iCloud Demystified

George R. Wilde
25 January 2017
 Numerous Companies Offer
Cloud Services
• Apple iCloud

• Dropbox

• Google Drive

• Microsoft OneDrive

• Amazon Cloud Drive

• box

• and many, many more

 Where is iCloud?

Prineville

Reno

Maiden
 What is iCloud?
• iCloud provides data storage and computing in
iCloud Server Farms (collections of thousands of
computers) located in Data Centers across the
US and around the world

• iCloud stores your data in the cloud (the iCloud

Data Centers) and distributes the desired data
to all of your devices
 iCloud Connects Your Devices
Through iCloud Servers

iPad
Maiden North Carolina Data Center

iMac

iPhone
MacBook

Apple TV
Windows Computer
Web Browser
 iCloud Pros & Cons
Pros
• Provides backup of your critical data

• Automatically distributes copies to all of your devices

• Accessible from almost anywhere

Cons
• Requires internet connection

• Costs for more than minimal storage

• Privacy concerns
 iCloud Has Many Parts
and that is why it is so confusing

iCloud Drive Family Sharing

Backup iCloud Photo Library
Mail My Photo Stream
Contacts iCloud Photo Sharing
Calendar Apple Music
Reminders iTunes everywhere
Notes iTunes Match
Find My iPhone, iPad or Mac iOS App Store
Find My Friends Mac App Store
Safari and iCloud Keychain iBook Store
iCloud.com iTunes Store
Let’s Break It Down
 iCloud Drive
• Share Apple and Third-party App Data among
your iOS, Mac, and Windows Computers

• Available through Dedicated Apps and Web

Browser (iCloud.com)

• Local copies available on your devices

• Requires internet connection to share

Setting Up iCloud Drive on a Mac

System Preferences

System Preferences - iCloud System Preferences - iCloud - Options

 Where is iCloud Drive on a Mac

iCloud is Contained in Mobile Documents

Folder of Your User Library

• Apps store data in this folder to automatically copy to

iCloud and share with your other devices
• All iCloud data from all of your devices is stored on
your Mac unless you select to Optimize Mac Storage
Using iCloud Drive on a Mac

Save to iCloud Drive in Pages App

Setting Up iCloud Drive on iOS

Home Settings Settings - iCloud

Allow iOS Apps to Use iCloud Drive

Settings - iCloud - iCloud Drive

 Using iCloud Drive on iOS

iCloud Drive App Keynote App

Open Keynote Presentation from iCloud

Note that documents are only downloaded from iCloud when using them
 Setting Up iCloud Drive on Windows PC

Download and Install iCloud for Windows

With iCloud for Windows, you’ll have your photos, videos, mail, calendar, and important
files available on your Windows Computer
 Using iCloud.com

Use Pages, Numbers, Keynote, etc in a Web Browser

Access iCloud Drive in Safari

Access Files with iCloud Drive

 iCloud Shared Services
• Mail - iCloud Mail Only

• Contacts

• Calendars

• Reminders

• Safari - Bookmarks & Pages with Handoff between Devices

• Home - HomeKit Automation on iOS Devices

• Notes

• News - on iOS Devices

• Wallet - Apple Pay, credit cards, boarding passes, rewards cards

• Keychain - account names, passwords, and credit card numbers

• Backup - iOS Devices

• Find My iPhone (iPad or Mac)

• Back to My Mac - on Macs

Settings - Mail - Accounts - iCloud

 Backup iOS Devices to iCloud

On Mac
Mac iTunes App - iOS Devices

• Automatically backs up iOS

Devices to iCloud Daily
• Does not include iOS Apps
already in App Store On iOS
Settings - iCloud - Backup
What is Included in iCloud Backups
• Includes nearly all data and settings stored on your iOS device

• Does NOT include:

- Data already stored in iCloud, including Contacts, Calendars,

Notes, My Photo Stream, and iCloud Photo Library

- Data from other cloud services like google

- Apple Pay information and settings

- Touch ID Settings

- iCloud Music Library and App Store content - can be re-

downloaded if still available
 Manage iCloud Storage on Mac

System Preferences - iCloud System Preferences - iCloud - Manage Storage

• iCloud Usage Shown in Colored Bars

• Delete Unwanted iCloud Files from Manage
Storage Window
Manage iCloud Storage on iOS Devices

Settings - iCloud Settings - iCloud - Manage Storage

• Delete Unwanted iCloud Files from Manage

Storage Pane
 iCloud Family Sharing
• Family Sharing makes it easy for up to six people in your family to
share each other’s iTunes, iBooks, and App Store purchases without
sharing accounts.

• Pay for family purchases with the same credit card and approve
kids’ spending right from a parent’s device.

• Share photos, a family calendar, and more to help keep everyone

connected.

