Can I change my primary apple id from icloud.com to gmail.com?

[J. A.]

I have an iCloud Apple ID as well. I set it up when it was @me.com. It's impossible to change this one, I don't even get the "Edit" option. But I assume that's not the same in your case.

 

[J. A.]

One last idea: Did you use your Gmail address as alternate address, or is that part without address, just like on my screenshot?

 

[Ser Aphim]

One last idea: Did you use your Gmail address as alternate address, or is that part without address, just like on my screenshot? View attachment 55178

No. Its not an alternate address.

 

[twerppoet]

If you have a non-Apple email address for your ID, the last time I checked, it was possible to change your Apple ID to one of the Apple email addresses ending in .mac, .me, or .icloud; but it is not possible to change your Apple ID after you do this.

There was even a little blurb (in small grey text) on the account's editing page that it was not possible.

BTW, if you have any of those apple email addresses you don't have to worry about changing one for the other. They all work like aliases for each other; not only for sending and receiving email but as Apple ID login's


Edit: Just realized that there were four more pages of replies to be read through. The above may have already been covered. Going back to read them all now. *sigh*

 

[twerppoet]

Ok, Finished reading the thread.

If I understand right you are trying to change your Apple ID to a Gmail address because you don't like iCloud. Yes?

If so, you're confusing iCloud with your Apple ID. While they (usually) use the same email address and password they are not really linked. There is nothing stopping you from turning off iCloud and not using those features. At that point your Apple ID is nothing but your login for iTunes, the App Store, and other non-iCloud features.

You are free to set up your Gmail and other Google services (as available) on the iPad and completely turn off and ignore your iCloud account. Nothing bad will happen.

There really is no advantage to having your Apple ID be a Gmail address, unless you don't want to have to remember a separate username/email address.