What is iCloud and how to use it on iPhone, iPad and Mac. ICloud on iPhone - what is it, where is it located and what information is stored in it

A year and a half ago, Apple launched one of its most powerful Apple services for its users - iCloud online storage. Recently, the storage service received the status of “broken” among i-device owners. Many began to blame iCloud for discovering shortcomings. Each iCloud user with their own Apple ID receives 5 free gigabytes to back up applications, as well as other iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch settings. The main key features of the online service include syncing photos, documents, emails from your Mac and mobile devices. When developing and introducing the service to the circle of apple lovers, the idea pursued by sunny California engineers was the ability to access all your data, regardless of what device you use. For many, this storage and interaction with it may seem confusing, however, like any other product, you need to get the most out of it. Here are some tips for you to get the most out of Apple's cloud service.

• Two-stage verification system

The first thing you should do is create a two-step verification system that adds an extra layer of security to your cloud account. Using appleid.apple.com, sign in to your account with the email address and password you use to download apps. Next, in the lower left corner, visit Password & Security. The first option involves a two-step verification, so click “Get Started”. You'll have to wait about three days before the two-step verification starts working, but it's worth the wait.

• Activate iCloud on Mac

Make sure Apple's iCloud is activated on all your devices. Here's an example of how you can activate the service on a Mac: go to System Preferences and select iCloud, enter your Apple ID and password, check all the items you want to sync: photos, contacts, email, etc.

• Activating iCloud on iPhone, iPad and iPod
  

Here's how to activate iCloud on your mobile device (iPhone/iPad/iPod): go to the settings section, go to the iCloud menu, after activating it, select what you would like to store in the cloud.

• Synchronization

Now that you're a full member of iCloud, make sure you sync the items you care about most. We especially recommend syncing your contacts, notes, reminders, and bookmarks so you can access them across any of your devices and across the web.

• Use iCloud storage just like Dropbox

There is a way you can “trick” iCloud by using virtual folders to store any file. If you use Dropbox, you're probably pretty familiar with the general concept. To make iCloud online storage as close as possible to Dropbox, first make sure that Documents & Data is enabled in the iCloud system settings. Next, open Finder and press Ctrl + Shift + G. A dialog box will open inside Type ~/Library. This will allow you to discover your hidden library folders. Once you're inside, scroll down Mobile Documents. You don't need to change anything inside this folder because the files belong to the apps your iCloud storage is already using. However, you can now leave your own files and folders here. Items located in this folder will be available on any other device accordingly.

• Take full advantage of Docs in the cloud

You can store any documents, including Word and Excel spreadsheets, in the cloud using your account. Make sure Documents & Data is synced with iCloud. This will allow you to upload text documents, presentations, drawings and more to iCloud. Plus, there are third-party application developers who also provide the ability to save material to your account. Once your documents are saved to iCloud, you can access them from iCloud.com, from your Mac, or from your iPhone and iPad.

• Sync reading lists from Safari

If you suddenly left an unread article on your computer, you can always “pick up” it on your iPhone or iPad. To do this, enable the Reading Lists function in the Settings of both your computer, smartphone and tablet. Make sure to check your bookmarks on all devices. This feature works using the glasses icon only in the Safari browser.

• No need to connect your iPhone or iPad to your PC again and again

The iPhone and iPad backup feature is the most useful feature of iCloud. Whenever your device connects to a Wi-Fi network, it will automatically sync settings, apps, music, photos, etc. with your iCloud account. If you ever feel the need to restore something, all you need to do is sign in with your Apple ID and download everything you need from iCloud. In the storage settings, you will find a backup option.

• 5 GB of free space

You only get 5GB of free space when you get an account, so use it wisely. Here's a way to check how much space is left available. On your Mac, go to System Preferences, select iCloud, then Manage in the bottom right corner. Seeing the number of saved items, including backups, game files, and documents, will give you a clear idea of ​​how much space you have left. If necessary, you can always buy more space. This section can also be accessed from your iPhone or iPad via Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup > Manage Storage.

You can free up space by deleting old backups, deleting backups of applications that are not important to you.

