5 Things You Might Not Be Aware of When You Sign Up for iCloud
Or perhaps it’s just me.
What do you think iCloud does for you?
I personally thought it was similar to Google drive, except that it automatically uploads your files from your local Apple devices to the cloud.
I had to learn the hard way what iCloud isn’t. So here are some misconceptions about iCloud that I’ve learnt during my experience.
Misconception #1: It is a backup storage.
Even though Apple promotes it as a backup storage, it’s first and foremost a syncing technology. It syncs all your information throughout all the devices if you turn on iCloud. That includes photos and documents.
To me, a backup storage is something I can keep all my stuff in without having to worry about it being deleted accidentally.
It doesn’t work like that with iCloud. If you have the “Documents and Desktop” option on, you’ll no longer find these folders on your local MacBook drive but on the iCloud drive. So if you’re not aware and delete anything from there, it will be gone forever. Unless you’ve had your computer backed up with Time Machine as well.
If you ask me, I wouldn’t really consider iCloud a backup system at all. A backup system would allow you to delete stuff on your local devices without affecting the backup. I would consider it more of a syncing device for convenience's sake. Hence, iCloud doesn’t work for me.
Misconception #2: iCloud Drive doesn’t take up space on your computer.
I was shocked when I saw that iCloud Drive took up more than 100GB on my computer. I thought it was supposed to live in the cloud.
Yes, but no.
It lives in the cloud but because we need to access the files too, it’ll also be on our computers. It’s meant to be convenient so that you don’t need to have iCloud opened on your browser.
Big files or files that we don’t use a lot will be compressed into smaller files. You’ll notice a download icon next to it. It means if you need to open or use the file, the original file will download from the cloud. It’s similar to enabling the “offload unused apps” on your iPhone. In my opinion, this is almost the same as accessing your files from an external hard drive, except everything’s online.
Even though iCloud Drive did help relieve quite a bit of space on my computer, it also took up more space than expected. It felt a little redundant to me since I thought it would completely open up storage in my drive. Not take up extra space.
Misconception #3: I can delete my photos and files now that I have iCloud.
Many people probably don’t know this until it happens to them.
When iCloud is on, it syncs with your device. So whatever you delete from your phone or computer will also be deleted from the cloud (Perhaps it’s common sense to some people but for those who aren’t tech-savvy, we’ll need to make mistakes to learn.).
If you don’t want that to happen, you have to turn iCloud off before you delete any photos or documents. It’s easy to do that with your phone and with photos. Just toggle iCloud photos off and you can delete the photos from your phone.
But with iCloud Drive on your computer, it’s a to-do-or-not-to-do situation. If you turn the option off, the files will be deleted from your desktop but will still live on the cloud. If you want them back on your desktop, you’ll need to download them from the iCloud browser.
The alternative is to manually move the folders from the iCloud Drive to your local drive. That means your files will no longer be on the cloud.
Misconception #4: I can easily download what I need from iCloud.
True, unless you’re only downloading individual files.
iCloud doesn’t allow you to download folders. You’ll have to go into each folder and download each file.
This is very time-consuming and utterly inconvenient in my opinion. It’s ironic. For a major company to promote itself as customizable for personal use, there are a lot of restrictions as well. And this, to me, just doesn’t make sense.
Misconception #5: Only new photos will be backed up on iCloud photos.
Yes, it’s true. But there’s more.
I didn’t realize that photos from more than five years ago will be downloaded onto my phone as well.
Even though it doesn’t take up extra space since the photos are in the cloud, I don’t like having 14,000++ photos and videos on my phone. It’s too many to scroll and search through, especially when you don’t really look at the older ones. Again, this happens because iCloud functions as a sync device. I thought this was unnecessary.
But you do you. Some people enjoy having all their photos across the years on their smartphones. I just want the new photos to be in the cloud, not the old ones downloaded to my phone.
What will I use iCloud for in a parallel dimension?
If I work in the office with a stationed computer, it’s definitely convenient to use iCloud. I wouldn’t have to bring my laptop or copy files I need to work on to a flash drive. I can easily access the files I need from the cloud server at home.
Alas, this isn’t my life. Backup is more important to me than syncing.
I hope these information will be useful for people who are as clueless as me about iCloud. I wouldn’t want you to go through the heart attacks and frenzy I encountered in the process.
I’m not saying iCloud is terrible. It’s just not for me. It doesn’t serve my purpose. I know many people who are satisfied with its service. But every individual has their own objectives of using a product. It depends on what you need from their service.
Does iCloud check your boxes? I hope this article will help you make an informed decision!
Here are some links I read after going through my issues with iCloud. I hope they’re useful to you too:
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