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iCloud

By MacRumors Staff
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iCloud is Apple's cloud-based storage service and app server, designed to let users store data ranging from documents, photos, and music to device backups and app data, such as save states. iCloud is an essential part of the Apple ecosystem, ensuring customers do not lose data, files, or iOS device setups even when an Apple product is lost, stolen, or damaged.

iCloud also includes a set of cloud-based web apps, accessible on any browser though the iCloud website. With iCloud apps, users can access their mail, contacts, calendar, photos, notes, and reminders, or track the location of their iOS and Mac devices. Apple's iWork apps, Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, can also be used in a browser through iCloud.

Every iCloud user is given 5GB of free storage, but 50GB, 200GB, or 2TB of additional storage can be purchased for $0.99, $2.99, or $9.99 per month.

'iCloud' How Tos

How to Share iCloud Folders on iPhone and iPad

Friday February 7, 2020 12:55 pm PST by Tim Hardwick
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 automatically sync across your devices, so you could, for example, share a file on iPhone and change access permissions on your iPad or on iCloud.com at a later time. Note that the following steps require that all devices are running iOS 13.4 or later. How to Share iCloud Folders on iPhone and iPad Launch the Files app on your iPhone or iPad. Locate the folder in iCloud Drive that you want to share, then long press on it. Tap Share in the dropdown menu. Select Add People from the actions in the Share Sheet. Tap the method you'd like to use to send your invitation. You can also optionally tap Share Options to control who can access the folder (Only people you invite / Anyone with the link) and their permissions (Can make changes / View only). Depending on how you chose to share the invitation, the relevant app will open containing a link to access the folder, ready for you to share.How to Change Access Rights to a Shared iCloud Folder Changing iCloud folder sharing permissions in iOS is easy. Once you've shared an iCloud folder, the Add People option you used in the above steps is replaced with a Show People option. Selecting this will display who has access to the
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How to Access iCloud on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, and the Web

Wednesday December 18, 2019 12:32 am PST by Tim Hardwick
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 across all your devices. That means all your data is safe and accessible wherever you are where there's an active internet connection available. iCloud Backups are another indispensable service from iCloud. With an iCloud Backup of your iPhone or iPad, you can restore it on a new device, or use it if you need to erase or restore a device. iCloud comes with 5GB of free storage and you can add more storage at any time. The 50GB plan costs $0.99 per month, while the 200GB and 2TB plans cost $2.99 and $9.99 per month, respectively. How to Access iCloud on iPhone and iPad Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad. Tap your name in the banner at the top. Tap iCloud. Use the toggles next to the apps and data for syncing or unsyncing them to iCloud. Scroll down and tap iCloud Backup to automatically make backups of your iOS device to the cloud. Keep scrolling down to manage any third-party apps you have installed that can sync with iCloud.How to Access iCloud on Mac Click the Apple  symbol in the top-left corner of your screen. Click System Preferences.... Click iCloud. Use the checkboxes next to the apps and data for syncing or unsyncing them to iCloud. Ther
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How to Enable Messages in iCloud and Fix Stuck Message Downloads

Wednesday December 11, 2019 9:24 am PST by Tim Hardwick
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 advantage of the feature is that your messages, photos, and other message attachments are stored in iCloud, which frees up space on your devices. In addition, all your messages appear when you sign into a new device with the same iCloud account. To make sure that Messages in iCloud is turned on for you, follow these steps. How to Enable Messages in iCloud on iOS Bear in mind that iOS 11.4 or later must be running on your device for the feature to work. If you haven't already, enable two-factor authentication on your Apple account. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad. Tap your name in the banner at the top. Tap iCloud. Make sure the switch next to Messages is toggled to its green ON position.How to Enable Messages in iCloud on Mac Note that Messages in iCloud only works on Macs running macOS High Sierra (10.13.5) or later. Launch the Messages app on your Mac – you can find it in the Applications folder. It can also be found in the Dock on new Macs. If this is your first time using Messages on Mac, you'll be asked to sign in. Enter the same Apple ID that you use with Messages on your iPhone and other Apple devices. If you have two-step or two-factor
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How to Turn On iCloud Music Library for Apple Music

Saturday February 23, 2019 10:25 pm PST by Tim Hardwick
If you're an Apple Music subscriber, you can add and download songs, albums, playlist, and video content from the Apple Music catalog to your personal music library. And if you turn on iCloud Music Library on your devices, the Apple Music content in your library will be synced across all of them as long as they're signed in to your Apple ID. The following steps show you how to enable iCloud Music Library on iPhone, iPad, Mac and PC. Turn on iCloud Music Library on iOS Devices Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad. Tap Music in the apps list. Tap the iCloud Music Library toggle to enable it. If you already have music stored on your iOS device, you'll be asked if you want to keep it. If you choose to Keep Music, the music is added to your iCloud Music Library. If you choose Delete and Replace, the music on your device is removed and replaced with the content in your iCloud Music Library. If you choose Merge, any songs on your device that have a match in the Apple Music Catalog will become available on your other devices. Turn on iCloud Music Library on Mac or PC Launch iTunes on your Mac or PC. On Mac, select iTunes -> Preferences from the menu bar. On PC, select Edit -> Preferences from the iTunes window menu bar. In the General tab, check the box next to iCloud Music Library to enable it. Click OK.Once iCloud Music Library is enabled on iOS devices, the Mac, or the PC, any Apple TV or Android devices you own will also be able to access iCloud Music Library automatically.
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How to Recover Files, Contacts, Bookmarks, Calendars and Reminders in iCloud

Saturday February 23, 2019 10:25 pm PST by Juli Clover
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 creation of the tool. Accessing Your Files on iCloud.com Visit the iCloud.com website on your web browser of choice. Enter your Apple ID, password, and two-factor authentication code if the feature is enabled. Once logged in, click on the "Settings" app in the main iCloud menu. Scroll down to the bottom of the page until you reach the "Advanced" section. Click on the content that you need to restore. Options include files stored in iCloud Drive, a list of contacts, your Calendars and Reminders, or your Bookmarks. Restoring Files Using the "Restore Files" option on iCloud.com brings up a list of all files that have been deleted over the past 30 days. It includes files from apps that support iCloud Drive, such as Pixelmator, Napkin, and Byword. You can select a single file to restore or multiple files, should there have been a catastrophic event that caused iCloud Drive to be wiped entirely. Check the box to make a selection and click "Restore File." Using the file restoration tool returns the file in question to iCloud Drive in its original parent folder, much like undeleting a photo on iOS. Deleted iCloud Drive files remain available in iCloud for 30
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How to Share an iCloud Photo Link in iOS 12

Saturday February 23, 2019 10:26 pm PST by Tim Hardwick
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'll need to ensure iCloud Photos is enabled on your iOS device. To do so, launch the Settings app, tap your Apple ID at the top, select iCloud -> Photos, and make sure the toggle next to iCloud Photos is on. How to Share an iCloud Photo Link in iOS 12 Launch the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad Tap the photo you want to link to. If you want to share a link to several photos, tap Select in the upper right corner of the screen and tap the photos you want to include. Next, tap the Share Sheet button at the lower left corner of the screen. Tap the Copy Link button in the third row of the Share Sheet. Wait a moment while iCloud prepares your link. Launch the app or service you want to use to share the link. We're using Messages in our example. In the message text field, tap and hold your finger. Tap Paste. Send the message to share the link.If you share the link over Messages and the recipient is using an iOS device, they'll see a tappable thumbnail of the shared photo(s). If they're on an Android device, they'll just see the URL. Tapping the thumbnail/URL link will take them to an iCloud.com web page similar to the one above, with a preview image, the author's
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How to Share Files Stored in Your iCloud Drive

