Computers, Laptops & Tablets > Apple 154 154 people found this article helpful Does the iPad Support Multiple Users? How much can you share your iPad? By Daniel Nations Daniel Nations Facebook Twitter Writer University of Texas at Arlington Daniel Nations has been a tech journalist since 1994. His work has appeared in Computer Currents, The Examiner, and other publications. He is a developer who has published apps in the Apple App Store, Google Play marketplace and Amazon Appstore; he also has worked as a data analyst and DB administrator. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on December 2, 2021 Reviewed by Christine Baker Reviewed by Christine Baker Christine Baker is a marketing consultant with experience working for a variety of clients. Her expertise includes social media, web development, and graphic design. lifewire's editorial guidelines Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Apple iPad Macs Directly out of the box, the iPad has no easy way to switch between multiple users with different settings, configurations, and apps. The iPad is a single-user device, which means the central login is persistent. This login controls access to the App and iTunes Stores but doesn't save information like settings. The single-user focus extends to apps like Safari, which keeps track of bookmarks and web history for all users rather than a specific user. Is it Possible to Set up an iPad for Sharing? While it is possible to log in and out of multiple Apple IDs on the same iPad, this solution won't work like creating different user profiles on a Mac or PC. A new Apple ID won't change the layout for the iPad. And downloading apps from multiple Apple IDs may cause some confusion when it comes time to upgrade to a new device. Lifewire / Michela Buttignol How to Set Up Your iPad for Multiple Users However, there are some tricks you can use to make sharing an iPad a little easier. Set up Folders on Your iPad Create folders for each user. One easy way to organize apps for multiple users is to create a folder on the first page of the Home Screen for each person. Sorting apps like this makes it easier to find and use specific ones and keeps from cluttering up the rest of the iPad. Use SpotLight Wisely Get used to using Spotlight Search to launch apps. Having multiple users on the same device means the iPad is more likely to fill with apps, which may make it harder to find certain ones. Spotlight Search may be the easiest way to launch apps, no matter how many people use the iPad. Use Separate Email Apps and Web Browsers Download separate email apps. The standard Mail app is useful for managing multiple email accounts, but the default view pulls all email messages into a unified inbox. It can be easier to use a specific email client like the Yahoo or Gmail app for one user and the unified mailbox for the other user. The same approach applies to browsers. Safari is the default browser for the iPad, but you can also download Chrome or Firefox. Doing so will allow each user to keep track of their bookmarks. Social Media Workarounds Facebook, Twitter, and other social media apps can be a little tricky. Facebook supports multiple profiles, and you can set up a passcode for each account. Still, you must remember to log out. Twitter allows extra users but doesn't have a passcode. One alternative is for one person to use third-party apps for social media and the other to use the official apps. Activate Touch ID for Each User Set up Touch ID if you have a compatible iPad. With Touch ID, each user can input their fingerprint and use that to unlock the iPad. What About Childproofing the iPad and Still Using It? Multiple people can use an iPad, but it becomes more complicated when some of the users are small children. It's easy enough to childproof an iPad to restrict the ability to download age-inappropriate apps, music, or movies, but those safeguards disable those features for parents as well. Another problem parents run into is the iPad's insistence on resetting restrictions when you disable them. You'll need to double-check that your settings are correct each time you re-enable them (for example, when the kids want to use it again). It can be impractical if you have set up app restrictions but frequently need to disable them to download an app for yourself. You can set time limits on types of programs, like games and streaming services. But it's not currently possible to lock individual apps to keep children out of them, short of deleting apps altogether. And if you want to lock down the Safari browser to disable certain websites, you'll need to live without them yourself as well. Will Jailbreaking Solve the Problem? You may get around some of these issues by jailbreaking the iPad, but this might introduce more problems than it solves. Downloading apps outside of the Apple ecosystem means the apps don't go through Apple's testing process, which means it is possible to download malware. However, apps can do more to customize your experience on a jailbroken device, including ones designed to help those who want multiple accounts for their iPad. Jailbreaking isn't an ideal solution for a parent wanting to share the iPad with their kids. But it could work for friends or family members who use multiple accounts. However, jailbreaking is only recommended for more advanced users. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up! Tell us why! 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