• Possibility of purchasing additional memory

Apple gives you 5GB of free cloud storage. If you have multiple devices or simply need more space, you'll have to fork out some cash. Apple offers 20GB for $40 per year or 50GB for $100 per year. That's a pretty steep price compared to Google Drive, which gives you 25GB for $2.50 per month ($30 per year). And Dropbox gives you 100GB for $100 per year. You can purchase additional storage space on your Mac in System Preferences or through your iPhone or iPad in iCloud Preferences.

• Use iCloud to download apps and music across all your devices

In iTunes, you can set your Mac preferences to automatically download music, apps, books, and other purchased items from the iTunes store. In the same way, you can activate the option on your mobile device.

• Take Advantage of Photo Stream

Photo Stream is one of the neatest ways to automatically sync photos with other devices. Photos from your iPhone or iPad will automatically appear on your Mac. This option also needs additional activation in the settings.

Found an error, please highlight the text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Before we look at the question of how to use iCloud Drive correctly, let's learn more about the service itself. Perhaps you don’t even need it, and you’ll be in vain connecting it. We will also look at the regular iCloud service, with which Apple’s cloud storage should in no way be confused. Well, first things first.

How to enable and add files?

So, you and I already know why cloud storage was created, but without practice we will not be able to consolidate the material. Therefore, now we will learn how to enable iCloud Drive, add files there, and how this service works using an example. It is worth noting that the process is similar on iPhones, and it changes only on Mac and Windows computers, but more on that later. Let’s also say right away that the storage requires an Internet connection to operate. If you're ready, let's get started:

How to add files to iCloud Drive

Now let's talk about how to add files to iCloud Drive. To do this we need to look at an example:

1. For example, an image was sent to you by email. Long press and click on it to open the context menu at the bottom of the screen.
2. Among the black and white buttons there will be a cloud icon and the inscription: “Save attachment.”
3. After this, all that remains is to select a folder in iCloud Drive and click on the “Export here” button at the bottom. Your image is now stored in the cloud.

It is worth noting that some data does not need to be transferred manually at all. For example, text files from Pages are automatically transferred to cloud storage, so you can simply go there and upload the document. The same goes for Numbers tables and Keynote presentations. are also synchronized, so in some cases there is nothing to worry about. What is the convenience of this service?

So, you urgently need to report to school. You started doing it at home, but it’s time to go out and go to school or university. Then you simply transfer it to iCloud Drive on your computer and then launch it on your phone. Here you can edit it, and then print it in some salon. It's worth noting that Pages documents can be exported in Word format if you're worried there aren't Apple computers in the place where you'll be printing.

Answers to the most popular questions

1. How do I transfer photos if iCloud Photo Library is not turned on? Let’s say right away that using standard tools you cannot simply transfer photos or videos from the iPad to cloud storage. This will require using the third-party Documents program from developer Readdle. Launch the app and tap on the Photos folder, select a folder, and then tap and hold the file you want. Without releasing it, move your finger to the upper left corner of the screen and hold until the main menu of the program appears. Now move your finger to the iCloud folder. Ready!
2. How to save a file from Drive to the memory of a tablet or iPhone? Open cloud storage and click on the file you need. Then click on the arrow button in the lower left corner of the screen. Depending on the file type, click on the appropriate button. For example, if it is a video, it will say “Save video.” For books, use the “Copy to iBooks” button and so on.
3. How to open files on a Windows computer? To do this, go to www.icloud.com and enter your account information. Then just click on the iCloud Drive icon. Or download the application of the same name from the official Apple website.
4. What to do if files don't sync? Make sure that

The main purpose of the iCloud cloud service is to synchronize information between PC, Mac, iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad devices. This will especially make life easier for owners of several Apple devices. With iCloud, all new information from your iPhone automatically and instantly reaches all your other devices as long as they are connected to the same iCloud account.

Now you don’t need to connect each device to your computer and synchronize with iTunes in order to transfer applications, photos, contacts, etc. back and forth. As soon as you purchased or added something, for example, to an iPhone, this data will immediately go through the cloud to, for example, an iPad. No clutter or confusion - every device has the same content. You can use iCloud on computers, there are versions for Mac and Windows...

What can you sync via iCloud?

