Apple’s iCloud service debuted in 2011, replacing the company’s troubled MobileMe service, which, in turn, replaced the .Mac service. For all its domination in the smartphone market, and innovative designs everywhere else, Apple’s had a hard time cracking online services.
iCloud looked to be one of those things, for a while. Just another Apple service that would fade into obscurity because nobody used it. Except, it’s changed to have a few excellent features added. On top of that, every person who uses an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, will be prompted to create an iCloud account – for free, compared to previous offerings which Apple charged for. Those devices work best when using iCloud – and there’s some cross-platform goodness, too. Sign in to iCloud with your Mac or PC, and a few more useful things become available.
Instead of being useless and dying off, iCloud is now an internet service that’s slowly becoming an important part of owning an Apple device. Want proof? Here are nine reasons to start embracing it.
1) Singing in the rain(clouds)
Loves ya’ self some music? Of course you do. Apple also wants you to have all your music, all the time. So it has iTunes on iCloud. This service is built into the Music app on iOS devices, as well as iTunes on Mac and PC. How does it work? Well, any music that you’ve bought on iTunes is now available for download through iCloud. Rather than you syncing your entire music library to your iPhone, you can simply grab the songs you want as you go, by clicking on the iCloud icon in the music app.
Works on: Mac, PC, iOS
2) Browse in the sky
Picture this: you’re at your computer reading a story on the internet, but then you have to leave home or the office before you finish up. Difficult solution: email yourself a link to the article. Easy solution: iCloud Tabs. It only works between Apple’s own Safari browser on Mac OS X and iOS, but it works beautifully.
Leave the tab open on your Mac. Pick up your phone and fire up Safari. Tap on the Tabs icon, and scroll to the bottom until you hit the section for iCloud tabs. This will show all tabs that are open on your computer.
Better still, iCloud also syncs your Reading List in Safari. These are stories you save for reading later, and iOS will download the entire story to your phone so you can read it while offline.
Works on: Mac, iOS
3) iMessage me
Apple’s messaging service has really taken off since its introduction, offering a sort of baked-in Whatsapp for iOS and Mac OS X users. iCloud syncs your messages across devices, too, so anything you’ve received on your phone will show up on your Mac as well. This includes both text, and photo messages – so you can even save those received photos for safekeeping.
Works on: Mac, iOS
4) That syncing feeling
There’s nothing like an invisible feature that you only realise you cannot live without once it’s gone. iCloud sync is just that: it saves all of your browser bookmarks, contacts, and calendar entries online. And then all that saved data becomes available to any other device when you log in with your iCloud account. No more of this backing up contacts before swapping to a new phone, like back in the old days. Simply enter your details, and all those details are transferred.
Works on: Mac, PC, iOS
5) Back it up a little
Let’s take that sync idea a little further. What if you could back up other bits of data? Like, say, the settings and data for Instagram or Facebook?
iCloud backup does this by removing your PC or Mac from the equation. While it’s still possible to plug your iPhone into your computer to back it up manually, you can simply let it back up to iCloud, over a wireless connection. When you get a new phone, simply enter your iCloud credentials and it’ll get restored to just the way you like it, including your wallpapers, ringtones, and per-app settings.
Works on: iOS
6) Mega mail
Apple’s been offering its users online mail since .Mac and MobileMe, but iCloud mail is the first time that all users get to use it without having to pay for it. The online mail application (available at iCloud.com) looks fairly simple, however it has a number of useful features – and integration with the address book, too. There’s also an option to create up to three addresses for your iCloud account – useful for having throw-away mail accounts to trap spammers.
Works on: Mac, PC, iOS
7) Photo freedom
Why email photos around when you can just share them with friends through an album? That’s the logic behind iCloud’s shared albums, though these only work on Apple devices, and not across other platforms. Select photos you want to share, create a shared album, and select people you’d like to share them with. As long as they have an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, they can view them.
Alternatively, you could just have your entire photo stream back up to iCloud. Every photo you take on your iOS device will be saved on iCloud for up to 30 days (if enabled) and you can grab them on your PC whenever is convenient. Beats having to plug it in and sync files.
Works on: Mac, PC, iOS
8) Find your iSelf
One of the most valuable features of iCloud is using it to locate your lost or stolen devices. There are numerous feel-good stories with happy endings, where users have used Find my iPhone – an iCloud service – to track the location of their iPad or iPhone, and have it recovered. It also works for your Mac computer (more practically, if you have a laptop).
Works on: Mac, PC, iOS
9) Documents on the go
New to iCloud, and still in a beta phase, is the iWork suite. This is Apple’s answer to Google Docs: a word processor (Pages), spreadsheet application (numbers), and presentation builder (Keynote), that can run in your Mac or PC browser. All you need is an iCloud account to log into the iCloud website, and the apps will be available there, free of charge.
Works on: Mac, PC, iOS
