iCloud

When Apple introduced its paid-for iCloud+ service with iOS 15, it included a new security feature called iCloud Private Relay, which is designed to encrypt all of the traffic leaving your device so no one can intercept it or read it. Private Relay sends web traffic to a server that is maintained by Apple in order to strip the IP address. Once IP info has been removed, Apple sends the...

With the release of iOS 16.3 and macOS 13.2, Apple is introducing Advanced Protection for iCloud, which uses end-to-end encryption to provide Apple's highest level of cloud data security yet. Here's everything you need to know about enabling it on your devices. The new security feature ensures users will have the choice to further protect their important iCloud data, including iCloud Backup, ...

Every Apple device user is given 5GB of free iCloud storage to let them store their data in secure remote servers, but Apple also offers iCloud+, a premium cloud subscription service that gives you more storage as well as additional features like Private Relay and Hide My Email. Apple offers iCloud+ with 50GB, 200GB, or 2TB of additional storage for $0.99, $2.99, or $9.99 per month. If...

With the release of iOS 15.4, Apple has added the ability for users with paid iCloud+ plans to create custom email domains directly on their iPhone. This article explains how it's done. When you subscribe to iCloud+ (prices start at $0.99) you can use custom domains to send and receive email with iCloud Mail. That means if you own a personal domain name, you can set up iCloud Mail to use it...

With iOS 15 and Hide My Email, you can create unique, random email addresses that forward to your personal inbox whenever you want to keep your personal email address private. This is especially useful if you think that a business or website is likely to share your email address with ad agencies or other third-parties for marketing purposes. Providing them with a dummy address means you can ...

With iOS 15 and the Hide My Email feature exclusive to iCloud+ subscribers, you can create unique, random email addresses that forward to your personal inbox whenever you want to keep your personal email address private. Hide My Email addresses are really useful if you think that a business or website is likely to share your email address with ad agencies or other third-parties for...

In iOS 15, paid iCloud+ plans feature Hide My Email, which lets you create unique, random email addresses that forward messages to your personal inbox whenever you want to keep your personal email address private. They're really useful if you think that a business or website is likely to share your email address with ad agencies or other third-parties for marketing purposes. Providing them...

With the introduction of iOS 15, Apple rebadged its paid iCloud plans to "iCloud+" to reflect the fact that subscribers now get access to additional privacy features like Private Relay and Hide My Email. This article explains what Hide My Email is and how to use it. Hide My Email builds on the idea of Sign in With Apple by providing you with unique, random email addresses that forward to...

As part of iOS 15, Apple introduced iCloud Private Relay, a feature of all iCloud+ paid plans that's designed to encrypt all of the traffic leaving your device so no one can intercept it or read it. Private Relay works by sending web traffic to a server that is maintained by Apple to strip the IP address. Once the IP info has been removed, Apple sends the traffic to a second server...

Alongside iOS 15, Apple introduced an iCloud+ service that adds new features to its paid ‌iCloud‌ plans (upgraded ‌iCloud‌ storage tiers start at $0.99). One of these features is ‌iCloud‌ Private Relay, which is designed to encrypt all of the traffic leaving your device so no one can intercept it or read it. Private Relay sends web traffic to a server that is maintained by Apple...

Creating an iPhone or iPad backup should be routine for most users, as it's a simple procedure and the easiest way to recover your data if your device is replaced, lost, or stolen. There are two types of backup available to iOS users. iCloud backups are encrypted automatically and stored in the cloud, and you can create and use them anywhere with a Wi-Fi connection. By contrast, computer-base...

Apple enables iCloud account holders to use email aliases, which allow you to send and receive emails without disclosing your true email address. Using an email alias to log in to websites and online services can help protect your genuine email address by hiding it from spammers and other sources of unsoliticted messages. In addition, email aliases make it easy to filter messages, because...

As of iOS 13.4, Apple lets you share folders that you've synced to iCloud with friends and colleagues who have an Apple ID. Whether you're sharing from an iPhone or iPad, you'll be able to give people one-way access to the file, or allow them to modify the document if you're collaborating on a piece of work. This step-by-step guide shows you how it works. The sharing options that you choose...

iCloud is Apple's cloud platform that serves and secures all Apple devices. It can save and synchronize all your photos, contacts, files, reminders, and notes, and you can also use it to store device backups. You can access and manage your iCloud data on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, and the web. Keep reading to learn how. iCloud stores your content securely and keeps your apps up to date...

Messages in iCloud, as the name suggests, stores your iMessages in Apple's cloud servers rather than on each of your individual devices, which has a number of benefits. When you receive a message on one device, it shows up on all devices logged into the same iCloud account. Likewise, when you delete messages and conversations they are instantly removed from all your devices. Another...

