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by willtheperson 3716 days ago
Annnnnd I'm locked out of adding this because I couldn't answer my security questions that I definitely never set up (I know this because I never use real information but random words that I save in 1Password if I am forced to make these.) So now I can't add 2 factor to a device that is and has been signed into my iCloud account for months.

Neat.

3 comments

Same thing happened to me. They said I had to wait like a week or something. Kinda dumb
Delays like this (the old 2-step verification had a 2-3 day delay when first enabled) are to prevent someone else logging into your account (without any form of 2fa), and then enabling the 2fa system, thereby locking you out of your own account.
Are you sharing your apple id? Because a similar scenario happened where my sister called me and said she was (after calling me for some payment verification details) prompted to enter new answers to security questions ... After having shared my password for years for AppStore access.

Had she simply not informed me I might have been in your exact same situation.

Off-topic but I'm curious: How do you and your sister handle sharing iMessage? I can imagine the confusion if my sis and I were getting the same messages from each other's acquaintances.
me and my best friend share my apple id and password for use with the app store. we definitely don't get each other's iMessages. she uses her own apple id and password when logging in to that.
yes, App store login is separate from Messages login.

Also, if someone WOULD log in with your account in iMessage (or FaceTime), you would know this because you get a notification like this on EVERY device: https://support.apple.com/library/content/dam/edam/applecare...

I didn't realize the two features can be set up separately, thanks!
fyi for you and other commenters, there is no need to do this anymore - you can have separate accounts and create an iCloud Family instead, purchases + payment info get shared and nothing else.
That doesn't work if the other person uses an AppStore in a different country. You can add the other person to the 'Family' but you can not share purchases. (Very annoying...)
Are you suggesting that Apple invented security questions for your account? Because that sounds highly implausible. Are you sure you didn't set up actual security questions so long ago that you simply don't remember doing it anymore?
I think I had this happen to me as well.

Wasn't an issue until I wanted to change my Apple ID password, for which the security questions are required.

Phoned Apple Support, and they took me through a dazzling array of security steps, involving my Mac, iPhone, payment methods, and the Apple ID website, before they allowed me to create new questions.

Happened with very old accounts to me as well, where no security questions even had to be entered at the time. The solution was to call Apple Support - they could do it over the phone - I think I had to verify some account details like street address, etc.
Can confirm that this also happened to me.