What is iCloud?
iCloud
is Apple's online service, introduced in 2011. Pitched in part as a
replacement for the now-defunct MobileMe, it's
designed to sync your contacts, calendars, bookmarks, photos, and iWork
documents between devices. It also allows downloading of music
you've
purchased from the iTunes Store - in the future or the past - to other
devices. (Online storage and downloading of material you've added
yourself, for example
by ripping CDs, is provided at a charge.)
These facilities are free to users of OSX 10.7.5 'Lion' and above, and iOS5 and above for mobile devices, and these systems are the minimum requirement to set up or transition to an iCloud account. Most facilities are not available to earlier systems, though Mail can be accessed from any email client provided an iCloud has been set up in the first place. There is currently no indication the other facilities will in future be available on Snow Leopard - see below.
It would appear that Support is available only to people with 'AppleCare' - which is free for 90 days after purchasing hardware, or has to be paid for to extend it. You might want to consider whether you should entrust your email to a service which has no support contact should there be problems (though the same probably applies to the other free email services).
These facilities are free to users of OSX 10.7.5 'Lion' and above, and iOS5 and above for mobile devices, and these systems are the minimum requirement to set up or transition to an iCloud account. Most facilities are not available to earlier systems, though Mail can be accessed from any email client provided an iCloud has been set up in the first place. There is currently no indication the other facilities will in future be available on Snow Leopard - see below.
It would appear that Support is available only to people with 'AppleCare' - which is free for 90 days after purchasing hardware, or has to be paid for to extend it. You might want to consider whether you should entrust your email to a service which has no support contact should there be problems (though the same probably applies to the other free email services).
What about MobileMe?
As
was announced in June 2011, MobileMe was terminated on 1 July 2012. If
you had a MobileMe subscription, and did not migrate your email,
contacts and calendars to iCloud and your iDisk contents and Gallery to
your computer or another hosting service, then you can no longer do so
and the contents of your account have been deleted.
If you haven't migrated your account you can treat it as expired and sign in to System Preferences>iCloud with it to open an iCloud account and reactivate the address (but not recover the emails previously stored on it). However if you had both @mac.com and @me.com versions of the address you can only reactivate the @me.com version (it's not clear yet whether this is still possible now that new iCloud addresses are @icloud.com): the @mac.com one is no longer viable.
If you haven't migrated your account you can treat it as expired and sign in to System Preferences>iCloud with it to open an iCloud account and reactivate the address (but not recover the emails previously stored on it). However if you had both @mac.com and @me.com versions of the address you can only reactivate the @me.com version (it's not clear yet whether this is still possible now that new iCloud addresses are @icloud.com): the @mac.com one is no longer viable.
My Apple ID for iTunes and my iCloud login are different
Many people are in this situation
because they opened an Apple ID to use with iTunes, the Discussion
Forums or hardware registration, and then joined MobileMe or iCloud at
a later
date - the @me.com email address is an Apple ID itself.
You can't merge these two IDs. As you have a different ID for iTunes you should continue to use that for iTunes, iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match. There is no problem about using two different IDs in this way; and indeed I think it's preferable, given the number of complaints about hacked accounts on iTunes, not to have your iTunes login the same as your publicly available email address.
You can't merge these two IDs. As you have a different ID for iTunes you should continue to use that for iTunes, iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match. There is no problem about using two different IDs in this way; and indeed I think it's preferable, given the number of complaints about hacked accounts on iTunes, not to have your iTunes login the same as your publicly available email address.
iCloud, iTunes in the Cloud, and iTunes Match
It may be helpful to clarify the
differences between iCloud, iTunes in the Cloud, and iTunes Match,
because re-downloading your songs and movies doesn't actually have
anything to do with iCloud - Apple persist in using the name for both
and it's confusing a lot of people.
iCloud is your own account which enables syncing of calendar and contacts data, transfer of iWork and TextEdit documents between your devices, transfer of photos taken on one device onto all the others, an email service, and the ability to find a lost device which has been set up correctly. It does not provide general file storage, and it does not store your movies or music. It's free at basic level of 5GB for the items mentioned above with extra storage purchasable.
iTunes in the Cloud does not store anything except in the iTunes Store. It simply recognizes that you have previously purchased an item and allows you to re-download it on other devices, or, as you say, re-download it onto the original device if you've deleted it. No extra storage is required because the items are already in the Store. Complicated rights issues means that not all items are available this way, and that different countries have different availablilities. Also if an item is withdrawn from the Store you won't be able to re-download it even if you already purchased it.
iTunes Match applies to music (not films) in your collection which you did not purchased from the iTunes Store, but downloaded from elsewhere or ripped from your CDs. If the item exists in the Store it allows you to download a version from there; if not you can upload it to space allocated for you. This facility costs $24.99/£21.99 per year, limit 25,000 songs (purchases do not count towards this limit). This is not part of the iCloud 5GB free storage.
iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match require an iTunes account; they do not require an iCloud account.
iCloud is your own account which enables syncing of calendar and contacts data, transfer of iWork and TextEdit documents between your devices, transfer of photos taken on one device onto all the others, an email service, and the ability to find a lost device which has been set up correctly. It does not provide general file storage, and it does not store your movies or music. It's free at basic level of 5GB for the items mentioned above with extra storage purchasable.
iTunes in the Cloud does not store anything except in the iTunes Store. It simply recognizes that you have previously purchased an item and allows you to re-download it on other devices, or, as you say, re-download it onto the original device if you've deleted it. No extra storage is required because the items are already in the Store. Complicated rights issues means that not all items are available this way, and that different countries have different availablilities. Also if an item is withdrawn from the Store you won't be able to re-download it even if you already purchased it.
iTunes Match applies to music (not films) in your collection which you did not purchased from the iTunes Store, but downloaded from elsewhere or ripped from your CDs. If the item exists in the Store it allows you to download a version from there; if not you can upload it to space allocated for you. This facility costs $24.99/£21.99 per year, limit 25,000 songs (purchases do not count towards this limit). This is not part of the iCloud 5GB free storage.
iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match require an iTunes account; they do not require an iCloud account.
Can I use iCloud with Snow Leopard?
Officially, no: Lion 10.7.5 is
required. If you have already opened an iCloud account on a Lion Mac or
an iOS5 device you can set Mail up
manually to access email on Snow
Leopard or Leopard, or on Tiger;
you can't open a new account on older systems than Lion or OS5.
This page lists the situation when trying to use iCloud in Snow Leopard in more detail, including a few workarounds and some third-party software which may be of interest.
This page lists the situation when trying to use iCloud in Snow Leopard in more detail, including a few workarounds and some third-party software which may be of interest.
Web-only account
You can create a 'web-only' account by signing in with an Apple ID at http://www.icloud.com;
this has only 1GB of free storage and limited facilities, in particular
no email. You can upgrade it to a standard account with 5GB of free
storage and full facilities by signing in in the iCloud pane of System
Preferences/Settings on a Mac or an iOS device (not Windows or
Android). The information in this page applies to the standard version.
There are more Frequently Asked Questions (and their answers) here.
iCloud facilities
The table below lists iCloud's facilities. OSX 10.7.5 and
iOS5 are the minimum requirement.
FACILITY |
iCLOUD |
---|---|
MAIL |
An
@icloud.com address is provided, together with up to 3 'aliases'
(additional addresses). (People
who already have @me.com and @mac.com address will retain them but new
ones cannot be created.) Webmail is provided. Mail storage counts
towards
your free 5GB space
(upgradeable, see bottom of table). Note that automatic
spam filtering is applied, which it is admitted may cause
occasional false positives and consequent silent deletion. |
CHECKING, AND SENDING USING,
EXTERNAL ACCOUNTS |
This facility is not available. |
CONTACTS |
Contacts are
automatically
synced to your other devices. |
CALENDAR |
iCal Calendars sync to
iCloud and from there to other devices. Pre-Lion Macs cannot sync
with it: an unofficial method of syncing Snow Leopard's iCal
has been published: use at your own risk. |
GALLERY |
Photos can be shared privately to
invitees or by enabling 'Public Website' to a generally available
website gallery. |
'PHOTO
STREAM' |
A conduit for syncing photos to
your other devices: all photos on Macs, last 1,000 on iOS devices.
Photos held in the cloud for maximum 30 days, and not available to
other people. Does not count towards your free 5GB space. Shared Photo Streams
enable you to share selected photos with other iCloud users (Mountain
Lion 10.8.2 or iOS6, and iPhoto 9.4 or Aperture 3.4 required). |
BACKUP |
Backup
of Apps, books, music,
photos, settings, SMS & MMS messages and ringtones from your iOS
devices (not backup from your Mac). Counts towards your free 5GB space
(upgradeable, see bottom of table). |
FIND MY
iPHONE |
Is available in iCloud, enabling you to locate a lost phone provided it is on and able to connect to a network. |
FIND MY
FRIENDS |
Is available in iCloud, enables
you to allow friends
to see where you are (temporarily if required) and vice versa (with
their permission). |
WEBSITE HOSTING |
iCloud does not provide
website hosting. See here
for alternatives. |
DOCUMENTS/DESKTOP IN THE CLOUD' |
This works through the
iCloud Drive (see below) |
'iTUNES IN
THE CLOUD' |
New and past purchases available for download to all your devices. Does not count towards your free 5GB space. |
'iTUNES
MATCH' |
Music
in iTunes not purchased in
the Store can be uploaded to be available to all devices. $24.99/£21.99
per
year, limit 25,000 songs (purchases do not count towards this limit).
