So I just bought an iphone (thanks Scant) and already have a MBP. I was looking at the icloud last night and see they store your music and photos for free, whereas I currently pay to use flickr.

Will icloud allow me to store high res images or is it more akin to facebook in that it will reduce the file size? Do you think apple will eventually stop offering the free photo/music service after they have your custom?
Is it as user friendly as other Apple software?
Can you only upload music you have bought from itunes?

thanks

I use it to sync my calendar and address book.

I use it for the odd image and file but not many. It stores them in the exact format they appear on your device or at least appears to.

For iTunes if you want to store tunes even ones not purchased from iTunes you can use iTunes match but it’s about £24pa.

I just use it for backups (which must back up settings and profiles etc rather than all content) and to sync contacts, bookmarks, notes, calendar and photostream between iPad and iPhone. You get 5GB free storage which is probably OK for photos but not music. (I’m using less than 0.5GB for that lot)

I’ve stuck with Flickr for sharing pics.

I don’t use it. Don’t see the point.
Doesn’t do what I need it to (share things sensibly between multiple users).

I just use it for backups (which must back up settings and profiles etc rather than all content) and to sync contacts, bookmarks, notes, calendar and photostream between iPad and iPhone. You get 5GB free storage which is probably OK for photos but not music. (I’m using less than 0.5GB for that lot)

I’m sure I read you get 5Gb to do whatever with and that photos/music were unlimited upload for no fee.

You do, Graham is saying 5GB won’t store much music.

I signed up to box when iCloud was realised as they were doing a promotion of 50GB for free.

Graham is saying 5GB won’t store much music.

Nah, not too arsed about the music.
But for me it doesn’t handle multiple users properly.

i.e. missus and I have separate iTunes accounts. It’d be nice to have some of our contacts synced through the iCloud and maybe have some shared notes and todo lists.

iCloud seems to be purely built around one user who wants everything synced across all devices.

DOH! I mean Stu not you.

iCloud Apple seems to be purely built around one user who wants everything synced across all devices

FTFY

i think i do, to back up contacts from my phone. but i’m not totally sure i’ve done it right…

At the moment iCloud will not store photo’s for sharing.

The main uses have been covered above
1, Backing up your device
2, Syncing contacts through all your devices
3, Calendars, which can be shared with other users like your missus, even if they have a different apple id
4, Documents storage but tbh isn’t that great compared to dropbox
5, Also find my phone/device if lost

This is the initial uses for iCloud but expect it change over the next coming months, next OS update Mountain Lion should also see some changes to iCloud

FTFY

Well yes and no.

iTunes copes with multiple users. Different users can sync different things and one user can freely load the apps and music purchased by the other user.

Calendars, which can be shared with other users like your missus, even if they have a different apple id

We do that by syncing to our Google Calendars – no need for iCloud and it means they are accessible from any browser too.

Also find my phone/device if lost

Yeah that is useful, but not strictly speaking an iCloud thing.

GrahamS – Member

i.e. missus and I have separate iTunes accounts. It’d be nice to have some of our contacts synced through the iCloud and maybe have some shared notes and todo lists.

Shared notes is coming, and you can already share to do lits with other users…. I have a family (todo) reminders list which pushes to both our phones.

Contacts you should be able to sync between phones by adding both your icloud accounts to your phones but only selecting contacts… not tried it but it should definitely work.

With regard to music I have signed up to the Match service which means anyone who logs into my account can download from my library, very easily.

Also find my phone/device if lost

Yeah that is useful, but not strictly speaking an iCloud thing.

Yeah very useful if you have lost your device, but you can use anyone’s PC/Mac to find your phone over the internet

Contacts you should be able to sync between phones by adding both your icloud accounts to your phones but only selecting contacts… not tried it but it should definitely work.

But I already get that functionality when they sync to iTunes at home over the wifi. And I could also get it by syncing to Google Contacts. So what would iCloud gain me?

Point is, I don’t really want ALL her contacts, I don’t need the numbers of all her work colleagues etc. Ideally we should be able to place contacts into groups and sync the ones we want (family, mutual friends etc).

I still can’t see a big advantage in iCloud unless you are someone who has an iPhone, an iPad, an iPod Touch and want easier sync’ing. Everything I’ve read about it suggests it is not a clooud storage solution. Take the Photo Stream for example. It only keeps the last 30 days of pics and/or 1000 photos. If you add 1001 photos the first photo gets removed. You still, therefore, need another archive solution for photos.

