Apple users love iCloud because of its convenience, ease of access, and the great improvement from its previous cloud system that went by the name of MobileMe, and before that, .Mac. iCloud seems great because it is effortless, automatic, seamless, and most importantly, free. However, there are a few things that aren’t common knowledge about their cloud service. Let’s have a deeper look at the functions of Apple’s iCloud.

It is Not Like Dropbox

Many of us have already grown to love cloud storage services like Dropbox and SugarSync. What’s great about these services is that they allow ample storage space and their ability of syncing files between different devices is extremely smooth. You drop a file in one folder and then you can easily share it with other people or access it from other devices. Apple has components like Drive and Photo Stream but you can’t create a Dropbox-like folder with iCloud. While photos are synced across the user’s Apple devices, and accessed by their Apple ID, the ability to invite others is lacking.

Updates are Not Automatic

While the terminology ‘Automatic Updates’ is used with iCloud, manual intervention is required to actually perform the update. Once you have opened the App Store to see what’s new, you can initiate the update.

Photo Stream Images Can’t Be Deleted

The photo stream component, that stores up to a 1000 images a month for free, allows us to import photos to any other Apple device with ease. However, what if there are certain images that you don’t want to keep, but they have been already uploaded to the Photo Stream? There is no way of deleting them until you get the next 1000 shots. There is no way to delete individual images; though you can delete all of them at once.

iCloud Backup Problems

iCloud backup makes us breathe out a sigh of relief because it assured us that all our data is completely secure. We think that as soon as we shift to a new device, we will enter our credentials and all our old data will magically reappear. This is not entirely true because you will need a stable internet connection in order to sync all of your iCloud and iTunes data. This is a nuisance for people who use different Apple products. It would be more efficient to include backups of everything by expanding the iCloud.

No Syncing Contacts with Google

There is no automatic sync between Google and iCloud contacts, which is why users are now required to maintain two separate contact lists, invariably leading to duplicate contacts.

Userts Limited to 5 GB of Space

Often, we find that people require more space than just 5 GB. Many users complain that the apps take up most of the allowed space and things are exponentially more difficult when there are families who own several iPods, iPhones, and iPads.

Syncing and Collaboration Struggle

Documents in the icloud drive do not collaborate well with iWork for Mac. If you are working on a document on your iPhone, syncing that document to the Mac version can be frustrating as it takes a very long time.

Now that you have a better understanding of the pros and cons of Apple iCloud, we encourage you to explore the best solution for your individual needs. Contact us if you have any questions or concerns about your cloud service.