This is not part of the 5GB free storage. Remains available to those
who don't subscribe to Apple Music. (Not strictly part of iCloud.) |
'APPLE MUSIC' |
Streaming and saving for offline
listening access to a large proportion of the iTunes Store music
catalogue; $9.99 per month. Songs play only in iTunes. Also includes
streaming 'radio stations'. (Not strictly part of iCloud.) |
iBOOK SYNCING |
Purchased iBooks from the Bookstore made available to all your devices. Does not count towards your free 5GB space. |
APP SYNCING |
Purchased iOS apps are made available to all your iOS devices. Does not count towards your free 5GB space. |
BOOKMARKS SYNCING |
Safari Bookmarks syncing is
provided in iCloud: bookmarks are not viewable on the iCloud
website. |
OTHER DATA SYNCING |
In
Mountain Lion or above, Mail Rules, signatures, flag names and Smart Mailboxes
are synced if you have 'Documents and Data' syncing enabled. Syncing of
Dashboard
Widgets, Dock Items, Keychains, and Address Book sharing all ceased
with the termination of
MobileMe and are not available
in iCloud. |
BACK TO MY MAC |
Is available,
connection to 'AirDisks' has been made available in an update. |
FAMILY
SHARING |
With iOS8+, and OSX Yosemite or above,
iCloud provides 'Family
Sharing' where family members including
children can have accounts linked to and controlled by the main
account. |
iCLOUD DRIVE |
A
general file storage area
(similar
to the old iDisk) is available in iOS8+ and OSX Yosemite or
above. If you enable iCloud Drive and don't have Yosemite or above you
will not be able to access your
documents at icloud.com - see this note. With OSX Sierra and iOS10 you can transfer your Desktop and your Documents folder to iCloud so that you can access them on all your devices. More details here. |
COST | Free
for OSX 'Lion' and above and iOS5,
including downloading of purchased iTunes songs, and 5GB space for
Backup, Mail, Photo Journal, Documents and iCloud Drive if enabled. Storage and downloading of personally added iTunes songs at $24.99 p.a. Additional storage (replaces the free 5GB, not adds to it); pricing is charged monthly(there is no annual option). 50GB $0.99 p.m., 200GB $2.99 p.m., 2TB $9.99 p.m. (UK £0.79, £2.49, £6.99; other countries detailed here.) |
Here are some useful links to Apple iCloud Help pages:
- Get Started with iCloud
- Creating an iCloud account: Frequently Asked Questions
- iCloud Help
- About @icloud.com
email addresses
- iCloud Support apparently only available if you have AppleCare
- iCloud: System Status
- iCloud: Supported system requirements
- iCloud: Mail Server settings
- iCloud: Purchasing iCloud Storage and Billing
- iCloud: Storage Upgrades
- iCloudL Storage Downgrades
- iCloud:
Archiving or backing up your data
- Apple IDs and iCloud
- Changing your Apple ID
- iCloud: Troubleshooting iCloud Bookmarks
- iCloud: Troubleshooting iCloud Reminders and Tasks
- iCloud: Troubleshooting iCloud Contacts
- iCloud: Troubleshooting iCloud Mail
- iCloud: Troubleshooting creating backups
- iCloud: Troubleshooting iCloud Calendar
- iCloud: Troubleshooting storage issues
- iCloud: Troubleshooting web browser issues with icloud.com
- iCloud: Troubleshooting Find My Friends
- iCloud: Troubleshooting Documents in the Cloud
- iCloud:
Managing your iCloud storage
- iCloud: How to get long email headers for iCloud accounts
- iCloud: Keeping the Junk folder consistent between webmail and OS X Mail
- iCloud: Distinguishing between Calendars and Reminders
- iCloud: Manually importing data from iCal to iCloud Calendar
- iCloud: Understanding where iCloud Calendars are displayed in iCal
- iCloud: Mail usage specifications
- iCloud: Why was I spammed?
- iCloud: About email aliases
- iCloud: How spam is filtered
- Cloud:
iCloud security and privacy overview
- iPhoto and Aperture: Using Photo Stream
- iCloud: Deleting photos from Photo Stream
- iCloud:
Troubleshooting Back To My Mac
- iCloud: Backup and restore overview
- iCloud: Calendar & reminder data removed from iCal when disabling iCloud Calendar
- iCloud: What version of Windows software am I using for iCloud
- iCloud: About the iCloud Web App Plugin for Internet Explorer
- iCloud: How to back up iCloud data
(Syncing using iTunes was disabled in the early versions of Mavericks but restored in 10.9.3)
©
Roger Wilmut. This site is not associated with Apple.