Totally frustrated w/ iCloud snag

[kenatease]

This is an iPad 2 and it's my wife's machine. Alas, she set it up and not everything is quite right. When she gets snagged she comes to me begging for help. There are currently two problems that are unlikely to be related. Here I'll address the ubiquitous iCloud horror. The other problem (likely for a future separate thread) is that she got an error message a week or two ago when trying to acquire/install a new free app, something about 'space' being limited in capacity. Under Settings>>About it says the machine has 13.5 GB capacity and there are 3.5 GB free. She failed to notate the precise wording of the error message. She deleted some apps at that time in order to fight the dilemma. There are 161 apps now present according to the machine's records.

Now about iCloud. I guess iCloud is some for-pay extra backup storage space. I don't even think we want it or need it. I don't recall paying any bill for it. I am unable to delete the iCloud account because I am unable to turn off "Find my iPad" since the password is not known. Oh she knew the password alright, but it doesn't work any more. The pop-up window asking for iCloud-connect is constantly making a nuisance and there's nothing we can do about it! If we ask it to reset the password it offers to do that by security questions or by email. If I choose questions, the 1st question is her birth date but when I specify what it truly is, Apple balks and says that it doesn't match their records. Arggh!! If I ask for email reset, Apple claims it has sent an email off to her and the instructions should be followed. BUT NO EMAIL IS RECEIVED!! I checked both her email addresses and NEITHER one has gotten what was expected. Apple never states what precise email address it has sent the password-reset link to! (It would be mighty stupid if it sent the password reset link to her iCloud email address, wouldn't it?!) So please: now what can we do!?? Maybe iCloud is free. Maybe it is actually useful. I mean automatic data backup of a machine that lacks a USB port would certainly be desireable. And that message she got about space limitation for a new app. Any guess at what that's about? Thanks in advance!

 

[twerppoet]

Apple sends the reset email to whatever email you specify when you fill out your information. If you don't change it to a non-iCloud address, then it's probably the iCloud address. After all, if you don't' tell them about your other email addresses, they have no way of knowing.

Try using a computer browser and going to icloud.com to test whether the iCloud username and password work. This bypasses any problems you may be having with the iPad.

You can also go to the Apple Support pages on a computer to work with your Apple ID (which is usually the same as your iCloud ID.

http://www.apple.com/support/appleid/

Here is my collection of support links for iCloud and it's related services. It should answer most of your questions, and then add more info than you wanted. Start with the iCloud Overview, and check the others out if interested. Hopefully they are all still good links. I haven't checked them in a while.

iCloud Drive FAQ:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT201104

iCloud Photo Library (beta) FAQ:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6378

iCloud Overview
http://www.apple.com/icloud/

iCloud Support Site
http://www.apple.com/support/icloud/

Apple IDs and iCloud
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4895

Troubleshooting iCloud Bookmarks
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4001

iCloud: Backup and restore overview
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4859

How to setup iCloud
http://www.apple.com/icloud/setup/

iTunes Match: How it works
http://www.apple.com/itunes/itunes-match/

Photo Stream FAQ
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4486

Shared Photo Stream FAQ
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5903

iCloud security and privacy overview
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4865

iCloud Keychain FAQ
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5813?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

 

[kenatease]

Many thanks. I'm on to something now. Every time that pop-up appears demanding iCloud connection, it specifies the Apple ID, which I want to change because it's an outdated email. I cannot find under Settings how to change that. Interestingly though, under iTunes and Apps I found an Apple ID specified which is totally different than the one specified in the pop-up, another email I forgot she (the wife) has. Y'know, I seem to recall changing her email addy at the Apple Store when that ISP account was replaced. Hey I love your idea of messing with the ID and password outside of iPad operation (at which I am awkw3ardly inept). I just searched for "Apple ID" at Google and found where I can do that. Thanks for that other link, I may or may not need that too. And it's certain that her iCloud email was secondary (yet verified, I'm aghast). Anyway, if I now just knew how to alter the iCloud Apple ID on Settings; without that ability I am still quite snagged. How many friggin IDs does this machine require? Well like I said, it was set up wrong no doubt. I mean she is successfully buying apps so ONE of those IDs must still be correct in the iPad! This is pretty awful. She surprised me today saying "I need a new iPad because this one ran out of memory". Hah! Maybe iCloud would make it possible to acquire more apps?

 

[kenatease]

If I navigate to the iCloud section of Settings it continually pops-up a demand for iCloud login to that obsolete email (but thanks to Frontier's generosity I can still fetch emails addressed there even now 1+ year later). Even if I get beyond the pop-ups, there is NO WAY shown available to alter the Apple ID for iCloud. This is quite lamentable. I'll try something else now, thank you.

 

[twerppoet]

Changing the Apple ID email is something you can do in the first support website I linked, provided it isn't already a @mac, @me, or @icloud address.

 

[kenatease]

Changing the Apple ID email is something you can do in the first support website I linked, provided it isn't already a @mac, @me, or @icloud address.

I was able to log in to one of her Apple IDs and I went and DELETED her iCloud email address from her profile, hoping that the authentication email would then go to her other address. Her iPad iCloud account is (hypothetical for discussion purposes) [email protected]. But her real email for the last year is now [email protected]. I've arranged at the Apple site for [email protected] to be her Apple ID and I know the password. But the iPad continues to be hard-wired to iCloud ID of [email protected]. So I go to the Apple website (on my PC for ease) and ask to reset the password for Apple ID namely [email protected]. I ask for email authentication because her birthdate is not in there right I guess, but still no password-reset email shows up at EITHER frontier.com or at suddenlink.net under her username!! Arggh! I cannot continue on this avenue, not tonight any longer, maybe never. ARGGH!!!! I'm thoroughly boxed in arggh!

