Work (company) Mac

Hi all

I have a company MacBook Pro and I’m currently logged in with my personal Apple ID.

I’m starting to think this isn’t such a great idea, with personal information getting mixed up with personal (e.g. browsing history, etc.).

I need iCloud to sync for some apps (e.g. Drafts) but would also like some separation.

I have a Family iCloud, so perhaps there is an easy solution.

  • how easy is it to switch a device from one iCloud account to another without losing information?
  • can Drafts (and I’m sure other apps I use) keep syncing across all of my devices, across two Apple
    IDs?

Thanks!

I believe it’s possible to use different accounts for iCloud and the App Store, so you could use your personal account for the App Store and a work account for iCloud.

3 Likes

You can definitely use a separate account for iCloud and app store.

Are you thinking about switching iCloud on a regular basis or one time?

What I have done for personal devices is separate accounts for iCloud and App store. You could do a work icloud and personal for app store. Add the work icloud account to your family sharing for the purchases. But Drafts would only sync across the same iCloud account

Can you create a second account on the Mac and link your iCloud account to that? Though you’d lose the purchases…

Just trying to understand - you’re purchasing apps with your personal account, but need/want to use them for work as well and share data between the personal account purchased apps and work accounts?

The thought of putting my personal data on a device that can be controlled and wiped by my employer so easily scares me. At least with Outlook on my phone, they can only wipe the Outlook data. That’s the closest I get to mixing my personal data with corporate devices.

On iOS devices that I’ve had from work and had to use a work account, I’ve added that member of my family. That way, I was able to use all the apps that I’d already purchased and linked to the account.

Perhaps less of an issue on the Mac, but doesn’t solve the Drafts syncing between two accounts unfortunately - I don’t use it, so I’m not sure if it can share a folder between accounts.

I went through this divestiture a few years ago, though not with Drafts, and now only allow a few apps to sync data between work and personal, ones that either have their own sync server (OF) or can do something like a Dropbox sync without my browsers needing to be signed into personal Dropbox. You will have to migrate each kind of data in your personal or work iCloud manually, so the speed of that will depend on the import and export features of each app.

Like others I also used a separate iCloud account for my Mac at work and added that account to my family account; that way I was able to install my purchased apps without mixing my whole private data and work data. For the occasional sharing I used a Shared folder in the Notes app and a shared iCloud folder and found this working out pretty good for me. That way I could still sync my TextExpander snippets through the shared iCloud folder e.g. (of course doesn’t work that way anymore).
As for Drafts, I have no experience with that but I believe you won’t be able to share that across two different iCloud accounts?

I really wouldn’t risk putting apps I own or my personal data on an employer’s computer – desktop, iPhone or iPad. Depending on corporate policy and applicable laws, what you put on that machine can be deemed as belonging to the employer, and you have no rights in it. Plus the risk you take of unwittingly introducing something onto the employer’s network that later causes them security issues.

2 Likes

Following the principle of “All your base are belong to us” I never put personal information on my work computer because, frankly, they could take the computer away at any time for any reason. Why take the chance? There were some cases where I put software I owned (really licensed) on company computers, which is somewhat risky, especially for them if they were to perform a software audit, but I always had proof of ownership. I don’t think there is a problem with them claiming ownership, it’s more of an issue of them wanting to disclaim ownership. In my last decade or so of employment I had become a Mac user and actually would bring my own personal computer into work. They didn’t object. Keep in mind that for things like this is is best to ask for permission first rather than forgiveness later. The company had a cloud service and I had my own and never did they meet.

Do not put personal information on your work computer. I learned that the hard way.

Does anyone use the Mac version of Drafts on a work computer? How do you get it to work?