Monday August 20, 2018 6:41 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
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 could, for example, share a file on Mac and change access permissions on your iPhone or on iCloud.com at a later time. The following steps assume Mac users are running macOS High Sierra or later and that iPhone or iPad owners are on iOS 11 or later. How to Share iCloud Files From Your Mac Open a Finder window and locate the file in iCloud that you want to share. It could be in iCloud Drive or another folder that you sync to iCloud, such as Desktop or Documents. Click the file to highlight it. Click the Share button and select Add People from the dropdown menu. Alternatively, right-click (or Ctrl-click) the file and select Share -> Add People. Choose how you'd like to send your invitation to access the file. In our example, we're sharing a link via email. You can also click the chevron next to Share Options to control who can access the file (Only people you invite / Anyone with the link) and their permissions (Can make changes / View only). Click Share. Depending on how you chose to share the invitation, the relevant app will open containing a link to access the file. In our example, an email compose window appears, ready to add recipients and click Send. How to Share
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How to Set Up Out-of-Office Replies in Apple Mail and iCloud Mail

Saturday February 23, 2019 10:26 pm PST by Tim Hardwick
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 server side. If you're looking for a longer term out-of-office solution, you'll want to check out Vacation mode in iCloud Mail, which we cover in the second part of this tutorial. Click this link to jump there now.
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How to Merge and Remove Duplicate Contacts in macOS and iCloud

Saturday February 23, 2019 10:26 pm PST by Tim Hardwick
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 cards will add nothing but irritation to your day, so here we're going to show you how to merge and/or remove them, whether you're sat at your Mac or not.
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How to Use iCloud Keychain on Your iOS Devices

Wednesday February 7, 2018 3:09 pm PST by Tim Hardwick
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 AutoFill feature, iCloud Keychain can even enter your credentials for you when required. It's also very secure, thanks to Apple's use of end-to-end encryption. This means that only you can access your information, and only on devices where you're signed in to iCloud. Keep reading to learn how to enable iCloud Keychain on your iOS devices. How to Enable iCloud Keychain on Your iPhone or iPad Open the Settings app and tap your Apple ID banner at the top of the Settings menu. Tap iCloud. Scroll down the list and select Keychain. Toggle on the iCloud Keychain switch and enter your Apple ID password if prompted. If this is the first time you've enabled iCloud Keychain, you'll be asked to create an iCloud Security Code or use your existing device passcode. You'll also need to enter a phone number where you can receive SMS messages for authorization purposes. If you've already enabled iCloud Keychain in the past, you'll be prompted to enter the passcode that was used to set it up previously. Accessing Your Login Details in iCloud Keychain With iCloud Keychain enabled, Apple's Autofill feature will fill in your login credentials for you whenever you come across the
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How to Sign Up for iCloud Family Storage Plans in iOS 11

Thursday September 21, 2017 5:19 pm PDT by Juli Clover
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 individual plans. For example, a 50GB storage plan is priced at $0.99 per person. For two people, the $2.99 200GB plan offers each person an additional 50GB of storage for only $1 more. How to Upgrade to a Family iCloud Storage Plan Open the Settings app. Tap on your Apple ID profile at the top of the app. Choose "Family Sharing," the sixth option in the list. Tap on "iCloud Storage" to bring up a notice about the new Family Sharing options. Click "Continue" to choose a plan. Pick a 200GB or 2TB plan. You can also access the plan settings through the standard iCloud Storage menu in the Settings app, accessible by going to iCloud > Manage Storage after tapping on your profile. How to Stop Sharing iCloud Storage With Family You can sign up for a 2TB or 200GB storage plan and keep family members from accessing your storage space. Here's how: Open the Settings app. Tap on your Apple ID profile. Choose "Family Sharing." Choose "iCloud Storage." Tap on "Stop Sharing With Family." How to Downgrade iCloud Storage If you want to go back to a cheaper iCloud Storage option, downgrading is as simple as choosing a new plan. New rates won't kick in
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How to Use iCloud Photo Library in Photos to Sync Pictures Between Devices

Saturday February 23, 2019 10:26 pm PST by Lory Gil
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 of your media available on any device that has iCloud Photo Library turned on. This how-to will walk you through how to turn iCloud Photo Library on for each of your devices and how to minimize the space your photos take up on each device. Tips Before Getting Started In order to fully take advantage of iCloud Photo Library, you should turn it on for multiple computers, if necessary, as well as your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. It is compatible with iOS 8.3 or later and OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 or later. You must be connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi in order to begin the iCloud Photo Library upload process. Additionally, your device batteries must be fully charged, or at least connected to a power source. Apple provides 5GB of iCloud storage for free. It is highly likely you will need more than that to store all of your pictures and videos. If you go over the 5GB limit, Apple will prompt you to upgrade to a larger storage capacity before continuing. iCloud storage starts at $0.99 per month for 20 GB of storage. The 200GB storage plan costs $3.99 per month, while the 500GB plan costs $9.99 per month and the 1TB plan costs $19.99 per month. Be sure that all devices you
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'iCloud' Articles

Apple Reportedly Dropped Plans for End-to-End Encrypted iCloud Backups After FBI Objected

Tuesday January 21, 2020 4:59 am PST by Joe Rossignol
More than two years ago, Apple informed the FBI that it planned to roll out end-to-end encryption for iCloud backups, according to Reuters. Apple ultimately dropped the plan at some point after the FBI objected, although the report notes that it is unclear if the federal agency was a factor in the decision. A former Apple employee told Reuters that the company did not want to risk scrutiny from public officials for potentially protecting criminals, being sued for making previously accessible data out of reach of government agencies, or the move encouraging new legislation against encryption. "They decided they weren't going to poke the bear anymore," the person said, after Apple's legal battle with the FBI in 2016 over unlocking an iPhone used by a shooter in the San Bernardino, California attack. In that case, the FBI ultimately found an alternative method of unlocking the iPhone. Apple faces a similar standoff with the FBI over refusing to unlock two passcode-protected iPhones that investigators believe were owned by Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, the suspect of a mass shooting at a Naval Air Station in Florida last month. Apple said it has provided the FBI with all data in its possession. Apple has taken a hard line on refusing to create a backdoor into iOS that would allow the FBI to unlock password-protected iPhones to assist in their investigations, but it does provide data backed up to iCloud to authorities when lawfully requested, as outlined in its semiannual Transparency Reports. Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this
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Apple Says iCloud Folder Sharing in macOS Catalina Coming 'This Spring'

Tuesday October 8, 2019 3:22 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple has delayed the introduction of iCloud Folder Sharing in macOS Catalina until spring 2020, according to its website. The key cloud storage feature has spent months in development and would have allowed users to share folders in their iCloud Drive with other Apple users via a private link. It first appeared in early beta versions of iOS 13, before it was pulled prior to the official release for iPhones and iPads last month after problems arose during testing. As expected, ‌iCloud‌ Folder Sharing hasn't made it to the Mac either. ‌macOS Catalina‌ was launched on Monday. In early beta versions of ‌macOS Catalina‌, right-clicking a folder in ‌iCloud Drive‌ revealed a submenu that allowed you to generate a private link to the folder and share it via AirDrop, Messages, Mail, or with people in your contacts. Anyone who received the link was able to access the folder in ‌iCloud Drive‌, add new files, and stay up-to-date with the latest file versions. On its ‌macOS Catalina‌ features page, Apple says ‌iCloud Drive‌ folder sharing is now "Coming this spring." In contrast, on its ‌iOS 13‌ features page, Apple says the feature is coming to iPhones and iPads "later this fall," although it's still unclear whether Apple just hasn't updated the page to reflect the extended delay. Either way, the latest iOS 13.2 beta 1 still does not appear to support the function. As it stands, it's only possible to share individual files in iCloud Drive, which puts it at a significant disadvantage when compared to rival cloud-storage services like Google Drive and Dropbox,
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Apple Launches New iCloud for Windows App in Microsoft Store