 

[kenatease]

She has scores of apps that she has bought and paid for. I don't want to lose those. That's the only thing stopping me from doing one of the master MACHINE RESET functions. There are several varieties of that master reset function. Please: can I do one that will reset iCloud account ID yet preserve the apps she's bought??

 

[twerppoet]

The apps are tied to her Apple iTunes account. Even if you reset the iPad you can download the apps again, provided you can straighten out the the Apple ID that you used to purchase them.

If she is not having problems signing in/out of the iTunes Store, than that part, at least, should be good.

 

[kenatease]

I think I'll drop this thread and start a new plea for help. I see what's going on now. When we changed ISPs from Frontier to Suddenlink, I went to the Apple ID mgmt. site on a PC and modified the Apple ID accordingly. So now, the old ID, [email protected] is a nonexistent Apple ID. But, it is the only ID that the iPad knows to associate with iCloud. So the iPad continually pops up demands for iCloud connection password to the nonexistent old ID because I see no way to alter on the iPad which ID iCloud associates with. Note that the iTunes ID is different and there is no problem there whatsoever. I would do a master settings reset but I'm not sure what to expect; not sure it would even reset iCloud ID. I'm still working at this horrible problem.

 

[J. A.]

The iCloud ID is nothing else than another Apple ID, and can be treated as such. So if she doesn't remember her password, try this: go to the "Manage Apple ID" site again, enter the email address of the iCloud account and tap "Forgot your password?".

If the iPad is on iOS 7 and later, you can't reset everything, because you'd have to enter the iCloud ID password.

 

[kenatease]

The iCloud ID is nothing else than another Apple ID, and can be treated as such. So if she doesn't remember her password, try this: go to the "Manage Apple ID" site again, enter the email address of the iCloud account and tap "Forgot your password?".

If the iPad is on iOS 7 and later, you can't reset everything, because you'd have to enter the iCloud ID password.

Yes please J.A., help me through this, and many thanks. As for the IOS version, she just took the device to work with her so I don't know (it was purchased Feb 2013), but I suspect you are right that the master Setting Reset would fail to affect the change.

Now PLEASE pay attention to what I have to say. The iPad demands iCloud connection to ID of [email protected] but I cannot request password reset for that particular ID because that ID is no longer existent because I went to the Apple ID mgmt. site and superseded that ID with a new one, [email protected]. Of course I know the password for the new ID but amazingly that password WILL NOT WORK to connect iCloud when it demands connection via the old @frontier.com ID. If I try to do a password reset for the old obsolete @frontier.com ID, I can choose email authentication or questions. Since that old ID is non-existent, NEITHER choice results in success!! If I choose questions and enter her birth-date, Apple then balks that it doesn't match their records. That's because it's a non-existent ID. If I choose email authentication then Apple will say that the email has been dispatched but no, it has NOT been dispatched and no such email is found in the specified inbox nor in any of her several inboxes. That's because it's a NON-EXISTENT ID! It's non-existent because I went and used the "I forgot my Apple ID" link some time ago and after some dialogue it made the @suddenlink.net version the new active Apple ID for that account. Really, truly. There appears to be NO WAY WHATSOEVER under iPad Settings for me to alter the Apple ID associated with iCloud to the new one @suddenlink.net which I know to be perfectly valid. This is most distressing!

 

[J. A.]

You can't do this on the iPad's settings.

Here's a question, because I might have misunderstood this:
What you did, was NOT use the old ID, which is still the iCloud ID and reset the password? If you didn't acces the old ID and change it to the new one, it should still exist.

If you reset the password using her iCloud ID, this should work:
Make sure FaceTime and Message are connected to her new ID in Settings.

Go to "Manage Apple ID" (the website) and login with her current Apple ID, then change the primary email address to the iCloud ID.

Go to Settings - iCloud on her iPad and turn off "Find my iPad". Enter the password of the current Apple ID (it should work now) and sign out of the iCloud account.

Then change the primary email address back to the new Apple ID again on the website.

 

[kenatease]

Yes, I get it ..that's brilliant! THANKS! I'll try that just as soon as my wife gets home from work this afternoon with her device. I'll post to let you know how it went.

 

[J. A.]

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

 

[kenatease]

Just some small talk now. Y'know, when we changed ISPs a year ago I went to ALL the sites where we had accounts and changed the email address(es) accordingly. But I guess I didn't then possess enough knowledge of how the iPad uses IDs and what the correct protocol is. In recent final frustration I went to the Apple ID Mgmt site and and clicked "Forgot my Apple ID". It asked for the owner's first name, last name, current email and previous email. Then if I recall there was an email authentication, which came across fine and I followed the link. [Edit: maybe that's what I did a year ago as well] What wasn't immediately manifest is that that very procedure winds up obsoleting one's outdated email address as ID and adopts one's current email as the new ID for the account. So the old ID goes to undefined limbo, yet it is still hardwired in my iPad's Settings for iCloud connection. I couldn't delete the iCloud account without first being able to sign into it in order to deactivate "Find my iPad". I guess you're following pretty Ok by now. My head is spinning. Edit: In retrospect, Vicki was NOT guilty of entering her birth-date wrongly when first setting up the machine. It was that undefined ID thing that caused the apparent inconsistency.