How To: Share iPhone applications between multiple iPhones

Let’s say you and your family decided to jump on Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s bandwagon and now you’re all geared up with Apple hardware. Now you’re all getting along with all your Macs and iPhones doing their thing, like one big happy family. It’s all fun and games around the house. All fun and games, that is, until you actually want to have some fun with iPhone games.

Apple will gladly take your money as you purchase multiple copies of Super Monkey Ball or Texas Hold ‘Em Poker for each member of your family. It can get expensive buying multiple copies of the same software for every member of your family. And, Apple would love the business.

But, if you’re a bit more iTunes savvy, like Melvin Rivera, you’ll be sharing a single iPhone application purchase throughout the household (or among friends, just don’t tell Apple, shhh!). Melvin has put together a handy little tutorial to get all your iPhone applications and games shared on multiple iPhones.

You see, the Fairplay DRM that Apple uses to protect its iPhone applications from piracy allows you to authorize up to five computers to share your iTunes purchases. So, you should be able to share that single copy of Super Monkey Ball with up to four other people. Here’s a quick rundown of Melvin’s tutorial:

1. Use your computer’s iTunes account to buy whatever iPhone application you want (we’re going to use Super Monkey Ball for demonstration purposes)
2. Download the application to iTunes and sync to your iPhone or iPhone 3G
3. Get to your family member’s, or friend’s, computer and log in to their iTunes application with your credentials
4. Log out and back in
5. Find Super Monkey Ball and click “Buy”
6. Re-download Super Monkey Ball
7. Log out of your iTunes account
8. Log back in with your family member’s iTunes account
9. Sync the iPhone

That’s it! You should now have Super Monkey Ball on two different iPhones.