As for sync’ing, again I’ve always been a bit sceptical of that too. I have a gmail account (personal) and a work email account. All the data is stored at Google or work’s exchange servers so all my devices are doing is acting as a client to read that data. No sync’ing required.

I’ve not looked much into the iTunes side since again I’ve never discovered any problems sync’ing my Mac to the iPhone or the wife’s iPad.

My biggest problem coming from MobileMe is that you don;t really have online storage…no iDisk anymore (well Ive got it till the end of june)

GrahamS – Member
But I already get that functionality when they sync to iTunes at home over the wifi. And I could also get it by syncing to Google Contacts. So what would iCloud gain me?

Point is, I don’t really want ALL her contacts, I don’t need the numbers of all her work colleagues etc. Ideally we should be able to place contacts into groups and sync the ones we want (family, mutual friends etc).

Yes you’re right you already have that function with iTunes at home over wifi but…. sometimes when I’m walking the dog or out and about and i want to download an album from my library i can do it there and then as long as the 3G signal is pretty good, even easier if you are in the office or have a good wifi signal. If you have limited space on your phone it’s a good option meaning you can delete music or add it without switching your pc/mac on.

If you don’t want all her contacts then the only then no way of syncing is to set up a additional separate shared icloud account for private contacts only which can sit on both your phones, you can edit it on the internet.

yoshimi – Member

My biggest problem coming from MobileMe is that you don;t really have online storage…no iDisk anymore (well Ive got it till the end of june)

It’s coming, until then I’m using Dropbox

What’s interesting with technology these days is that often it doesn’t seem to be bringing anything new or revolutionary to the table. There are countless threads on the internet along the lines of “do I need?” or “what advantages will this bring me?”. People are trying to find a reason to adopt new tech and in some cases there aren’t any reasons.

iCloud seems to be the perfect example of something that is well marketed and has people talking, yet appears to offer very little of actual value and in some cases is a step backward.

It’s coming, until then I’m using Dropbox

I hope so, MobileMe was far better, iDisk and Gallery were great features

stilltortoise – Member
iCloud seems to be the perfect example of something that is well marketed and has people talking, yet appears to offer very little of actual value and in some cases is a step backward.

You make a good point…..

iCloud mail has no real advantage over gmail, contacts only advantage is being able to edit from mac or over internet, and again calendars is similar to google calendars.

Apple want there own set-up though and no doubt it will improve and add more features over the next years, without doubt though it is best suited to people with a MAC/iPad/iPhone/iPod

If you only have a iPhone it’s no great advantage

I’m not sure it’s a step backwards, it does what I expected it do. It syncs all my contacts, dates, lists and a few other things. I didn’t expect it to be file sharing service just a small back up area for a limited amount of files.

It’s very handy dropping diary dates onto one device and they appear on the other without having to do anything.

Agree with Stilltortoise a bit … Dropbox and it’s ilk are pretty useful tbh

backing up …? ok then.

to do lists etc ? – I have a phone, I talk to my missus 😉

G.

It’s very handy dropping diary dates onto one device and they appear on the other without having to do anything.

Yep shared calendars are incredibly useful – but ours do that syncing without the need for iCloud.

iCloud mail has no real advantage over….

Yeah, like MobileMe before it I’ve decided that it is largely for people who either don’t know about other services or don’t know how to set them up.

Nowt wrong with that mind. Just not for me.

Yep shared calendars are incredibly useful – but ours do that syncing without the need for iCloud.

Yeah I don’t need any other as I use iCloud. 😀

It syncs all my contacts, dates, lists

One of the relatively little known “features” of Mail on the iPhone is that you can sync contacts from gmail. If you follow the mail setup for Gmail you don’t get the option to sync contacts. HOwever if you set up Gmail as an exchange account instead you can then sync contacts. I have both work and personal contacts on my iPhone and it all syncs back to my work Exchange account and my Gmail account without fuss. Ditto for calendars. No need for iCloud for contacts and calendars, if you use Gmail at least.

Only problem I had with Syncing contacts through my gmail via microsoft exchange is that if you add a contact to your phone it doesn’t add it to your google contacts….. iCloud does though.

it doesn’t add it to your google contacts

Yes it does. Just to be sure I’m not going mad I have just tried it.