WARNING: FaceTime/iMessage set-up conflict.

[jimthing0]

FaceTime/iMessage set-up issue warning. 

Don't forget the long outstanding annoying issue for (pre-iCloud) MobileMe users, of course... 

(this may/may not be a relevent issue here for you, but is for several thousands of others.) 

Users who already had an Apple ID account for all their iTunes purchases before signing-up for MM cannot use their full me.com email addresss as a contact method in iMessage/FaceTime, if that me.com email address is being used as the Primary Email Address under your iTunes Apple ID (viewable at appleid.apple.com). 

I'll warn you now: there is no way around this! 

Background... 

• iTunes (& later on Appstore) Apple ID is: "firstname.lastname". 

Thousands of users used Apple ID's like this for years for all iTunes purchases, with their Primary Email Address at appleid.apple.com being something like "whatever@whatever.com" (basically any email address they were currently using at the time) for all purchase receipts and other email contact from iTunes. 

 • Then users signed-up for MobileMe just in order to use Apple's integrated me.com IMAP email (and synced Contacts/Calendar/Bookmarks services), mostly obviously wanting the logical choice email address "firstname.lastname@me.com". 

Problem: at this point Apple's systems automatically created another: "firstname.lastname@me.com" Apple ID to the user. This causes a great many problems. 

Most users were giving-up the email address they were previously using in order to just use their me.com one, and so understandably wanted a straightforward me.com Apple ID set-up for their iTunes account. Hence they went to appleid.apple.com to alter the Apple ID itself to be their full firstname.lasname@me.com email address. 

However USERS WERE NOT ALLOWED BY APPLE'S SYSTEMS to change the iTunes Apple ID to their full me.com address, as the second Apple ID ("firstname.lastname@me.com") had been needlessly created automatically! 

Highly annoyingly, they could change it to ANY OTHER EMAIL ADDRESS ON THE PLANET except for their own me.com email addresses! 

At the time, Applecare told users to just change the Primary Email Address for their iTunes Apple ID ("firstname.lastname") to their me.com email address ("firstname.lastname@me.com") at appleid.apple.com for all purchase receipts and other contact from iTunes. 

And to and make sure they NEVER buy anything under the newer full me.com ("firstname.lastname@me.com") Apple ID, and just ignore it. 

• Now this worked, until the release of iCloud as well as new services like FaceTime/iMessage. 

Before iCloud's release, Apple also changed their systems to only allow full email addresses for the set-up of new Apple ID's. 

When older users logically wanted to use the same Apple ID for both iTunes and iCloud, and tried to sign-up for iCloud, Apple's system only allowed full email Apple ID's to be entered! 

Again, taking Applecare's advice, users were told to make sure they used the second full Apple ID ("firstname.lastname@me.com") when setting-up iCloud set-up. Reason being, as this made sure their email/contacts/calendar/bookmarks were set-up correctly on their device. 

Hence legacy users are left forced into a situation they tried NOT to leave themselves in — having TWO Apple ID's needlessly!: 

(1) their original one for iTunes/Appstore: 

"firstname.lastname", with Primary Email Address "firstname.lastname@me.com". 

(2) a secondary one for iCloud (when they wished they could use just their original iTunes one!): 

"firstname.lastname@me.com" (using "firstname.lastname@me.com" as their Primary Email Address as well, or another email address). 

THIS CAUSES A CONFLICT, specifically with FaceTime and iMessage: 

- if you use "firstname.lastname" Apple ID, then you cannot be contacted via FaceTime and iMessage at firstname.lastname@icloud.com. 

- if you use "firstname.lastname@me.com" Apple ID, then you cannot be contacted via FaceTime and iMessage at firstname.lastname@me.com. 

This sounds bizarre I know, but check it and you'll see! (especially the latter; signing-in to FaceTime or iMessage with "firstname.lastname@me.com" Apple ID doesn't allow you to receive on that address, because it's associated with the "firstname.lastname" Apple ID!!). 

Just check these settings... 

On iOS devices, under either: 

Settings > Messages > Send & Receive: x Addresses OR Settings > FaceTime 

Apple ID: firstname.lastname@me.com 

You can be reached by iMessage/FaceTime at: 

- <phone number> 

- firstname.lastname@icloud.com 

However when someone tries to contact you on iMessage or FaceTime using email address "firstname.lastname@me.com" on their Apple device, IT DOES NOT ALLOW THEM TO!: 

- in Messages: the "To:" addressee's me.com email will turn red with an exclamation mark "!" which when tapped on will say "firstname.lastname@me.com is not registered with iMessage". 

- in FaceTime: a pop-up saying "FaceTime failed: Firstname Lastname is not available for FaceTime". 

If you try to use your legacy first iTunes Apple ID ("firstname.lastname") to set-up FaceTime or iMessage, it then won't let you add the same alias icloud.com email address ("firstname.lastname@icloud.com") to your "reached at" list! 

And as a final annoyance, if you log into appleid.apple.com to remove email address "firstname.lastname@icloud.com" from Apple ID "firstname.lastname@me.com" (which it lets you do), and then try to add it as an Alternate Email Address to Apple ID "firstname.lastname"; it won't let you add it! 

So you're stuck using one Apple ID or the other, but cannot be contacted by FaceTime or iMessage at both your me.com AND icloud.com email addresses (even though it's the same inbox)! 

