an Apple ID?)
Presumably you'll also want to use Family Sharing afterwards so your daughter maintains access to apps, music, etc. that have been purchased with your shared Apple ID.
What's critical is planning for what happens with your currently-shared iCloud data.
Generally it's best to clone all of it (save it to iPhone or iPad or Mac), so that when you sign into the new Apple ID all that data will automatically be added to the new iCloud storage.
Some of that is easily done - when you sign out of iCloud you're automatically asked whether you want to keep a copy of that data on the device. That's true for Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, and Notes, for example.
Two particular types of data require a bit more work (and perhaps more on-device storage than you possess) - iCloud Photos and iCloud Messages:
If you're using iCloud Photos and its Optimize Storage feature AND you plan to clone the entire photo library, then well before you "separate" you'd need to switch from Optimize Storage to Download and Keep Originals. If there are multiple devices involved (iPhone, iPad, Mac, PC with iCloud for Windows) then do this on whichever device has the most storage space.
Once each of you has your own personal copy in your separate iCloud account you can each start pruning out what you don't need (husband deleting wife's business contacts, for example). (Naturally, you shouldn't start editing prior to the separation.)
Presumably you'll also want to use Family Sharing afterwards so your daughter maintains access to apps, music, etc. that have been purchased with your shared Apple ID.
What's critical is planning for what happens with your currently-shared iCloud data.
Generally it's best to clone all of it (save it to iPhone or iPad or Mac), so that when you sign into the new Apple ID all that data will automatically be added to the new iCloud storage.
Some of that is easily done - when you sign out of iCloud you're automatically asked whether you want to keep a copy of that data on the device. That's true for Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, and Notes, for example.
Two particular types of data require a bit more work (and perhaps more on-device storage than you possess) - iCloud Photos and iCloud Messages:
If you're using iCloud Photos and its Optimize Storage feature AND you plan to clone the entire photo library, then well before you "separate" you'd need to switch from Optimize Storage to Download and Keep Originals. If there are multiple devices involved (iPhone, iPad, Mac, PC with iCloud for Windows) then do this on whichever device has the most storage space.
Once each of you has your own personal copy in your separate iCloud account you can each start pruning out what you don't need (husband deleting wife's business contacts, for example). (Naturally, you shouldn't start editing prior to the separation.)