Years ago, a tech guy mentioned having a “day” iPhone and a “night” iPhone. The poor guy was made fun of for months when he specifically described an iPhone paid for by a job with corporate restrictions and subject to financial industry regulations and a personal iPhone on which he did no business . Wording is everything.
If you’re in a position where you need two iPhones, for example if your company issues you one for regulatory or other reasons, you can rely on a single Apple ID account to give you access to the same synced data, subscriptions and digital purchases on both phones. (I have two iPhones: I have a current one and a model a few years out of date that can run the latest iOS updates for beta testing and intra-device testing.)
However, be careful not to sync information that should stay strictly on one phone. If this is a serious problem – again, potentially for medical, financial, or government privacy reasons – you should not sign in to iCloud using the same Apple ID on both iPhones.
Pay attention to Messages settings regarding the iCloud phone numbers and email addresses you use (left) and syncing through iCloud (right).
Pay attention to Messages settings regarding the iCloud phone numbers and email addresses you use (left) and syncing through iCloud (right).
Foundry
Pay attention to Messages settings regarding the iCloud phone numbers and email addresses you use (left) and syncing through iCloud (right).
Foundry
Foundry
The main problem people have is with messages. In Settings > Applications > Messages (iOS 18/iPadOS 18) or Settings > Messages (iOS 17/iPadOS 17 and earlier) and Messages > Settings > iMessage (macOS), Apple lets you select items in two groups:
- “You can receive and reply to iMessages from” (iOS/iPadOS)/“You can be contacted for messages at”: All phone numbers and email addresses associated with an iCloud account appear here. You can deselect the other iPhone’s phone number on each iPhone.
- “Start new conversations from”: When you start a new conversation in Messages, the app doesn’t show you which account the person receiving it sees it from. However, you can select a phone number or email address from this menu. On each iPhone, you want to select a phone number associated with that iPhone if you don’t want messages to cross over.
Also with Messages, if you turn on Messages in iCloud, all messages on all devices that have this switch enabled will sync, including across all phones. Ask yourself if this is something you want. The option is found in iOS/iPadOS in Settings > Account Name > Messages like “Use on this iPhone/iPad” and in macOS in Messages > Settings > iMessage like “Turn on Messages in iCloud”.
This Mac 911 article answers a question submitted by igamesnews reader John.
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