How to Prevent IMessages From Accidentally Appearing on Other Devices
If you have multiple Apple devices, you’ve probably signed in to all of them using your Apple ID. You’ve also probably noticed that when you receive a Facetime call, your computer rings, or when you receive an iMessage, your iPad beeps. For most of us, this is a minor inconvenience that is worth fixing. For others, this is a potential privacy nightmare.
An example is the dark tale of the now-former Governor of Alabama, Robert Bentley , whose dumb love-poems in iMessage with his former political advisor and mistress accidentally synced to his government-issued iPad, which he also accidentally shared with his wife. Oops.
Chances are, most of us want to keep access to iMessages only on our phones and possibly laptop, and we don’t need it on every Apple device we own. Here’s how to check where you are logged in and prevent something like this from happening.
View all devices you’re signed in to
First things first, let’s do a quick revision of your Apple ID to see each device you’re signed in to.
- Go to your Apple ID page and sign in.
- Scroll down to the Devices section and see where you are logged in.
- If there is a strange or old device here, click on it, then select “Uninstall” to log out.
You should now know exactly what devices you have that are still associated with your Apple account.
Disable iMessage on additional devices
You probably don’t want to completely log out of your Apple ID on every device. The good news, though: you can only turn off Messages (and Facetime while you’re at it).
How you do this depends on which device you are on:
On iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch
If you don’t want iMessages to appear on iPad or old iPhone, it’s easy to turn them off:
- Open Settings> Messages.
- Turn off the iMessage switch.
- You can also turn off Text Message Forwarding, which sends regular non-iMessage SMS messages from your phone to Messages on your Mac or iPad. Tap the Text Message Forwarding option, then clear the check boxes for any devices you don’t want to send SMS messages to.
On Mac
If you don’t want iMessages to appear on your Mac, you just need to log out:
- Open messages.
- Click Messages> Preferences, then select the Accounts tab.
- Select your iMessage account, then click the Sign Out button.
- To sign out of Facetime, open Facetime, then go to Facetime> Preferences, then click Sign Out.
Now your messages won’t sync where you don’t want them to.
Share your purchases without disclosing personal information
Chances are that one of the reasons you might be signing in with your Apple ID across multiple devices is because your family doesn’t want to buy the same apps, music, or movies multiple times. Well, then you’re doing something wrong. Don’t share your account with your family; set up family sharing so you both have separate accounts.
With Family Sharing, you can share your iTunes, iBooks, and App Store purchases with each other without actually sharing accounts. This means that your phone calls, iMessage conversations, Safari browsing history, photos, and everything else associated with your Apple ID remains yours and yours alone. With Family Sharing, one person is the family organizer who sets everything up. This organizer adds other users to the account and then confirms any purchases that someone else in the group is trying to make. In theory, you can also do this with your personal account and work account, which will help keep your personal data confidential.
Again, the setup here depends on what devices you have:
On iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch
- Go to Settings and tap your Apple ID.
- Tap Set Up Family Sharing, then tap Get Started.
- Click Continue to agree to become a family organizer, then follow the rest of the instructions to add additional members to your family group.
From now on, you can manage, remove, or add new family members by going to Settings> iCloud> Family.
On Mac
- Open System Preferences.
- Click iCloud.
- Click the Set Up Family button and follow the rest of the instructions to add additional members to your family group.
You can now manage, remove, or add family members by going to System Preferences> iCloud> Manage Family.
Enable two-factor authentication
Finally, the last thing you need to do is turn on two-factor authentication, if you haven’t already. This not only protects your Apple ID and every device connected to it, but also prevents accidental actions in the future, as it takes a few extra steps to sign in. With two-factor authentication, when you log into a device for the first time, you need to authorize it using a verification code sent to another trusted device.
For example, if you purchased a new MacBook, you won’t be able to sign in with your Apple ID on that MacBook until Apple sends the code to your iPhone. Again, the setup depends on which device you are on. It might sound cumbersome, but Apple’s implementation is less annoying than other options, and the security is worth it.
On iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch
- Open Settings and tap your Apple ID.
- Tap Password & Security.
- Click Turn On Two-Factor Authentication, then follow the onscreen instructions to complete the setup process.
On Mac
- Go to System Preferences> iCloud> Account Information.
- Click the Security tab.
- Click Turn on two-factor authentication and follow the onscreen instructions to complete the setup process.
Now, your Apple ID is not only secure, but it is much less likely that you will accidentally log in without realizing the consequences.
On top of all this, one more last thing: do not tie your personal accounts to devices manufactured by your company, especially if you work for the government. This is not only bad form, but also a nightmare for privacy. Aside from the fact that you could potentially look like a dummy when someone in your IT department finds out, most corporate devices give your company access to everything you do on that device. That is, if you send an idiotic, racist, scandalous, or some other stupid message to a friend on this device, your company might just bump into it.