A million years ago, I worked for Apple as iTunes was being rolled out and introduced. I signed up for iTunes using my Yahoo account and used my Apple.com account email. When I left Apple my account rolled over to a .Mac account (I think, though it could have been .iCloud, as I can’t remember which was first). Now I have some purchases split between my Yahoo and my .mac account, and I’d like to migrate/merge the Yahoo account into my .Mac account. Thankfully, Apple now allows that! Yay!
However, following their instructions, I’ve encountered an issue. Apple’s instructions want me to disable Family Sharing on my secondary account. But, Settings shows that Family Sharing isn’t enabled, and this is definitely not correct, as I’m sharing with a couple of family members. I’ve contacted Apple for assistance, and their 2nd tier support is looking into the issue. Of the three people that I’ve spoken to at Apple, none of them have migrated purchases, which is definitely a bit disappointing.
I thought I’d see if any of you have any suggestions on how to move forward.
I have some very old app store purchases associated with my original Apple ID (say xxx) from 2003. That ID became xxx@mac.com then xxx@me.com and now xxx@icloud.com (and it is now called Apple Account).
If I try to install/update those old apps then I get a password request for the original Apple ID. But the password is not accepted so the update does not proceed.
I haven’t tried the “transfer purchases” method that you are trying to use but, in my case, I expect the old apps are no longer available. I have deleted most of them to avoid getting warning messages during updates.
A similar problem occurs with old iTunes purchases.
Strange. My Apple ID has changed e-mail addresses a few times (and the ID itself changed once as a result) as well, but I’ve found that entering my current Apple ID and password has always been sufficient for access. This include re-downloading purchases and activating DRM-protected music. Don’t try to remember the last password used with that specific e-mail address. Just enter your current credentials.
Ditto for my wife’s Apple ID, which has seen similar changes over the years.
And in both of our cases, this was not a simple case of Apple moving a name across domains. They changed between completely unrelated domains - AOL, mail.com, GMail, and (the earliest instance of mine) an ID unassociated with any e-mail address.
If the app/song in question is no longer on the server (e.g. if the seller’s account no longer exists - which may well be the case), then you won’t see it in your purchase history and won’t be able to re-download it. But if it still exists, the download should work.
My main problem is that the password is not accepted for my original Apple ID. I have tried several passwords that I have used over the 20 years, without success. I don’t think the account has been hacked and suspect it is an Apple thing - “retired” accounts?
For music and videos it is easier to buy them again ( most are now bargain price) rather than trying to restore the original purchases.
For apps, most no longer exist or have not been upgraded for modern OS (eg 64 bit). Some were quite clever and useful but there are no current alternatives. Oh well…
Sorry. I assumed it was the same account, but with a new e-mail address.
If it was a different account, then yeah, that might be a bigger problem. The account might be locked if it hasn’t been used for a long time or if there were too many login-failures (maybe from hacking attempts) in the past.
If you still have access to the associated e-mail accounts, you might be able to perform a password reset or get Apple involved to reactivate it. If not, then I don’t know if there can be a good solution.