• With an Apple Music family membership, up to six people can get

full access to Apple Music, too.
 iTunes Everywhere
• Music, movies, apps, and books purchased from Apple
are stored in iCloud and automatically appear on all of
your devices

• Can be downloaded to any device for later listening or

viewing without internet connection

• iCloud remembers where you stopped listening or

viewing, allowing you to continue on other devices from
the point you stopped

• Music includes songs purchased through the iTunes Store

as well as your iTunes Match and Apple Music songs
 iTunes Match
• iTunes Match stores all of your music in iCloud, even
songs you’ve imported from other sources such as CDs

• Matches your songs with those already in the iTunes

Music Library and uploads your unmatched songs to
iCloud, so that your entire music collection is available in
your iCloud Music Library

• You can play or download your DRM-free music to up to

10 of your devices

• Cost is $24.99 per year (annual subscription) and does

NOT count against your iCloud storage space
 Apple Music
• Apple Music gives you access to the entire Apple Music
Collection as long as your subscription is active - you can
both stream and download music for no additional cost

• Most, but not all, songs and artists in the iTunes Music
Store are included in the Apple Music Collection

• Downloaded music has DRM protection and cannot be

played once the subscription becomes inactive

• Apple Music costs $9.99 per month ($14.99 per month for
families), and is available as a 12-month subscription with
a $99 Apple Music Gift Card
 Setting Up iCloud Music
On Mac On iOS Device

iTunes Preferences
Settings - Music
What Music is Where on Mac?
My Songs Matched to iTunes Store

My Songs Purchased in iTunes Store

My Unmatched Songs Uploaded to iTunes

Store

My Apple Music Songs in iCloud

My Apple Music Songs Downloaded to My Mac

Look in iTunes
Under Music - Songs - Show View Options
What Music is Where on iOS?
In iCloud
Being Downloaded

On iPhone

iOS Music App

Can Stream or Download to iOS Device
 Photos in iCloud
• iCloud Photo Library stores your entire library of
photos and videos in iCloud - counts against your
iCloud storage space

• iCloud Photo Sharing shares albums of photos and

videos with people you choose - It does NOT count
against your iCloud storage space, but has limits on
numbers of albums, photos, videos, and invitees

• My Photo Stream uploads just your most recent

photos and keeps them for only 30 days - It does NOT
count against your iCloud storage space
 Setting Up Photos in iCloud
On Mac On iOS Device

System Preferences - iCloud - Photos Options

Settings - Photos & Camera

iCloud Photo Library Caution
• iCloud Photo Library is a major consumer of iCloud storage space

• It is an “all or nothing service” in that you can’t choose which

photos are stored on your individual devices - all of your Photos
Library photos are (although you can “optimize” the photos stored
on your devices)

• Deleting a photo from any device deletes it from iCloud and from
all of your devices - you do have 30 days to retrieve from a
Recently Deleted folder

• You can hide photos you don’t want to display - but they still
consume iCloud and device storage space

• It is good practice to retain a backup of your Photos Library

outside of iCloud in case of lost photos
 iCloud Storage Plans
5GB 50GB 200GB 1TB 2TB
Free $0.99/month $2.99/month $9.99/month $19.99/month

But how much iCloud Storage will you need?

• 5 GB (the free plan) will probably suffice for backing
up one or two iOS Devices (say an iPhone and iPad)
plus a few documents
• Adding a number of photos and videos will increase
iCloud usage rapidly if you use iCloud Photo Library
What is Excluded from iCloud Storage
Space Charges

• Purchased music, Apps, TV shows, movies, and

books don’t count against available space

• iTunes Match and Apple Music don’t count

against available space because they are paid
for separately

• My Photo Stream and iCloud Photo Sharing don’t

count against available space
 iCloud Considerations
• Most iCloud services allow you to choose which items
are downloaded from iCloud onto your Mac or iOS
Devices

- Mail allows for local storage or storage on server

- Music, Apps, and iBooks allow you to select what is

stored on each of your devices - you can delete from
one device without affecting iCloud or other devices

- iCloud Photo Library should be treated with caution

because it doesn’t allow you to choose which photos
are stored on each device
 iCloud Privacy Considerations
• iCloud encrypts information when both sent over the internet and
stored on Apple’s servers, and uses secure tokens for authentication

• iCloud uses the same level of encryption as employed by major

financial institutions

• This means that Calendars, Contacts, Bookmarks, Notes, Reminders,

Photos, iCloud Drive, Backup, Find My iPhone, Find My Friends, and
iCloud Keychain are all encrypted while in transit and while stored on
Apple’s servers

• iCloud Mail stored on Apple’s IMAP mail servers is NOT encrypted

consistent with standard industry practice

• All encryption keys are held by Apple except for iMessages and
Notes which use your encryption keys
 iCloud Security
• iCloud is in general very secure

• However, all of Apple’s security measures are

meaningless unless you use a very strong password to
protect your iCloud account - your password is
potentially the weak link

• Consider switching on Apple’s two-factor

authentication for significantly increased security

• Apple’s two-factor authentication is an improvement on

Apple’s previous somewhat complicated two-step
verification
iCloud Two-Factor Authentication
• With two-factor authentication, when a new device is attempting to log
into your iCloud account both your password and a six-digit
verification code must be entered on this new device to allow access

• The location of this new device and the ability to allow or disallow
access is indicated on your trusted devices

• The six-digit verification code is displayed only on your trusted

devices
Questions?