Fifteen days ago, Apple released a tool for iPhone and iPad that allegedly allows you to migrate purchases from one Apple Account to another. The primary requirement is that you must be logged in with both Apple Accounts on the same iPhone or iPad.The only problem is that there are also secondary, tertiary, quaternary, quinary, senary, septenary, octonary, nonary, and denary requirements as well. There were so many requirements that I had to learn what comes after tertiary!Best of all is that the tool doesnt explain what went wrong when your two Apple Accounts dont meet the very strict criteria. It just fails.Some of you at home may be wondering how one could end up with two actively used Apple Accounts. My situation is like that of the others for whom Apple apparently made this Rube Goldberg migration tool.I primarily use the Apple Account that is associated with iCloud. However, my iTunes and App Store purchases are associated with a different Apple Account that I used prior to the Apple Account used with iCloud.Since iOS 5, this issue has haunted me. It requires maintaining separate passwords and billing information for each Apple Account.At times, Ive accidentally subscribed to iCloud storage using my Apple Account associated with App Store purchases. Its surprisingly difficult to cancel an iCloud subscription from an Apple Account not associated with iCloud. I think the process has required going through the Music app or App Store app on the Mac.The way Ive realized I paid $10 for iCloud using the wrong Apple Account is also a pain. Past examples include realizing that my photos havent been syncing for days, my devices havent backed up to iCloud in weeks, and my iCloud Mail has been bouncing back for senders who had to find other ways to contact me.As I mentioned, Ive been dual-wielding Apple Accounts on each device since 2011. It started even before that.When I was 18 or 19, I started a free trial of Apples MobileMe cloud service with the email address zachall@me.com. Short and sweet. (The only better email address Ive had was zhall@apple.com when I worked at an Apple Store in college, and shoutout to whoever has zac@mac.com. I envy you.)Anyway, being a broke college student, I didnt see the value in paying $99/year for 20 GB of email and file storage when Gmail and Dropbox were free. (Dropbox was also really good for Mac users at the time, and you could add capacity to your free storage quota in a number of simple ways.)MobileMe ran from 2008 to 2011. Then iCloud replaced the artist also formerly known as .mac and iTools, and the still unchanged 5GB tier meant iCloud was free to use. During the iOS 5 beta period, I changed my one and only Apple Account from using a Gmail address to using a free iCloud email address. Thats when zacheryhall@me.com became my Apple Account for my many iTunes and App Store purchases.Once iOS 5 came out of beta and iCloud.com officially launched, Apple unlocked access to Apple Accounts that were previously tied to a lapsed MobileMe/.mac/iTools subscription. At last, zachall@me.com was available for me to use again and without an upfront payment of $99 or any money for that matter.At that point, I wanted to switch from using zacheryhall@me.com anywhere to using zachall@me.com everywhere. The only problem was that I couldnt merge Apple Accounts, and there was no mechanism for transferring purchases from one Apple Account to another.Since 2011, Ive maintained two Apple Accounts with two passwords and two sets of billing information on each Apple device, carefully remembering not to subscribe to iCloud or AppleCare+ from the wrong Apple Account. AppleCare+ is another subscription that cancelling from the Apple Account used for purchases is near impossible to do.For the reasons listed here, I was rather ecstatic when Apple quietly released the ability to migrate purchases from one Apple Account to another. Who was this tool for? Picture me standing under a dozen illuminated signs all pointing down at ME!But alas, two weeks later, Im no closer to migrating purchases from my Apple Account used for iTunes and the App Store than I was 14 years ago.Ive tried fulfilling each requirement listed by Apple, including saying goodbye to every TestFlight app associated with my Apple Account used for purchases. Workflow, the predecessor to Shortcuts that Apple bought years ago, was the hardest TestFlight to remove from my history.I guess my next move is to stop making any purchases or maintaining any subscriptions and seeing if that helps. I could also make a third Apple Account to which I could transfer my kids Apple Accounts, but theres a real chance they could get stuck there for a while and not return to my theoretically unified Apple Account.For now, the Migrate button in the Settings app on my iPhone and iPad is just something that Ill stare at in utter confusion, poking it from time to time while asking, Why?Best Apple accessoriesFollow Zac Hall on X, and listen to Runtime with co-host Sophia Tung on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel