How to download photos from iCloud to your computer - all quick and effective ways. Interaction with Apple iCloud: delving into the most important functions

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.

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Let's look at several ways to quickly download photos from iCloud to your computer.

Correctly setting up synchronization will automatically transfer all downloaded and taken photos to your computer.

All Apple device owners receive a free iCloud account, the reserve of which is 50 GB. Often this space is not enough, so you need to look for options for quickly moving a large number of photos and other media data.

Contents:

Setting up content to sync

IOS users can limit the types of content that will be streamed to the cloud.

Before you start uploading photos, make sure you have allowed moving snapshots to storage:

• Open iPhone or iPad settings;
• Click to the iCloud line;
• In the window that opens, activate the types of content that can be sent to the server. Make sure the items are enabled "Photo" And "iCloud Drive"

• Open the downloaded installer file;
• Accept the license agreement;
• Wait for the installation to complete.

Getting started with the program

1 Open the client program and log in to your Apple ID:

2 After successful authorization when using the program for the first time A window will appear in which the user needs to select the types of content to synchronize. We advise you to tick all the boxes so as not to return to this setting in the future.

3 Next, go to the program settings window and check the “My Photo Stream” checkbox. Also, activate the download and upload functions to automatically receive new content from the service and be able to upload computer files to the cloud.

4 Now turn off the program and restart your computer to apply all settings and start syncing. Connect your computer to the Internet. After connecting to the global network, the client application will send and in the file system ( iCloud Drive folder) all transferred images will appear.

5 Just open the folder and view the photos. After synchronization, copies of photos are cached and saved on your computer, so they can be viewed and edited even after the Internet is turned off.

Please note that as a result of installing a regular client application, a utility for separate work with photos will also appear on your computer.

This allows you to more conveniently manage all your pictures and their synchronization between several mobile gadgets and computers. Open the My Computer window. In addition to the list of all available disks, an icon will appear.

Once you open the directory, you can view the synchronized photos - they are located in the "Downloads" folder.

To send a photo or a folder with several pictures to the cloud, move them to the Uploads directory.

Uploading photo

To download files saved in the cloud to your PC, . Click on the key "Synchronize".

After confirming the action, the pictures will begin to be loaded into the Windows OS. This can take from 1 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of photos and the quality of your Internet connection.

Setting up automatic synchronization

To automatically display all your photos and videos shot on camera not only on your phone, but also on other computers, use the function "My photo stream".

With its help, all images from the gallery are independently moved to the cloud and appear in the Windows client application.

To enable the automatic image transfer function, open the settings window and click on the “iCloud” field.

Then select “Photo” and in the new window activate the slider “Upload to My Photo Stream”.

Fig. 19 – enabling image stream transmission

Photos are automatically sent to the cloud after the following actions:

• After closing the application "Camera" on a smartphone or tablet;
• As a result of connecting the phone to a Wi-Fi network;
• After uploading a specific file manually through the Explorer menu.

Solving problems installing iCloud for Windows

Among the common reasons for unsuccessful installation of the iCloud application The following are distinguished:

• The message “Media features are missing” appears. To install the application, you must have the application on your computer running Windows. If your copy of the OS does not work with a pre-installed standard player, download it from a free web source and install it on your PC, since without it the ICloud installation process will not begin;

• "No connection to server" message. If, after installing the application and trying to connect it, you encounter this error, check your Internet connection. The program does not connect to WEB due to the inability to send a network request;
• iCloud does not sync with other devices. This occurs due to the use of an outdated version of the client application. To update the software version, use the Apple Software Update utility (http://apple-software-update.updatestar.com/ru). Run the EXE file and the utility will automatically scan all Apple software installed on your computer and update it.

Backing up and transferring files, such as photos and videos, using the iCloud service is a necessary thing, especially if you frequently change mobile devices and Apple computers.

video using iCloud

The iCloud service saves your photos in original quality, preloading their compressed copies on gadgets and PCs. When downloading directly to the internal drive or device memory, the quality of the media remains original.

The most important add-on, a continuation of the Apple iCloud service, is the subsidiary iCloud Drive service. It is he who expands the possibilities of managing your media content in the online data storage. This is the focus of this user manual.

For iPhone, iPad or iPod gadgets

Despite the presence of options for managing the service in the main menu of iOS system settings, the built-in capabilities of iCloud in Apple iDevices are limited and have not yet been fully developed. You can use Documents 5, PDF Expert and their analogues.

All actions for iPhone, iPad or iPod to manage online storage in the iOS system are the same - the Apple iDevices software shell is the same. The capabilities of multimedia content are limited only by the technical characteristics of the gadget itself. The example used is iPhone 4s (A1387) with the latest iOS update - 9.3.5.

1. Launch the Documents 5 application and go to the “Documents” tab, select the iCloud service.

   Launch iCloud service in Documents 5

2. Documents 5 doesn't show its own folder here - files uploaded with it are immediately available in iCloud.

   

   Click "Edit" to choose what to do next

3. All actions - copying, transferring, renaming, deleting photos or videos - are available immediately.

   

   From the action menu in iCloud, choose what to do with the photo or video

4. To view photos or play videos, simply click on the file itself. You can move it to the iCloud root folder, save it in the media gallery on your iPhone, iPad or iPod.

   

5. To download a photo, allow access to the “Camera Roll” folder in the gadget settings (this is your photo gallery on your iPhone, iPad or iPod).

   

   Enable permission for Documents 5 using the slider on the right

6. Return to the “root” of the “Documents” tab and go to the “Photos” folder.

   

   Open the Photos folder

7. Open the “Camera Roll” folder - this is where photos and videos are stored on the gadget.

   

   Open your Camera Roll folder

8. Click "Edit" and select the photos and videos you want to transfer to online storage, then click "Copy."

   

   Select files and click "Copy"

9. A choice will open between the iTunes file folder and the Internet downloads folder - click “Copy” on the left.

   

   Click "Copy" on the left

10. A choice will open between the document root folder and the storage service.

    

    Select iCloud folder

11. Click on the "Copy" button on the right - this is the final action.

    

    Click "Copy" on the right

12. If you have your own folder structure in the service, select the one in which you keep your collection of photos and videos.

To work comfortably with iCloud, a high-speed Internet plan with unlimited traffic or open Wi-Fi in a public place is desirable.

Your photos will be copied to the selected folder on the server.

Advanced PDF Expert features are available for a fee. However, the capabilities of the Documents 5 “combine” are more than enough for you. Both apps are available on the App Store.

For computers running Windows

Everything you keep in iCloud folders is downloaded and synced automatically every time your computer connects to the Internet. Deleting, transferring, copying, renaming within the iCloud Drive system folder on a PC will affect the storage of your photos and videos on the server, which means that when you log in from an iPhone, iPad, iPod or MacBook under your Apple ID, the changes made will be applied to all these devices.

Even if you edited a photo or video in a separate program on your PC and replaced the corresponding file in the iCloud system folder, it will be downloaded to all other devices in edited form and will replace its old version both on them and in the Drive cloud.

For Apple PC (macOS)

Use the macOS Sierra version - it has the most “advanced” functionality. If you haven't updated to it yet, go ahead! The iOS system on all gadgets of the Apple iDevices family must be at least version 10.

So, the iPhone must be no older than any 5x - the latest iOS version for the iPhone 4s is 9.3.5. Apple has suspended further updates to its outdated gadgets.

iCloud Drive and photo sharing options on MacBook are customizable

Do the following:

Don't forget that when you delete any photo or video clip on one of your Apple devices, it will be deleted from your file list and from your other devices - synchronization occurs continuously, even consuming minimal traffic in standby mode, as long as all your devices are connected to the Internet.

As an example, access to online storage from Firefox on Windows. The actions are similar on any device - even from an Android or Symbian smartphone: the workplace in the web interface will simulate any Apple iDevices gadget, like a real iOS emulator. You will be able to view your photos and videos, as well as other information about Apple gadgets, and track everything that happens on your iCloud Drive online drive. The main thing is that your gadget or PC has good performance and high speed and supports all modern multimedia formats and web technologies, including streaming.

1. Log in to the icloud.com server and log in using your Apple ID.

   

   iCloud login page

2. Launch the iCloud Drive web app.

   

   Select iCloud Drive from the main menu

3. Go to any of the folders created here. For example, this could be a folder created by the Documents 5 application.

   

   There can be many folders - it all depends on you

4. If you have actively used iCloud Drive and have accumulated a large number of photos and videos in the root folder of the service, all of them will be shown to you. As an example, we take a homemade photo - a screenshot just taken on a PC and uploaded to the Documents application folder by dragging it from the Windows Desktop.

