Tell me about Apple Icloud please..

C_Mababejive

I will admit to not being a big fan of apple products but i recently got given an apple iphone 5s so im playing with it. I have an icloud username and password.
Now my thinking is that stuff on the iphone such as photos are auto uploaded to icloud and from there, i can share them?

But when i go to https://www.icloud.com and log in i see the icloud logo and when i click on it, nothing happens..

Clues please..

AJXX

Firstly, icloud.com has to be accessed on a PC/Laptop, it won't work if you open Safari on your device and just type it in.

Secondly Apple have really good advise on their website

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13693

Lastly, iCloud isn't really good for sharing anything other than photos - it's more of a backup.

icloud.com is only really useful for you to see your contacts/cals/mail via a web browser, it doesn't do much more than that.

Probably worth pointing out that even if you do setup photo sharing via iCloud it can only be seen if the person you share with has an iPhone or iPad.

C_Mababejive

I see,so essentially it isnt worth bothering with..id be better off using other vehicles such as flickr/dropbox..etc?

Moneymaker

I don't use iCloud, either. You could install Dropbox and use that to upload photos. You'd be able to access them via any PC as well.

Mr_Toad

AJXX wrote: »

Firstly, icloud.com has to be accessed on a PC/Laptop, it won't work if you open Safari on your device and just type it in.

Secondly Apple have really good advise on their website

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13693

Lastly, iCloud isn't really good for sharing anything other than photos - it's more of a backup.

icloud.com is only really useful for you to see your contacts/cals/mail via a web browser, it doesn't do much more than that.

Probably worth pointing out that even if you do setup photo sharing via iCloud it can only be seen if the person you share with has an iPhone or iPad.

iCloud is pretty much the same as Dropbox, it's a cloud based drive that allows you to share pictures, contacts, calendar, documents and even things like scans etc..

Basically what you see on one device you can see on them all.

Yes, it's primarily aimed at Apple users and can be used to back up settings etc.

Have a look at;

https://www.apple.com/icloud/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICloud

And for access via Android

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/need-to-access-icloud-on-your-android-we-can-help/

I use iCloud and Dropbox. I have an iMac desktop, a MacBook Pro laptop, a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet and a Galaxy S4 phone.

All are connected to both iCloud and Dropbox and I have a selection of files and pictures on both and it all works perfectly.

C_Mababejive

Hmmm..i have a real blank spot for apple tech. I plug my phone into my win8 lappy which has itunes on it. It says its synchronising photos and stuff,,so im guessing its synching all the media on the phone to itunes? So why cant i view this media on the itunes software?

AJXX

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Hmmm..i have a real blank spot for apple tech. I plug my phone into my win8 lappy which has itunes on it. It says its synchronising photos and stuff,,so im guessing its synching all the media on the phone to itunes? So why cant i view this media on the itunes software?

That isn't the way it works. It's syncing the stuff from your pictures folder on the laptop to the phone.

If you want to sync stuff off the phone you'll need to use Windows camera and scanner importer.

Turn on iCloud anyway - it's worth it just for the piece of mind due to the automatic backups it makes of the phone.

iCloud works perfectly for syncing stuff between devices you own, but it isn't so good at sharing things with other people (except photos)

Strider590

iCloud?

At a guess, it's like any other Cloud storage, but more expensive

You could print the Apple logo on a piece of dog poo and people would pay for it.
Gotta hand it to the late Mr Jobs, he sure new how to extract money from technophobic "trendies".

AJXX

Strider590 wrote: »

iCloud?

At a guess, it's like any other Cloud storage, but more expensive

Actually for what you get (such as the deep integration with iOS/OS X) it's worth it. It's only 79p for 20GB per month (or entirely free if you need no more than 5GB) - yes there are cheaper services, but they're not as fully integrated.

Strider590 wrote: »

You could print the Apple logo on a piece of dog poo and people would pay for it.

I used to work in an Apple authorised repairer, I can tell you now, most Apple customers kick up a fuss at having to pay a 20 quid diagnostic, most definitely are not sheep jumping to buy anything Apple puts out.

C_Mababejive

AJXX wrote: »

That isn't the way it works. It's syncing the stuff from your pictures folder on the laptop to the phone.

If you want to sync stuff off the phone you'll need to use Windows camera and scanner importer.

Turn on iCloud anyway - it's worth it just for the piece of mind due to the automatic backups it makes of the phone.

iCloud works perfectly for syncing stuff between devices you own, but it isn't so good at sharing things with other people (except photos)

Thanks...so itunes effectively pushes stuff from itunes to the phone but not the other way? My idea of synch is that both media are the same..i guess its an apple thing.

Im currently dabbling with the win8 camera import thing but now finding that windows media player crashes immediately it sees one of my iphone quicktime(?) movies..dohh..

Strider590

AJXX wrote: »

Actually for what you get (such as the deep integration with iOS/OS X) it's worth it. It's only 79p for 20GB per month (or entirely free if you need no more than 5GB) - yes there are cheaper services, but they're not as fully integrated. .

Bullsh*t buzzword, means sweet FA.
It's storage, that's all it needs to be. It doesn't need bells and whistles.

I had something similar to cloud storage in the form of my own FTP server, at least 8 years before in became cool. In fact I still use it, used it on holiday to download movies from my laptop at home (to watch on the plane). This currently sits at around 3TB of storage, but I may partition some off for other uses.

I also remote desktoped in from my tablet to my laptop, to use programs and apps that simply do not work or have limited functionality on mobile devices.

AJXX wrote: »

I used to work in an Apple authorised repairer, I can tell you now, most Apple customers kick up a fuss at having to pay a 20 quid diagnostic, most definitely are not sheep jumping to buy anything Apple puts out.

That;s because they've been lead to believe that Apple products are perfect and never go wrong.




If you know what your doing, you don't need any of this bullsh*t. People are often surprised that I don't have all the latest gadgets. I do like technology, but I don't like stuff that's designed to pander to idiots.

For example, I made my own media streaming, gaming and web browsing device 10 years before they hit the shops, why do I want to pay hundreds of £'s for something that cost me nothing more than an old PC, a 1U chassis and a few hours creative soldering?

My phone is a Nexus 5, basically because its fast and can be rooted, meaning I can do my own thing and control my own data.