Why Your Apple ID Is Much More than a Password
Many Mac, iPad, and iPhone users, whether newcomers or long-time users, think their Apple ID is just a password that lets them access the iTunes Store. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Your Apple ID is your passport to many Apple products, including FaceTime, the iBooks store, iChat, iCloud, iMessage, and your iTunes app, as well as many others. It is perhaps most commonly used to purchase apps through Apple’s App Store. It even connects you to your Apple hardware, such as your iPhone and iPad.
There are two ways to create an Apple ID. You can set up a new account at the Apple website before you ever purchase an Apple product, or you can set one up the first time you turn on your new Mac or other Apple device. Once you have an account, you don’t ever need to set up another one. You simply use the same Apple ID across all your Apple devices and software.
Apple requires you to set up an Apple ID account just to use an Apple device or computer for the first time. Please keep your account information safe, as it can be a real pain to have to get a new password if you forget yours. Apple asks for a lot of personal information during the setup, but it’s all to your benefit when it comes to security. You’ll also need your Apple ID when you interact with Apple through its stores, apps, or website.
You can access many cool apps with your Apple ID. Here are a few old favorites:
Facetime is an excellent app for free video calls to your friends, family, and business associates. The other person needs to have an Apple device and the Facetime app installed on their end, too.
iBooks is an excellent app that lets you download books, magazines, newspapers, and other reading materials, many of them for free. You can create bookshelves to organize by category, type of material (.pdf, magazines, etc.), or any other way you like.
iTunes is, of course, the eponymous app that makes music downloads easy and cheap. This app offers much more, too. It allows you to download, rent, or purchase films, television programs, books, podcasts, and iTunes U. This last is a fantastic app that provides access to learning resources from top universities, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.
Remember, once you create your Apple ID, guard your login information as you do all your important data. Expand the use of your Apple ID’s power by trying some of the apps listed here, and start taking greater advantage of the wonderful world of Apple.
~ Jessica Vineyard, Red Letter Editing