1. iTunes Content. Cloud iTunes automatically downloads purchased music, apps, and books to any of your devices.

2. Mail, calendars, reminders, contacts, notes, bookmarks also synced via iCloud.

3. Photo stream(Photo Stream). All photos taken from Apple devices are automatically uploaded to Photo Stream and transferred via iCloud to other iOS devices as soon as you close the Camera app and while connected to a Wi-Fi network. (Photos are not transmitted to the cloud via the cellular network).

Please note that up to 1000 photos can be stored in the cloud, and all subsequent ones will be overwritten in place of the old ones.

But all the photos are stored on the computer, not just 1000. You can view them on a Mac computer - through iPhoto or Aperture, on a PC - in the Photo Stream download folder, by default this is the folder C:\Users\Apple\Pictures\Photo Stream\My Photo Stream.

4. Documents(iWork). If you work with texts, spreadsheets, and presentations through the Pages, Numbers, and Keynote apps, you can also sync them across all iOS devices, as well as documents in the Mobile Documents folder on Mac computers. When you edit a document on iOS, its “version” is automatically updated on all iOS devices.

5. Backups. Backups are now created automatically when your iOS device is plugged into power and connected to Wi-Fi and sent to iCLoud. The backup includes device settings, location of icons on the screen, messages, application data, photos and videos, ringtones, purchased music, programs, books and TV shows. If you want, you can use a backup copy so as not to lose data.

6. Family Sharing. With this option, users can share content from the iTunes Store, iBooks Store and App Store with up to six family members.

In general, the iCloud cloud service allows you to keep all the information on all your iOS devices and associated computers up to date, and quickly and conveniently transfer new applications and files between them. The iCloud service was introduced in mid-2011. Over the past time, the Cupertino team has significantly expanded its functionality.

Information deleted from iPhone is stored in iCloud for 30 days. Read how to recover deleted files.

How much do you need to pay to use iCloud?

All Apple ID account holders automatically receive 5 GB of free cloud storage in iCloud. It can be used to store backups, application files, important documents, etc.

If necessary, users can expand the available capacity by 50 GB, 200 GB or 1 TB. Depending on the chosen “package”, the cost of the service will also change. When purchasing an additional 50 GB, users will need to pay an additional 59 rubles per month, and when purchasing 1 TB – 599 rubles per month.

It is worth noting that relatively recently the company has slightly reduced the cost of “packages”. Just last year, one additional TB of cloud space cost 200 rubles more.

How to set up iCloud

How to use iCloud and how to set it up. There is nothing complicated here. However, depending on the platform, it has its own nuances.

Setting up iCloud on iPhone

1. On your smartphone or tablet, go to Settings - iCloud.

2. Enter your Apple ID login and password. Instructions.

3. Select one of the two proposed options - merge or not merge Safari data on a mobile device and in the cloud.

4. Activate geolocation for the Find iPhone function.

Setting up iCloud on Mac

1. In OS X, open System Preferences – iCloud.

2. Enter your Apple ID login and password and click Sign In.

3. If necessary, activate the “Find Mac” function, as well as transfer contacts, calendars, reminders from Mac to iCloud.

Setting up iCloud on Windows

How to make iPhone photos available on iCloud

As mentioned above, iCloud can act as a cloud storage for pictures. Moreover, photos can be automatically moved to the cloud and become available both on other Apple devices and in the web version of iCloud - this feature is called “iCloud Photo Library.”

To use iCloud Music Library you need:

On a mobile device running iOS 8.3 or later, go to Settings - iCloud - Photos and activate the item “ iCloud Photo Library».

On a Mac running OS X 10.10.3 or later, go to System Preferences - iCloud - Options, and then select iCloud Photo Library.

After activating all the necessary options, photos and videos will begin to be uploaded to the cloud. This requires a constant Internet connection. It is worth noting that the speed of downloading files and their appearance in the Photos application on iOS and OS X, as well as in the Cloud web version, directly depends on the speed of the Internet connection.

iCloud also has a web version - iCloud.com, from this site you can access all synchronized documents.