Tuesday June 11, 2019 12:28 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today introduced a new iCloud for Windows app designed for PCs, according to a blog post shared by Microsoft. The new app is designed to allow Apple users to access their ‌iCloud‌ content on their Windows 10 PCs. The ‌iCloud‌ app for Windows includes iCloud Drive, iCloud Photos, Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Reminders, Safari Bookmarks, and more. What you can do with ‌iCloud‌ for Windows - Safely store your photos and videos in ‌iCloud‌. With ‌iCloud Photos‌, any new photos and videos that you take on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch automatically download to your PC. And you can upload new photos and videos from your PC so that you can access them from your other devices too. - Use Shared Albums to share photos and videos with just the people you choose. Then invite friends to add their own photos, videos, and comments. - Get your documents on every device you use with ‌iCloud Drive‌. Simply drag your documents into the ‌iCloud Drive‌ folder on your PC and access them at any time, on any device. - Keep your ‌iCloud‌ Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and Reminders up to date automatically between your ‌iPhone‌, ‌iPad‌, ‌iPod touch‌, Mac, and PC. - Keep your Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Google Chrome bookmarks on Windows the same as your Safari bookmarks. - Update your ‌iCloud‌ preferences, see how much ‌iCloud‌ storage you're using, delete items to free up storage, and update your storage plan whenever you want.According to Microsoft, the ‌iCloud Drive‌ feature on Windows is powered by the same Windows technology behind the OneDrive Files On-Demand Feature,
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Multiple iCloud Services Experiencing Issues [Update: Fixed]

Thursday March 14, 2019 10:45 am PDT by Juli Clover
Several of Apple's iCloud services are experiencing issues this morning according to Apple's System Status page. Find My iPhone, ‌iCloud‌ Backup, iCloud Drive, ‌iCloud‌ Keychain, ‌iCloud‌ Mail, ‌iCloud‌ Notes, iWork for ‌iCloud‌, Photos, News, and more are all unavailable for an unspecified number of users. The outage has been going on since approximately 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time, so if you've been experiencing problems with ‌iCloud‌ services, this is why. It's not clear when the issue will be resolved, but Apple often addresses these problems quickly. We'll update this post when all of the ‌iCloud‌ services have been restored to working order. Update: According to Apple's System Status page, the ‌iCloud‌ outage has been fixed.
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Apple Releases iCloud for Windows Update to Fix Incompatibility Issues

Tuesday November 27, 2018 4:35 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple this afternoon released an update for iCloud for Windows, which is the iCloud software designed to run on the Windows operating system for those who have both Windows machines and own Apple devices. iCloud for Windows version 7.8.1 is designed to fix compatibility issues with the latest version of Windows 10. Earlier this month, Microsoft blocked the iCloud for Windows software from being downloaded by Windows users after Apple discovered an incompatibility that could result in problems updating Shared Albums after users upgraded to Windows 10 version 1809. At the time, Microsoft said that it was working with Apple to provide a version of the iCloud software compatible with the latest version of Windows 10. The fix isn't mentioned by Apple, but the company did revise a support document that had previously suggested iCloud for Windows was only compatible with Windows 10 through the April 2018 update rather than the most recent
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Multiple iCloud Services Experiencing Issues

Tuesday October 23, 2018 1:32 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Several iCloud services are experiencing problems this afternoon, according to Apple's System Status Page. iCloud Drive, iCloud Mail, iCloud Keychain, iCloud Contacts, iCloud Calendar, Mail Drop, Find My iPhone, and more are performing "slower than normal" for some users. The problem has been ongoing since 8:51 a.m. Pacific Time this morning, and there's no word on when it might clear up. If you've been noticing problems with iCloud services, this outage is the reason why. We'll update this post when the problem is
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Apple's Chinese iCloud Data Moved to Servers Managed by State-Owned Mobile Operator

Wednesday July 18, 2018 3:11 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's Chinese iCloud operator has agreed a deal with state-owned China Telecom to transfer local customer data to the company's Tianyi cloud storage business, according to TechCrunch. China Telecom reportedly announced the agreement in a WeChat post, saying that local Apple partner Guizhou-Cloud Big Data (GCBD) had migrated all Chinese iCloud customer data to Tianyi servers. Apple separately confirmed the change to TechCrunch. Back in January, Apple controversially announced that its iCloud services in mainland China would be overseen by GCBD, which was already known to have ties to the Chinese government. GCBD was brought on board to manage Apple's new $1 billion data center, which opened in the region last year. Customer data stored on iCloud includes emails, text messages, and the encryption keys that protect it. Customers who did not want to use iCloud operated by GCBD were given the option to terminate their account or select a country other than China for their iCloud account. Apple made the transfer to comply with the latest laws enacted in China regarding regulations on cloud services, requiring foreign firms to store data within the country. The move means Chinese government can use its own legal system to ask Apple for its users' iCloud data, whereas before the government had to go through the U.S. legal system. Today's development is unlikely to quell the concerns of human rights and privacy advocates, who criticized Apple's original decision to rely on GCBD and questioned whether it will be able to maintain and protect its customers'
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Apple Increases Free iCloud Storage for Students to 200GB

