The fact that my wife and I both have iPhones is a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because well… we both have iPhones. But it’s also a curse. It has become another gadget to upgrade, to pimp up and gulp- to depreciate quickly . We were both going to get the 2nd generation iPhones but after weighting in the fact that the original ones are upgradable via software, it became hard to justify the cost of a whole new phone. Sorry, 2 new phones. So we opted for the software update, which gave us in a lot of ways a new phone. The upgrade was free, but the mostly inexpensive apps add up. This got me thinking about Fairplay, Apple’s DRM technology used throughout the iTunes store for music and now applications as well. Fairplay allows you to register up to 5 computers and unlimited iPods/iPhones synced to those computers. So… it should be easy for my wife and I to share iPhone apps with each other as long as both our iTunes are authorized to use them. All we need to do is authorize both accounts in both computers and re-download the apps. This could work in Windows, but why would I right?
Here’s a step by step tutorial on how to do it.
Scenario
I have 2 Macs, 2 iPhones, 2 iTunes accounts.
I used one account to buy a game, and another account to buy another one. The goal is to have both games playable on both phones legally with no hacks.
Solution
Have each computer be authorized for both accounts. Re-download apps on 2nd computer with 1st computer iTunes account.
Step 1: Authorize Computers
I step into my wife’s mac, launch iTunes, log out of her iTunes Store account and log in with mine.
Step 1: Log Out and In
Still inside iTunes, I go to the app store and click the Buy App button on the application I had bought in my computer.
- Step 2: re-download
iTunes knows I already paid for this and just let’s be re-download it without charging me again.
Step 2: Confirm
The app then begins to download.
- Step 2: downloading
Once the download is complete, it now shows in the Applications section of iTunes.
- Step 2: downloaded
I can now log out of my iTunes Store account and log her’s back in.
Step 1: Log out and in
Step 3: Sync & Play
I can plug her phone in now and sync.
Step 3: sync
The app should transfer without any fuss.
Step 3: syncing
Once synced, it shows on her phone ready for playing.
Step 3: play
And now both our kids can take over our phones and drain those batteries out.
Step 3: playing
Enjoy.
Hello, I am Melvin Rivera; creator of 
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for some reason, the apps store section on my itunes is not working properly. i can’t back-up or store the apps i’ve purchased on itunes. (i’ve had to buy them always through my iphone. any idea?)
i had upgraded to 2.0 the day before the iphone released.
actually i CAN download via my mac itunes. but i can’t back up apps i downloaded first on my iphone.
Isn’t this stealing?
Nah it isn’t stealing. That’s like saying you buy a Mac and if you let your wife use it she has stolen from Apple..
That would be like saying it’s stealing to lend a book to your wife to read. Or that it’s stealing to let both your kids play with a video game (instead of buying a separate copy for each child). Both of which would be ridiculous (because neither of those things can possibly be considered stealing).
no because its built to allow authorization of 5 computers per account. me and my wife do the same thing with music and games now apps
Maybe I’m missing something, but why not just go to ~/Music/iTunes/Mobile Applications and copy the applications to the other computer?
As long as you log in with the correct iTunes account info, you should be able to copy the applications to the additional iPhone.
IMO, why not just share the iTunes account – I’m married and we share everything else…
I’ve had problems with my iphone and had to reinstall apps purchased via either iTunes or the iPhone and when I redownload them it KNOWS that I have purchased it and can download it for free….
That’s great that Apple’s letting me do that because I’ve had to download CroMag ralley three times…and only was charged the first time.
For GW – You can back up apps you purchased through your iPhone. Hook up your iPhone and start up iTunes. Then in the File menu in the menu bar, choose ‘Transfer Purchases from iPod’. Your apps can now be backup in iTunes. Also, if you don’t see your ‘Applications’ under ‘Library’ in iTunes, go to iTunes preferences and in the ‘General’ pane, put a check in the box next to ‘Applications’ in the ‘Show:’ section. Hopefully this info is helpful. I was confused about it first, too.
Keep in mind that Apple could change the limits on downloaded apps on a whim…