If you're an Apple Music subscriber, you can add and download songs, albums, playlists, and video content from the Apple Music catalog to your personal music library, and access all of them on any other Apple devices you own that have the Music app. With Apple's Sync Library feature enabled, the Apple Music content in your library will be synced across your devices as long as they are all...

Apple has little known iCloud tools that are designed to let you recover files that have been deleted from iCloud, as well as recover Contacts, Calendars, and Reminders that have been lost. Lost iCloud data isn't a situation that comes up often, but these tools were introduced following an iCloud Drive bug in 2015 that caused some users to lose documents stored in iCloud Drive, prompting the...

In iOS 12, Apple has added the ability to share pictures or video in your Photo Library using an iCloud.com link that lasts for 30 days. Not only is sharing a link quicker and less burdensome on your data allowance than sending several images or gigabytes of video, you can also share the same link as many times as you want within the expiry limit. For the new photo link option to appear,...

You can share files you've synced to iCloud with friends and colleagues who have an Apple ID using the step-by-step guide below. Whether you're sharing from a Mac or an iPhone, you'll be able to give people one-way access to the file, or allow them to modify the document if you're collaborating on a piece of work. The sharing options you choose automatically sync across your devices, so you...

Apple's native Mail application in macOS lacks a specific option for enabling out-of-office replies, but there is another way you can set them up on a Mac, and that's with Rules. It's worth bearing in mind at the outset that your Mac needs to be powered on for this out-of-office method to work. That's because Apple Mail rules are only applied locally to incoming emails, and aren't active on the...

If you've been maintaining and migrating the same Contacts list across Macs over the years then you've probably come across your fair share of duplicate contact cards. They can also appear seemingly out of nowhere after setting up iCloud Contacts on your Mac for the first time. Unless you intentionally keep certain information for the same contact separated out for whatever reason, duplicate...

iCloud Keychain is a feature of your Apple account that you can use to keep your website login credentials, personal details, credit card details, and wireless network information up to date and available across all your Apple devices. With so many usernames and passwords to remember these days, iCloud Keychain provides a convenient way of always having this information at hand. And with its...

Apple's Family Sharing feature allows you to share music, movies, apps, photos, and more with family members, and in iOS 11, Family Sharing extends to Apple's iCloud Storage plans. When you purchase a 200GB or 2TB iCloud Storage plan, all members of your family can share the storage space. Depending on how many family members you have, family plans offer more storage at a better price than...

iCloud Photo Library was introduced with iOS 8, but with the launch of the Photos for OS X app, it's now available on the Mac. In a nutshell, iCloud Photo Library is Apple's newest photo service that lets you sync all of your images across all your devices and to iCloud. iCloud Photo Library supports several photo and video formats, storing photos in their original format, and it makes all...

Apple is reportedly working with China-based server vendor Inspur to help transfer its iCloud data services in-house, according to sources out of the China supply chain (via DigiTimes). Currently Apple is thought to rely heavily on Amazon Web Services (AWS) to host many of its cloud server requirements, but the company’s data center plans suggest it is looking to scale back the money it...

Apple is working on building its own cloud infrastructure to reduce its dependence on services like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, according to information shared by Re/code and VentureBeat. A project called "McQueen" is underway at Apple, with a team of employees working to create an in-house cloud storage system.According to a source familiar with the matter,...

Apple has signed a deal with Google that will see the Google Cloud Platform providing some of the cloud infrastructure for iCloud and other cloud-based Apple services, reports CRN (via Business Insider). Apple reportedly established a $400 to $600 million deal with Google last last year and has, as a result, "significantly" cut down on its reliance on Amazon Web Services (AWS). According to...

Apple is working to further harden iCloud security so that even it won't be able to access user information stored on its data servers, The Wall Street Journal has reported. According to yesterday's report, which cites "people familiar with the matter", Apple executives are actively considering how to bolster iCloud encryption without inconveniencing users. Currently, encrypted data kept on ...

Apple's ongoing fight with the FBI over whether the company can be compelled to help the government unlock the iPhone 5c used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook has brought the full range of Apple's privacy policies into the spotlight. The details surrounding the case have made it clear that while Apple is unable to access information on iOS devices, the same is not true of iCloud backups....

Apple has updated its System Status page to reflect that many users may be unable to access, purchase, or update apps on the App Store on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Multiple other iCloud services are or were also experiencing downtime, including the iTunes Store, iBooks Store, iCloud Drive, and iWork for iCloud. The issues began shortly before 7:00 a.m. Pacific and appear to be widespread,...

