Managing Multiple accounts for apps

Question

My wife and I just bought new android phones for the first time, and are new to the google play store, and I am wondering the best way to manage app store purchases.

Occasionally I'd like to have an app that she has purchased and vice-verse.

Currently we both to manage our own google ids on each devices and make separate purchases on each id.

In the event I wanted both devices to have the same purchased app, is it advisable to switch the google account in google play store, install the app in question, and then log back in with the primary google account? Will this mess with anything important? Will updates still work, etc?

Answer 1

Note that Google Play Terms of Service prohibits sharing of accounts by multiple person (it allows sharing between multiple devices owned by the same person).

With that said, the Play Store does support multiple accounts, however multiple accounts means that you will also share Gmail, Calendar, etc, which means you probably will have to create a third account specifically created for sharing.

Answer 2

That won't help, at least in most cases not. Purchased apps are bound to the account they are purchased with, and an online license check is applied on them. So as soon as you "switch back", and the app checks it's license, it will de-activate itself (or at least refuse to work).

It might work however as long as the account is still present on the device, though it's not the primary. So you could both have each other's account configured on your devices in addition to your own. But then you also need to take care what you synchronize etc. I'm not sure if that would be worth it, considered that most apps are free, and the payed ones usually come for cheap.

Edit: as posted at the same time, I just saw Lie's answer. To avoid syncing each other's data, if you really want to go for it, the "third account" might in fact be the best option.