Dumb. Really dumb Apple. And thanks for leaving your loyal, longterm, legacy users with such issues through absolutely no fault of their own. 

[jimthing0]

Just phoned AppleCare. (this is about the 3rd or 4th time I've had a go at getting them to deal with this "forced usage of 2 Apple ID's" issue in the last 2 years!) 

After an hour long call (1st line > 20min wait > re-explain to 2nd line!), answer: 

There is no solution. 

As I explained it carefully enough to him, he seemed to understood the issue well enough, as he came-across as pretty level headed (he even said he had a similar issue himself!). But he laid it on the line that it was unlikely to be solveable unless Apple change their policy on merging Apple ID's. And this would likely have to be something open to everyone, not just MobileMe users who have been forced into this predicament by Apple (see the part in red "Problem: at this point..."  near the top of my first post above!). 

He, apparently, forwarded the issue to the "iTunes team", and when asked to also put in a complaint for me (though no response is given to these complaints, he said!). Then he forwarded the whole "case ref #" to me for my reference. 

Now as I take it with a pinch of salt that he has actually done a complaint (or if he did, it probably goes into a black hole inbox!), I also asked for an email address to complain to (he said there isn't one!?), but did give me a written address (the good thing being you can apparently expect an answer back from them via this method, he said): 

Customer Relations 

Apple Distribution International 

Hollyhill Industrial Estate 

Hollyhill 

Cork 

Republic Of Ireland 

If you are having this issue (or anything to do with being forced to use 2 Apple ID's: one for iTunes, another for iCloud) then I strongly suggest you write in to the above. 

Hope this helps, even in some small way. 

[Anonymous]

I was having some issues with iMessage and Facetime and wrote a couple of setup guides.

I thought some users might find them useful.

http://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Apple-iOS-Devices-iPhone-iPad/iMessage-setup-on-iPhone-etc/m-p/348468

http://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Apple-iOS-Devices-iPhone-iPad/Facetime-setup-on-iPhone-etc/m-p/348484

[jimthing0]

^Nice idea.^

Just a shame Apple's "Apple ID ecosystem" is starting to be such a pain all round... 

Yet another issue today, this time with a Newsstand app (or should that be 'an app in the Newsstand app', lol!). 

A family member bought a 7 day "In-app Subscription" for a daily newspaper Newsstand app. 

- then selected (via iPad's: Settings > iTunes & App Stores > login-in to Apple ID > Subscriptions/Manage) to auto renew for a year when it ended yesterday. 

- however the 7 day ended yesterday, she got charged the £99.99 for the 12 months sub she wanted ok (reciept emailed, and iTunes purchase history on computer shows it has been). 

- yet in the app, it still shows "Expired 19 November 2012"! 

Nothing works to fix it, even after doing all of these: 

- deleting/reinstalling (and losing previous editions downloaded!). 

- in the newspaper's app, using it's "Restore Subscription" button (enter Apple ID password, verifies as successful, but then still shows "Expired 19 November 2012" above!). 

- trying a test, by installing it on my iPad (under her account, of course): exactly the same thing. 

What does one do here? 

I contacted iTunes (via me phoning Applecare, and them emailing iTunes support): 

- they say to contact dev, and iTunes reply just saying "yes, subscription happened ok" (erm, clearly I KNOW THAT iTunes! How is that supposed to fix it to work properly!). 

Contact dev (via email): 

- they say to contact iTunes. And send out a stock email response advising the reinstal! 

Really, is this the level of "crap follow-up, not fixing my issue" we have to put up with from Apple —who control the API's for these apps— then who can be bothered to pay for anything on these Apple iTunes/Appstores in the first place! 

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh! 

[jimthing0]

Well, after all that iTunes Store Support got back to me quite quickly (around 5 hours), and cancelled the sub and refunded the original transaction, so we could then resub afresh: and it worked! 

Email:    [this email address  ↓  may help anyone else with iTunes/Appstore issues] 

---

iTunes Store <iTunesStoreSupport@apple.com@> wrote:

Hello,

My name is Jocelyne and I thank you for contacting the iTunes Store. I understand that your account "firsname.lastname@Anonymous.com" was charged for renewing your subscription to the "---------- Newspaper" but you can't access it on your device. When it comes to your money, I can certainly appreciate how important it is to feel that you are treated fairly, and I would be more than happy to investigate this for you today. 

Please accept my sincere apologies for the frustration this download has caused. I am refunding this In App purchase right now and you can repurchase it at your convenience, to ensure that it works properly for you on your device. 

After reviewing the circumstances of your case, we determined that issuing you a refund for your purchase of the "---------- Newspaper Subscription" is an appropriate exception to the App Store Terms and Conditions, which state that all sales are final. In five to seven business days, a credit of £99.99 should be posted to the Visa credit card that appears on the receipt for that purchase.

Kindly let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. I'll be more than happy to assist you with whatever you need. Thank you for the chance to improve your iTunes experience, as I am here for you to ensure your situation is resolved!

Sincerely,

Jocelyne 
iTunes Store Customer Support  

---

After all that moaning and groaning, Apple seemed to come through after all. 

Still other general niggling issues though with 'all things Apple', which I may elaborate on in a fresh thread.