Apple has updated its system status page to reflect widespread issues affecting multiple Apple products and services since approximately 7:30 PM Pacific, including the App Store, Apple TV, iBooks Store, iTunes Match, iTunes Store, Mac App Store and Radio. Many users are also unable to fully access or use the Apple website, Apple Online Store, Apple ID, Apple Music, FaceTime, iCloud,...

Apple has released iCloud for Windows 5 with support for iCloud Photo Library and two-factor authentication for Apple ID accounts. Windows users were previously limited to accessing iCloud Photo Library through the web interface. Apple recommends that iCloud for Windows users have Windows 7, 8 or 10 installed. For email, the software currently supports Outlook 2007 through Outlook 2013,...

Apple today added a web-based Find My Friends app to its iCloud.com site (via 9to5Mac), allowing users to locate their friends on a Mac or PC through the web. Find My Friends has long been available on iPhones and iPads through an iOS app, but this is the first time the feature has been made available on all platforms through a universal web app. Find My Friends will display the location of...

Apple is moving forward with plans to build a unified platform for cloud-based web services such as iCloud, iTunes and Siri over the next few years, according to The Information. The new platform is based on Siri, which itself is powered by open source infrastructure software called Mesos on the backend, according to the report.The system will be what’s called an “orchestrated...

Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller today announced that iCloud storage plans have been reduced in price. 5GB of iCloud storage remains free, while paid upgrades include 50GB for 99 cents per month, 200GB for $2.99 per month and 1TB for $9.99 per month. Prices in other countries may vary based on currency exchange rates. Apple's old iCloud storage plan pricing tiers were as follows: 5GB:...

Due to capital controls in Greece that prevent residents from making payments abroad due to the country's ongoing financial crisis, many Greek customers have been unable to make purchases through online services such as iTunes and Paypal. The emergency measure has also created a problem for iCloud users in Greece, who have had difficulty renewing their premium storage plan subscriptions since...

Apple is building a high-speed content delivery network and plans to upgrade its data centers with more of its own equipment in an effort to better compete with Amazon, Google, Microsoft and other cloud service providers, according to Bloomberg. The improved infrastructure will enable Apple to provide faster delivery of cloud-based content and services such as iCloud, iTunes and Siri. The...

A number of iCloud services are currently experiencing downtime in the United States, Canada and other countries, an issue that became widespread within the past hour or so. A significant number of users have tipped MacRumors and posted on Twitter and other social media platforms about being unable to sign into iCloud or access related services such as Mail and Find My iPhone. iTunes is ...

Apple has updated its system status page to reflect ongoing issues with eleven iCloud-related services: Back to My Mac, Documents in the Cloud, iCloud Account & Sign In, iCloud Backup, iCloud Drive, iCloud Keychain, iCloud Mail, iMovie Theater, iWork for iCloud Beta, Photos and Find My iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac. The services have been affected since around 12 AM Pacific. iCloud is ...

Apple has updated a support document on its website to reflect that iCloud now has a limit of 50,000 contacts, double the previous limit of 25,000 contacts (via iFun.de). iPhone, iPad and Mac users can now store up to 50,000 contacts between their iCloud-enabled devices, while all other limits for calendars, reminders and bookmarks have not been changed.Contacts Total number of contact cards:...

Following a short beta testing period, Apple's iCloud.com website has been updated to make its iWork suite of apps accessible to all users, even those without an Apple device. As of today, anyone can sign up for an Apple ID to access Pages, Numbers, and Keynote for free. The software suite lets users create and edit text documents, presentations, and spreadsheets from their browsers. Signing ...

Microsoft today released an update for its suite of Office apps on Apple's iPhone and iPad App Store for users running iOS 8. The 1.6 updates bring, along with the usual bug fixes and performance enhancements, full support for saving and syncing documents via Apple's iCloud Drive service (via The Verge). Microsoft says users of its most popular software like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint can now ...

Apple on Thursday made Pages, Numbers and Keynote accessible to users without an Apple device through iCloud Beta. Starting last night, anyone can sign up for an Apple ID to access the trio of iWork for iCloud beta apps for free. Each account comes with 1GB of complimentary iCloud storage for use with the productivity software. While the offer is currently limited to the iCloud Beta website, ...

Apple's iCloud.com Photos app was quietly updated over the weekend, adding a new zoom option to the toolbar that lets users zoom in on photos that have been uploaded to iCloud Photo Library. As noted by German site iFun.de, Apple's web-based Photos app has also gained a new feature that allows users to send photos via email directly from the website, making sharing photos easier than ever...