Sign in using your Apple ID account. The five main sections include Contacts, Calendar, Documents, Find My iPhone, and Mail Account. Through the web service, you can fully use iCloud: upload documents and edit information in your calendar, contacts, and mail. All changes will be immediately transferred to your iOS devices participating in the cloud.

In addition, in the web version you can delete photo stream data. To do this, click on your account in the upper right corner, select “Advanced” and “Delete photo stream data.” This action will remove all photos from iCloud, but they will remain on all your iOS devices and computers. And iCloud will free up space for a new 1000 photos available for synchronization via the cloud.

Google Photos offers unlimited cloud storage for photos and videos for your iPhone and iPad

10/22/16 at 17:07

For many years in a row, the iPhone has become the most popular device for creating photos according to the Flickr service. This did not happen by chance, but due to the good quality of the resulting images and ease of use. Unlike digital cameras and point-and-shoot cameras that were popular in the past, the iPhone is always in your pocket and does not require additional manipulations with peripherals. In addition, pictures taken on the iPhone immediately go to your Mac and other iOS devices, and information about their location on the map is saved.

Following the simplicity and ease of use of the iPhone camera, social networks and applications such as Instagram began to actively develop, aimed at publishing your photos online. The volume of photographs is no longer tied to 36 film frames as in the past and therefore the number of photographs created has increased many times over. Now every owner of an iPhone and iPad is faced with the problem of storing all previously taken photos. You can download them to your Mac or hard drive, but it's better to store them in the cloud, where they'll never get lost and you can share them with friends and family.

Where to store huge volumes of photos

1.iCloud
2. Flickr
3. Google Photos

1. Sync iOS photos with iCloud

If you have enabled support for photo synchronization in iCloud, then all pictures taken will be sent to Apple's cloud storage. At the same time, there is an option that allows you to save space on your iOS device, which will store low-quality photos on the iPhone only to display their preview. But as soon as you click on the photo, it will be immediately downloaded in the original from iCloud. This is a very clever and convenient trick, you can continue taking photos as much as you like, the originals are stored in the cloud, and your iPhone will remain more or less free for new photos. But here a problem arises: the free volume of iCloud is limited to 5 GB. If all your photos and videos do not fit, you can increase your cloud space by purchasing a subscription.

Cost of additional iCloud Drive storage

At the same time, deleted photos from iCloud will delete these photos from all your iOS devices.

Pros: Synchronization with iCloud is built into the operating system of Apple mobile devices. It stores originals and saves space on iOS.
Minuses: If you actively use the camera, 5 GB may not be enough; you will need to subscribe to larger volumes.

2. Sync iOS photos with Flickr

Flickr recently released an updated app for iOS that allows you to sync all your videos and photos to the service automatically. You are provided with 200 times more free iCloud volume. All photos uploaded to Flickr will be marked as private by default, they will be visible only to you and hidden from prying eyes. Deleted photos from Flickr will not affect deleted photos on iPhone.

pros: 1000 GB is many times more than the free iCloud volume. All photos and videos are stored in original quality.
Minuses: This volume may also run out over time. Synchronization requires the installation of a special application, which must be launched periodically or kept in memory. Uploaded photos to Flickr are not deleted from the iOS device, which requires periodic manual cleaning of already uploaded photos from the iPhone library.

3. Sync iOS photos with Google Photos

Google has presented another opportunity, which with its proposal looks very, very appetizing. They offer you unlimited cloud space for all your photos and videos for free.

By installing the Google Photos iOS app, you can upload all your pictures and videos to the Google Photos service and store them there indefinitely without any restrictions on quantity or time. This is definitely a big plus.

What could be the catch? According to Google, the maximum size for stored photos is 16 MP and 1080p for videos. This means that if your pictures were taken with a camera at a resolution of more than 16 MP, they will be reduced to the specified size.

Fortunately, most modern cameras are around this value. In addition, pictures of iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus have a resolution of 8 MP. However, even though iPhone photos are smaller than the specified limit, they will still be slightly compressed to reduce their volume. Visually, it is very difficult to distinguish the difference between the original and compressed versions.

Can I store originals in Google Photos? Yes, this option is also present but requires a subscription. You are given 15 GB of cloud space for free.