Tuesday March 27, 2018 10:18 am PDT by Juli Clover
As part of its new suite of educational apps and experiences for children, Apple today announced that it is increasing the amount of free iCloud storage available to kids and teachers. Instead of providing each student and teacher with the standard 5GB of free storage, Apple is now offering 200GB of storage at no additional cost. Every student that has an Apple ID managed by a school will have access to 200GB of storage space for storing assignments, resources, and other documents in the cloud. The new storage space goes hand-in-hand with ClassKit and the Classwork app, which stores assignments in the cloud so students and teachers can access them anywhere. This is not a program that's available to any student -- it is limited to students who have Apple IDs that were provided by their school. Regular students and standard users of Apple devices will continue to be limited to 5GB of free storage
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International User Accounts Swept Up in Chinese iCloud Data Migration [Updated]

Thursday January 11, 2018 1:47 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple's announcement on Wednesday that its iCloud services in mainland China will be handed over to a Chinese company has already run into controversy, after it emerged that accounts registered overseas are being swept up in the migration. Apple said yesterday that customers based in China had been contacted and advised to examine new terms and conditions, which include a clause that both Apple and the Chinese firm will have access to all data stored on iCloud servers, which will be transferred from February 28. Customers living in mainland China who did not want to use iCloud operated by GCBD had been given the option to terminate their account. However, according to some users who spoke to TechCrunch, in the data to be handled by local partner Guizhou-Cloud Big Data (GCBD), Apple is including iCloud accounts that were opened in the U.S., are paid for using U.S. dollars, and/or are connected to U.S.-based App Store accounts. STRANGE: my US Apple ID also got the China iCloud Transfer mail... pic.twitter.com/MZvjsbPiYL— 王博源 Wang Boyuan (@thisboyuan) January 11, 2018 When asked for comment, Apple pointed to its terms and conditions site, which explains that it is migrating iCloud accounts based on the settings of the user's device, not where an iCloud account is registered or billed to. The operation of iCloud services associated with Apple IDs that have China in their country or region setting will be subject to this transition. You will be notified of this transition via email and notifications on your devices. You don’t need to take any further action
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Apple Announces Relocation of Chinese Customers' iCloud Data From U.S. to Mainland China

Wednesday January 10, 2018 3:47 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple today confirmed that its iCloud services in mainland China will be operated by a Chinese company from next month (via People's Daily, China). The firm, called Guizhou on the Cloud Big Data (GCBD), is owned by the Guizhou provincial government in southern China, and will manage Apple's new $1 billion data center, which opened in the region last year. Apple said customers based in the country had been contacted and advised to examine new terms and conditions, which include a clause that both Apple and the Chinese firm will have access to all data stored on iCloud servers. Apple on Wednesday announced its decision to relocate Chinese mainland customers’ iCloud data from the U.S. to China, promising that the relocation will not compromise users' information security pic.twitter.com/AYIvFNnMUF— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) January 10, 2018 Apple originally announced in July its intention to set up its first China data center in partnership with a local internet services company. The operational change was agreed between Apple and the Chinese government, bringing the tech giant into compliance with the country's cloud computing regulations, introduced in June 2017. The cybersecurity law requires foreign firms to store data within the country. Other tech firms with data centers in China include Microsoft and Amazon, which will also need to comply with the new rules. Apple said the partnership with GCBD would also allow it to improve the speed and reliability of iCloud services products, but assured customers that no backdoors had been created into any
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iWork for iCloud and iCloud Notes Experiencing Sharing Outage [Update: Fixed]