   

   Open internal folders to view photos

5. Open any of the photos. It will be shown on your gadget or computer in full screen - depending on what you are currently using to view your content. As an example - the same “screen”. The web address in your browser's address bar will change from icloud.com to icloud-content.com - this is an Apple server that preloads your photos and videos for viewing directly on your device with iCloud Drive. Each photo or video will open in a new browser tab.

   

   Open any of your photos

6. To extract a photo or video to your device, click the download icon. Your gadget or computer will offer to save it. Only on a Windows PC you can save the file anywhere - for example, on a flash drive, or on the computer disk itself. But the iPhone, iPad and iPod gadgets save pictures in the system folder “Camera Roll” (this is a gallery of pictures and videos) on the device - the saved photos and videos will also be available in the standard “Camera” application. On macOS, photos and video clips are placed in the user's MacBook folder for storing media files.

   

   Request message about the need to save the multimedia file

7. To copy files from a device to iCloud, there is the already familiar drag and drop of files from the Windows Desktop. In addition, there is a file upload icon - next to the file upload icon to the gadget itself or computer. You can also create new subfolders, delete files from storage, or send them as attachments in an email from your email configured on your PC.

Video: Apple iCloud service - how to view and sync photos on iPhone and PC

Viewing, downloading, transferring photos and videos from an Apple smartphone or tablet to a PC and back using the iCloud service is a simple task. You just need to devote some free time. All you need is high-speed Internet. Good luck!

Every iOS device user has the opportunity to use iCloud cloud storage - in it they can store a variety of types of data. However, you need to take into account that free space in the cloud is limited to 5 GB. This is why, as a rule, users do not store video recordings, which weigh quite a bit, in iCloud, but, nevertheless, there is a category of people for whom the cloud is the only possible backup option. This article is addressed specifically to this category of users; in it we will tell you how to add video to the storage directly from the device, as well as from the computer.

If you want all your videos to be automatically saved to the cloud:

After the upload is complete, you can go to the cloud storage from your computer via the iCloud.com website and make sure that everything was uploaded.

Of course, this path is the most convenient, but, as we said above, videos weigh a lot, and in the case of iOS technology, especially a lot, because Apple equips its devices with excellent cameras. If you activate the “iCloud Media Library” slider, you transfer not only videos, but also photos, which are also “heavy”.

So, most likely, the free 5 GB will run out very quickly, the optimization option will slow down the process a little, but not significantly. In general, sooner or later there will come a time when you will have to buy more space in the cloud, and below we will tell you how to do this.

However, if you need to save not all photos and videos in the cloud, but only selected files, you may be able to save money. In this case, we will not enable the “iCloud Photo Library” slider, but will proceed as follows:

Ready! Now you can see the selected video in a special iCloud Drive program. You can view the contents of the program in three ways:

Selectively adding files, of course, is a more labor-intensive process than automatic uploading, but with, in general, little time spent, you get good space and money savings.

Adding video from your computer

So, we figured out how to add videos to iCloud from Apple, and you could see that it is very simple. What about adding videos to the cloud from a PC - is this possible? Or can't third-party videos be uploaded to the Apple cloud? Of course you can. There are two ways to upload videos to storage.

So, how to download video from a PC to the cloud if iCloud Drive is installed on it:

If you don’t have the program, but don’t want to install and configure it, you can use iCloud.com:

As you can see, everything is quite simple here too.

How do I change the available storage space?

Well, now let’s talk about what to do if backup in iCloud is the most suitable option, but you have run out of space in the cloud, despite optimization and selective storage. In this situation, the only thing left to do is buy more space.

Apple offers three plans:

• 50 GB for 59 rubles per month
• 200 GB for 149 rubles per month
• 2 TB for 599 rubles per month

As they say, choose any one according to your needs and wallet size. To make a purchase:

That's all! Changes will take effect immediately after payment is made.

Let's summarize

Well, now you know how to upload videos to iCloud from the device itself and from your computer. Both methods are simple and straightforward. You also know how to optimize the size of downloaded videos and how to perform selective copying. Unfortunately, despite the tricks, the free space of which the user is allotted only 5 GB may run out, in this situation it is necessary to either come up with another place for backup, or buy additional space - we told you how to do this.

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, the 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. To do this you need 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.