Videos by Category: iCloud

If you are using a third-party email address as your Apple ID, you may need to change it if you are losing that email address or plan to move on to another email service. Apple has a page that spells out the steps needed to change which email address is used as your Apple ID.

You can see which web pages you have open on all of your devices using iCloud Tabs. This makes it easy to start reading a page or searching the web on one device, and then continue on another. iCloud Tabs works between your Macs, iPhone and iPad, as long as you are using the same Apple ID for all of them.

When you use iCloud Drive, your files are stored on your Mac, Apple's iCloud Drive server, and also any other Macs using iCloud Drive with your Apple ID. When you save or modify a new file, it is automatically mirrored on the server and your other Macs. If you wish to save storage space on a Mac, you can turn on the Optimize Mac Storage option to have some files automatically offloaded from that Mac, even though they will still be represented by an icon and can be reloaded by simply attempting to access the file.

A new feature in High Sierra is the ability to share single files with other people. You can choose to share with specific people, or anyone with the link. You can choose to allow others to just view, or also edit the file. This could be a good way to collaborate, or just to distribute a file to many people.

If you are using iCloud Drive Documents & Desktop, then all of the files you put in those folders are uploaded to iCloud. If you have projects that you would like to only be stored locally, you can create your own folders in your Home folder for these projects. It is a good idea to create one Local Documents folder and arrange those files in there. This can come in handy for those that use large files where uploading to iCloud for those files is an issue.

If you delete files from an iCloud Drive folder you can usually recover them from the Trash on your Mac. But even after you have emptied the Trash, you can still recover files by using a function on the iCloud.com website.

Usually you cannot use iCloud.com on an iPad or iPhone because you are automatically redirected to a screen that asks you to set up iCloud on the device. But by using the Request Desktop Site button, you can access your iCloud.com account on someone else's iPad or iPhone, or access iCloud.com settings on your own iOS device.

With macOS Sierra you can easily put your Documents and Desktop folders in iCloud Drive. This makes these folders available to all of your Macs and iOS devices. It syncs them effortlessly, so you essentially have the same Desktop and Documents folders on all of your Macs.

Deleting a file from iCloud Drive means that it is deleted across all of your devices. A copy will remain in the trash of the Mac you are using. But even if you empty the trash there is a way to recover the files using iCloud.com.

A new app in iOS 9 called iCloud Drive gives you the ability to access all of the files in your iCloud Drive. Even files for apps such as Preview which has no equivalent in iOS can be accessed. The iCloud Drive app acts as a simple viewer for images and PDFs, and can show previews of other document types. You can then share those documents with other apps on your iPhone or iPad.

The new Photos app for Mac allows you to store all of your photos on Apple's servers as part of their iCloud service. This makes your entire Photos library available on all of your Apple devices including Macs, iPads and iPhones. You can add, edit or delete photos on any device and see the changes on all of them. You can choose to store original photo files on a device, or have the device only use optimized versions of the photos. You can also view your Photo Library on iCloud.com.

With iCloud, you can create shared family calendars that appear on your Mac and iOS devices. You can add anyone with an iCloud account to the calendar and they can view, edit and add events. This makes it easy for a family to stay organized. You get notifications when someone changes the calendar. You can create many of these calendars for different subjects or different groups of people to share. If someone does not have a Mac or iOS device, it may be easier to use a Google calendar instead, which can still be accessed in the same Calendar apps on Apple devices.

Learn about the basic features of iCloud and what the service provides. This video is a good starting point for those asking the question 'What Is iCloud.' It will tell you briefly about services like iCloud Drive, Contacts, Calendars, Note, Reminders, Mail and other features of Apple's iCloud service.

By using iCloud.com you can access your iCloud Drive files from any computer. Some files, like Pages, Numbers and Keynote can even be edited and updated right in the web browser with web-based versions of those apps. Other apps allow you to store finished versions of projects, such as iMovie videos, and access them from iCloud.com. Using the iCloud.com interface, you can rename or delete files from your iCloud Drive folders.

Files saved to iCloud Drive interact with Time Machine differently than files saved on other parts of your hard drive. In case of catastrophe, you don't need Time Machine to save your files, as they would be waiting for you on the iCloud Drive servers. Time Machine doesn't save older versions of files for most apps, but modern apps will save versions of files that you can revert to. In case you delete a file by accident, Mac users can quickly and easily recover them from the Trash. Some iCloud Drive files can also be recovered using Time Machine.

With OS X Yosemite you can use iCloud Drive as a place to store your files. iCloud Drive syncs between Macs and the files can also be accessed by the appropriate apps in iOS 8 on the iPhone and iPad. You can also create your own folders in iCloud Drive on Yosemite and access files on iOS 8 from outside of the normal app folder for that type of document. iCloud Drive can also be used to store other types of files, even if the app does not support iCloud Drive. On iOS 8, you can import media from iCloud Drive and export files to it as well.

While you can't create rules in the Mail app for iOS, you can set rules at the server level if you are using iCloud email. These rules will be applied before the email arrives on your iPhone or iPad. This is also useful if you are using multiple computers and want the rules to apply to all of them and your devices.

Apple IDs can now be made more secure by using the two-step verification process. This involves changing your Apple ID account and added secure devices, like your phone, to the process. In order to make changes to your account, like a new password, you would then need to verify your identity by using your device in conjunction with your password. This makes it much harder for someone to gain access to your account.

Often people think about syncing data between devices in the wrong way. iCloud allows you not so much to sync data, as to access a common source of data. Viewing your contacts on your Mac or iPhone is similar to viewing a web page in that the data is on a server, and the app you are using is just accessing it.

A few simple techniques can help you secure your iCloud account and prevent someone else from gaining access to it. Use secure passwords, set up better security questions and answers, make sure your linked accounts are also secure, and be sure to back up your Mac!

Learn how you can store Mac Pages, Numbers and Keynote documents in your iCloud account with OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. These documents can also be accessed on your iOS devices. Find out how to create iCloud folders, rename, delete and move iCloud documents.

iCloud services are tied into apps like Mail, iCal and Address Book. But you can also access your data through the iCloud.com web site. This allows you to get your email and access your events and contacts even when you are using a computer that doesn't have iCloud. The web-based apps are very sophisticated, offering almost the same functionality as the full apps, and often more functionality than the iOS apps. You can also use iCloud.com to transfer documents between your Mac and iOS devices, even in Lion.

The Journals feature of iPhoto for iOS allows you to publish galleries of photos to your iCloud account. You can play with the journals to turn them into scrapbooks of photos, text, and other elements. The journals appear on the Web and you can share them with your friends.

iCloud makes it easy to share calendars with others. You can create a public calendar that is read-only to others and anyone can subscribe to it. You can also create shared calendars that can be viewed and/or updated by a list of others you invite.

Reminders are calendar events that can be used as to-do items or alerts. They sync between your Macs and iOS devices. They can also be set as location-based alerts on the iPhone. You can use Siri to create new reminders on the iPhone 4S.

See how you can use iCloud to view the same contacts, calendars and bookmarks across you Macs and iOS devices. You can also work on Pages, Numbers and Keynote documents across iOS devices and access them on your Mac as well.