Tuesday January 2, 2018 10:01 am PST by Juli Clover
Some customers using Pages, Numbers, Keynote, or the Apple Notes app are currently unable to share new files or add new people to shared files due to an ongoing outage affecting some iCloud functionality. The problem started at 4:00 a.m Pacific Time this morning, and is still affecting customers, according to Apple's System Status page. The Notes and iWork for iCloud apps appear to be the only apps that are experiencing an outage at this time. It's not clear when the problem will be resolved, but we'll update this post when it's fixed. Update: According to Apple's System Status page, this problem has been resolved and iCloud sharing is now working normally for iWork and
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Third Man Charged in 2014 Celebrity iCloud Phishing Attacks

Monday October 23, 2017 9:56 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Emilio Herrera, a 32-year-old man from Chicago, this week pled guilty to hacking into more than 550 iCloud and Gmail accounts, many of which belonged to female celebrities, reports Deadline. Investigators uncovered Herrera's activities when looking into a 2014 "Celebgate" incident that saw the private photos of dozens of celebrities leaked online after their iCloud usernames and passwords were obtained through phishing attempts. Herrera used a phishing scheme to get the usernames and passwords of his victims, sending fake emails that appeared to be from Apple and Google. He stole credentials from April 27, 2013 to August of 2014, and used that information to access the iCloud and Gmail accounts of multiple celebrities. Investigators have not found evidence linking Herrera to the actual leaks that saw nude photographs of celebrities uploaded to sites like reddit and 4chan, nor have they determined that Herrera shared the data that he found, but he did access sensitive photographs and videos. Herrera pled guilty to a felony violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse act, and he now faces up to five years in federal prison. Edward Majerczyk and Ryan Collins were previously found to be involved in the Celebgate incident and both pled guilty to similar charges. When hundreds of nude photos of celebrities were leaked online in 2014, there was initial speculation that iCloud had been hacked, but following an investigation, Apple determined the celebrity accounts had been compromised by weak passwords. A Find My iPhone vulnerability that allowed multiple password
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iCloud Infrastructure Executive Departs Apple

Friday October 6, 2017 4:12 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Eric Billingsley, director of internet services operations at Apple, is leaving the company, reports CNBC. Billingsley is responsible for running data center infrastructure and some internet services, including the operating infrastructure for iCloud services like iCloud Drive. His current responsibilities are being handed over to senior engineering director Patrick Gates, who already oversees infrastructure for other services like Siri. Gates has been with Apple since 2005 and will shortly take over for Billingsley. Prior to joining Apple in October of 2013, Billingsley served as a director of engineering at Google. Before that, he was a technical fellow at eBay. It's not clear where he will be going after leaving Apple. According to CNBC, data infrastructure has been an issue at Apple and Gates has been "righting the ship." Apple has been shifting more services to Gates' group's infrastructure as Billingsley's relies on external cloud providers like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. His departure comes following a major AWS outage in February that impacted services like Apple Music and iTunes, and CBNC speculates that his exit could mean Apple plans to rely more on its own infrastructure rather than third-party cloud services. Both Billingsley and Gates report to engineering vice president Patrice Gautier, who reports to iTunes chief Eddy
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Barclays Proposes Apple Could Lessen iPhone 8 Pricing Impact by Including Apple Music/iCloud Bundle

Friday September 8, 2017 7:14 am PDT by Mitchel Broussard
Leading up to Apple's September 12 media event, the exact price tag of the upcoming iPhone 8 has been one of the biggest question marks surrounding the smartphone. The latest rumors describe a premium device that will start at $999 (64GB) in the United States, then rise to $1,099 (256GB), and cap at $1,199 (512GB), although of course none of these price points or storage configurations have been confirmed. Recently, a team of Barclays analysts including Mark Moskowitz have theorized one potential solution for the device's premium price tag: Apple could debut an iPhone 8 bundle that packs in a year's worth of Apple Music and a 200GB iCloud subscription into the cost of the smartphone (via Business Insider). In the U.S., one year of Apple Music costs around $120 at $10/month (although Apple sells gift cards that knock the annual price down to $100/year), while a 200GB monthly iCloud subscription runs at $2.99/month, equating to around $36 each year. Taken from the cost of the alleged "cheapest" iPhone 8 at $1,000, users would actually be paying about $844 for the smartphone and $156 for the bundled services, which the Barclays analysts said would be "more palatable." Barclays' prediction is based on a survey of wireless service customers (see results chart below), which found that Apple "might" sell around 40.3 million standalone iPhone 8 devices, but with the Apple Music/iCloud bundle that statistic could jump to 64.4 million iPhone 8 units sold. "Barclays analyst Mark Moskowitz and his team think they have figured that out. Apple will offer free subscriptions to
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iCloud Mail Unavailable for Some Users

