10 Tips To Get the Most From iCloud

Hi, this is Gary with MacMost.com. In this episode I'm going to give you some tips to get the most out of iCloud.

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So the best part about iCloud is it just works. It keeps all of your files and data synced between all of your different Apple devices. But here are some useful tips that will help you get even more out of iCloud.

You've probably heard me say before that iCloud is not really a backup. It does keep your files safer because they are in more than place. But it's no substitute for a true backup like Time Machine. But it's definitely a lot better than nothing when you're traveling. In fact it can really save you if everything is being synced from your MacBook to iCloud while you're traveling. If somebody steals your MacBook you'll find all your files are safe there in iCloud. Even files you've been working on while on your trip.

Now a very useful feature about iCloud that a lot of people still don't know about is the fact that you can share a file. To share a file go to a file that's already on iCloud drive. Control click on it and go to Share and then Add People. Then you choose how to alert the other person that's going to be shared with them. If you don't want to send a message right away you can just to go Copy Link. Then you add the email address or phone number that corresponds to their Apple ID. You can also choose Share Option such as anyone with a link can actually see the file or whether or not people can make changes in addition to viewing that file. This has all sorts of uses and starting with MacOS Catalina later this year you're also going to be able to share an entire folder full of files with another user.

This one is another travel tip. You probably know that if you're using iCloud Photos and you take a photo on your iPhone it automatically syncs with your iCloud Library and it's in the cloud. If something happens to your iPhone you'll still have that picture as long as it has had a chance to sync up with the server. Well, you can do the same even if you're not taking pictures with your iPhone. By just getting a simple SD Card Reader for your iPhone you can transfer photos from your regular camera to your iPhone. This will put them in the Photos app and allow them to sync with iCloud. This is very useful when traveling because you can have your camera with you and just your iPhone. Use the card reader to transfer photos over. Not only can you then share them with friends and do things with the photos on your iPhone but they will also be backed up to iCloud as you go instead of only existing on this one SD card that you feel you need to protect with your life until you get home.

Now the Apple Books app is part of iCloud as well and has a really useful feature. You can set it so that PDF's automatically sync between all the books apps on your devices. So you can use Apple Books as a place to store your PDF's. You've got a whole bunch of them in there on your Mac and then find that you have access to them on your iPhone, iPad, your other Macs. So first you want to go to System Preferences and look in iCloud and then under iCloud Drive click Options and make sure that you've got Books checked. Do that on all your devices. Then in the Books app it's probably a good idea to go to Preferences, General, and then make sure you're synced is also checked there.

Now to view PDF's you usually go to Collections and then PDF. Then you can see all the PDF's you've added there. I'm going to add a new one in here and you'll see it appear and also it will sync with my MacBook. Apple Books is actually a pretty decent PDF reader as well.

This is a feature that my family and I can't live without anymore. It's a shared family calendar. So we have a calendar shared between all of our iCloud accounts. Whenever there are things going on we add them to this calendar, everybody sees them get added, and we can all refer to the same calendar. It's great when we're doing things together like planning a trip but it's also great to keep tabs on when another family member may have an appointment or something to do or be out of town so we don't have to keep bugging each other to find out, Oh, are you free on this day.

Now another tip for families is to create a shared Reminders list. You can share Reminders lists with other people using iCloud. So you can create a shopping list this way. That way if you see you need something in the house you can add it to the Reminders list. If it's not you that happens to be at the supermarket the next time the other person can refer to that list and pick that item up. Items that are checked off are removed from the list.

You can also create shared Notes. Shared notes are very useful for a variety of purposes. But one things that I recommend that everybody does is have this note that has emergency information. What do I mean by that? Things like who do you call if there's a problem with the house. You know with the heater or with the plumbing. Something like that. Shared Notes are also great to use among friends. One of the ways I've used them in the past is to use a shared note for planning a trip. So you can put all sorts of things in here. You can put links to restaurants. Links to tours. Hotel reservations. Everything. You can just go back and forth. Everybody can edit. Everybody can add. People can even ask questions inside the note.

Now not enough people take advantage of this but the App Store is kind of part of iCloud. You see when you purchase an app at the App Store you have a license to it. You can download it anytime you want to any Macs that you own. This also means that you can delete an app and redownload it later. Which is great because apps take up a lot of space but sometimes we don't use apps for a long period of time. So if there's an app you've purchased and you've used it you can uninstall through Launchpad and the next time you need it you can download it again in the App Store. This can significantly reduce the amount of space used on your hard drive but you still have access to all of the apps that you've bought.

The last tip is for paying for iCloud storage. A lot of us need a little bit over the minimum of iCloud storage which means we're paying a few bucks every month to Apple to get extra storage space. It can be annoying to have these little charges every month. You don't have to have them because you can actually add funds to your Apple ID and then it's deducted from there. The way to do this on your Mac is to go to iTunes, currently, and then you go to Account, View My Account. Then you login and then look for Apple ID Account and click on Add Funds to Apple ID. So every few months or a year you can add something to your Apple ID account. That could cover your iCloud services, maybe a few movie rentals or app purchases, and it will appear as one charge on your card and then it's just taken out of that account on a regular basis. As a matter of fact if you pay attention sometimes Apple has little sales where they will boost the amount that you buy by 10% or something so you can save a little money this way as well.