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I gave my mom my old iMac after creating a new user on the Mac and importing her data via Migration Assistant. I made her an admin, but kept my old user accounts on the computer, which have admin privileges.

Now there's a prompt to update apps via the App Store but the login is my login and cannot be changed. It needs to be changed to her login so she can make updates to apps in the future without me being involved.

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How do I sign out of the App Store for all users, so that she can manage updates on her own without giving her my password?

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    The paradigm issue here is that the apps don't belong to the computer, they belong to the person [Apple ID] that first purchased them [including the OS itself]. I wouldn't be sure whether to recommend Family Sharing or a wipe & start afresh, as in What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Sep 8, 2021 at 8:32
  • Thanks. But can I create an account from a time machine backup that doesn’t share apps with other administrators? (Same set of apps as when you use a guest account for example?)
    – MicroMachine
    Commented Sep 8, 2021 at 8:44
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    …but it is. You're thinking like Windows, where an app is tied to a computer. Mac apps are tied to a user. Once you own it, you own it forever, no matter how many new Macs you buy over the years. You could perhaps uninstall it on one user account [making sure to clean any leftovers - try AppCleaner (Freeware) ] then 'buy' it again from the other, after signing in with their credentials.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Sep 8, 2021 at 13:04
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    … unless you put them in Users/apps, or use family sharing. It's not the Mac that doesn't want to share, it's the App Store that must have a "purchaser". Any user can use the apps, but it requires the owner to action anything that interacts with the Store itself.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Sep 8, 2021 at 13:23
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    This case looks like an edge case - if you gave the mac to your mother outright you should have removed the apps. However if you control the machine then it is OK. But I expect it could be argued that the controller - ie you - has to be the one updating the apps.
    – mmmmmm
    Commented Sep 8, 2021 at 13:56

1 Answer 1

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This is how applications from Mac App Store work - not how macOS works with applications. That is if you obtain an app from outside the App Store none of this applies.

In broad terms the app is licensed to one person only and they can use the app on multiple devices and only that person can interact with the App Store (e.g. update the app)

Note that from EULA so the wording is not the simple owner of or who "bought" the app.

The Mac App Store Products and App Store Products (collectively, “App Store Product(s)”) made available through the Mac App Store Service and App Store Service (collectively, “App Store Service(s)”) are licensed, not sold, to you.

Apple has set up Mac App Store that applications from it are licensed to the person who pays for the app using their Apple ID

Only the owner of that Apple ID can update the apps etc. However any other user can run them.

If you have multiple users on a machine and want more than one to be able to update them then you have to use a multi user solution which includes Family Sharing and Volume Purchase Programme (no link as the ones I found lead to dead links)

The parts of the App Store EULA that matter here are

This license does not allow you to use the Licensed Application on any Apple Device that you do not own or control, and except as provided in the Usage Rules, you may not distribute or make the Licensed Application available over a network where it could be used by multiple devices at the same time. You may not rent, lease, lend, sell, transfer redistribute, or sublicense the Licensed Application and, if you sell your Mac Computer or iOS Device to a third party, you must remove the Licensed Application from the Mac Computer or iOS Device before doing so.

Thus if you want to have your mother use the apps that you have licensed from Apple then either you need to add her to Family Sharing or if she will be using the computer completely separately away from your control then you need to remove the apps that you have licensed from Apple.

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  • Thanks! “Own or control” in their EULE is hella vague… like I’m supposed to stay behind other users while they use it? Lol
    – MicroMachine
    Commented Sep 8, 2021 at 14:58
  • What’s insane is that even if I delete the account that owns the apps they stay in the apps folder…
    – MicroMachine
    Commented Sep 8, 2021 at 20:05
  • There are two things here. One is the licensing of the apps the other is unix. They are separate. The app store cannot delete things. There would be massive complaints if they could.
    – mmmmmm
    Commented Sep 8, 2021 at 21:19

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