How to Sync Photos from iOS to Google Photos

Next, your entire library will be prepared (which may take some time, in our case there were so many photos that it took 2 days to prepare). Photos uploaded to Google Photos can be deleted from your iPhone, just like you can delete them from Flickr manually. In addition, you can free up space on your iPhone if you go to Google Photos, select the photos, click on the menu at the top right and select “delete copies from this device”, while everything that was uploaded to Google Photos will remain there, and these same photos will be deleted from iPhone memory.

However, if you delete photos from Google Photos, they will also be deleted from your iOS device.

All uploaded photos to Google Photos will be recognized by the smart visual search engine. For example, you can click on search and enter the words objects, items, locations. Most of the time, Google Photos finds the things you need. This is a very convenient trick, for example, you can find photographs of a sofa or your dog from your hometown, taken back when cameras could not remember the location of the photograph taken.

In addition, Google Photos can identify places in pictures, even without geotags. For example, having determined that the Eiffel Tower is in the picture, Google will mark this picture as taken in Paris. And subsequently, by entering “Paris” into the search, you will see pictures of this city, even if the photo did not have location information.

In addition to the iOS application, Google Photos has a web version of the service. You can use it to access your photos, but it will also be used if you give access to someone who doesn't have Google Photos.

To summarize, we can say that Google has introduced an excellent service that will allow you to forever forget about the problem of free space filled with numerous pictures and especially videos. The Google Photos app has an intuitive, easy-to-use interface, the ability to delete local copies, and was an excellent, if not a 100% replacement for iCloud, then at least a means of backing up all your footage. This service will undoubtedly be convenient for those who save significant moments of their lives every day using an iPhone or iPad and do this very often.

To sync with Google Photos, you need to install the iOS app and have a Gmail account. After authorization, the application will offer to enable automatic uploading of photos and videos to its service, and will also ask you to indicate what type of storage you choose — free unlimited with pictures reduced to a specified size or storage in paid storage.

Today I want to talk about how to use iCloud. For those who don’t know, iCloud is from Apple. It includes not only file storage, but also functions for synchronizing notes, calendar, contacts and files, as well as the ability to store for later or painless migration to a new phone. With all this, you need to remember that the capabilities of this service are available not only on the iPhone, but also on other Apple devices. We will touch on this and many other aspects in this article.

Registration

The first thing you need to do in the question of how to use iCloud is to register an account in this service. It's likely that the first time you turned on your iPhone, you already created an AppleID account - a single account for all Apple services. However, here I want to talk about the registration process through the company’s website:

1. Open any Internet browser.
2. We go to the web portal dedicated to the Apple ID: appleid.apple.com.
3. On the page that opens, click “Create an Apple ID” and go through the standard registration procedure, indicating the user’s name and other details.

Once your account has been created, you can start using the services provided.

Before registering, make sure you have not created this account before. If you made purchases from your phone in the AppStore (or simply installed free apps from the store), then you already have a user account.

Login from browser

Since we started covering this topic by registering an account through a browser, we’ll do the first one through it, because how can you use iCloud storage if you don’t log into it first? So we need:

1. Open browser.
2. Type “icloud.com” in the address bar.
3. Press the “Enter” key and wait for the page to load.
4. Enter the information from the created account into the login form.
5. Click on the button with the arrow.

Connecting a service on your phone

The next thing that logically needs to be sorted out is how to use iCloud on the iPhone. By default, the service is always enabled, but to make sure this is true, or to enable it (if it is disabled), you need to:

1. Open phone settings.
2. Go to the "iCloud" section.
3. Enable cloud functionality and activate the necessary applications included in it using the appropriate switches.

Important! In the same menu, settings related to the automatic synchronization of certain content between your devices connected to the same Apple account will be available. Naturally, do not forget to log in to your phone using the account you created.

All other actions related to downloading updated content, transferring contacts, etc., will be performed automatically by the system, which is undoubtedly very convenient.

In conclusion, I would like to answer the eternal question of many inexperienced users: how much does it cost to use iCloud. Initially, the service is provided free of charge - all functionality is available to you, but the cloud storage size is only 5GB. If you need to increase the amount of allocated space, then this can be done for a certain amount, a list of which can be found on the website icloud.com (read about how to clear iCloud storage).