So here is the feature I've been avoiding writing about. Partially because I'm in two minds about it and partially because no one clearly understands it yet (not even Apple).
What is iCloud then?
It is cloud storage and much more. It has the ability to sync your itunes purchased music, ebooks, apps and photos taken over the air (ota) with your iTunes 10.5 iCloud enabled iDevices (max 10). This means that users no longer need to sync their devices through the computer one at a time. When a new app is purchased it will automatically get pushed to all iDevices with the same iTunes Apple id.
This is both great and not so great, it makes sharing an Apple id tricky. With the iCloud sync users cannot control which devices should or should not get the apps, documents, or contacts etc. So restricting content is not possible as it was before with manual syncing. Don't get me wrong it is possible to restrict and configure what syncs where however it is not simple, like the Apple products we've all grown accustomed to. The restrictions are on the iDevice itself so if you share your id with your kids for example they will be able to turn on items which you have turned off, granting themselves access to items you may not want them to have/see, and you will be unaware of this.
My personal recommendations would be to sync contacts through it, and enalbe find my iDevice. There is a web interface which is useful to use https://www.iCloud.com here you will log in with your Apple Id and you will find web interfaces into the mail (create an @me.com) contacts, calendar, find my phone and iWork (which contains Keynote, Pages and Numbers)
The free version of iCloud only gives 5 GB of storage so you should use it wisely. Additional storage is available at reasonable prices $20, $40 and $100/year for 10GB, 20GB and 50GB. There is still some confusion around the app syncing. My understanding is that only the app data itself is counted towards your storage quota but not the app (even though it is on the cloud). So restoring it will consume data but it wont take up your precious 5 GB, I have found that the biggest backups are the photos and music.
To access the iCloud backup settings go to Settings, then iCloud, next Storage and Backup, manage backup choose your iOS device and under options turn off any items you no longer want to backup.
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| iCloud backup options |
For me the biggest downside to the iCloud app syncing to multiple devices is that it uses the internet and in South Africa broadband prices are still expensive. This method of syncing will consume my data at a very fast rate. Lets say I download a 20meg app and sync it to my iPhone, then to my iPad and iPod via iCloud. Each device will connect the the Internet and download the app using my data connection effectively another 40megs (20 for each additional iDevice), and if I used the iTunes method I would have downloaded it once as before and then just connected my iDevice either with ota or directly and synced without additional data being used. This same will apply to photo's, music and documents, and will affect only users with multiple iCloud enabled iDevices.