Thursday September 7, 2017 3:31 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple's iCloud Mail servers seem to be experiencing some downtime, with multiple reports on Twitter suggesting the service is unavailable for a number of users. iCloud Mail issues appear to have started just before 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time, which is around when we here at MacRumors first noticed problems with our own accounts. Affected users are seeing pop up alerts when attempting to access their iCloud Mail messages. Some alerts are blank, while others let users know there was a problem loading Mail. At this time, Apple's System Status page is not reporting any outages. It's not clear how many people are experiencing problems with Mail, but not everyone is
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Apple's iCloud Backup Service Experiencing Outage

Wednesday June 28, 2017 4:04 pm PDT by Juli Clover
According to Apple's System Status website and multiple reports sent in by MacRumors readers, Apple's iCloud Backup service is unavailable for some users. Apple's site says iCloud backup is down for "less than 1 percent of users," but those affected have been unable to restore from an iCloud backup since yesterday. Customers impacted by the iCloud outage who attempt to restore an iOS device using a backup are seeing the process hang while in progress, with the restore failing to complete. iCloud backups can still be made from iOS devices, so data is safe, but affected users will not be able to restore from backups until Apple's servers are back up. In some cases, existing iCloud backups are also not showing up on new devices. Apple employees have been telling customers to wait it out and set up recently purchased iPhones and iPads as new devices rather than restoring from an existing backup. Apple's iCloud Backup service has been experiencing issues since 8:00 a.m. yesterday morning, and it is not clear when a fix will be implemented. We'll update this post when the problem is
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Apple Drops 2TB iCloud Storage Price to $9.99, Eliminates 1TB Option

Monday June 5, 2017 10:21 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Following today's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote that saw the debut of new software and hardware products, Apple has updated and simplified its iCloud storage pricing tiers. The 1TB storage option has been eliminated, while the 2TB storage option has dropped in price to $9.99 per month, which is what 1TB of storage was previously priced at. Essentially, at the highest data tiers, customers are getting more storage space for less money. Pricing for Apple's 50GB and 200GB iCloud storage plans remains unchanged. The new pricing tiers in the United States: - 50GB: $0.99 - 200GB: $2.99 - 2TB: $9.99 While U.S. prices are listed above, the same changes have been made in all countries where iCloud storage is available. 1TB storage options have been eliminated across the board, while 2TBs of storage is now available at the lower 1TB cost. Many users have been hoping Apple will increase the free iCloud storage option, but following today's update, free iCloud space continues to cap out at 5GB. In iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra, Apple is offering an option to share a 200GB or 2TB iCloud storage plan with family members, which is perhaps the reason behind the price drop. The new storage plans are available immediately on all iOS devices. (Thanks, Michael!)
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Third-Party Apps Will Need App-Specific Passwords for iCloud Access From June 15

Tuesday May 16, 2017 4:55 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
App-specific passwords are set to become a mandatory requirement for third-party apps that access iCloud user data, according to an Apple Support email sent out today. Currently, app-specific passwords are used to allow non-native apps like email clients to sign in to iCloud accounts that are protected by two-factor authentication. The security measure ensures that users can still link up their iCloud account to apps and services not provided by Apple, while also avoiding the need to disclose their Apple ID password to third parties. However, app-specific passwords will become a basic requirement from June 15, according to Apple. The policy change basically means that users who want to continue using third-party apps with their iCloud account will have to enable two-factor authentication and generate individual passwords for each app. Beginning on 15 June, app-specific passwords will be required to access your iCloud data using third-party apps such as Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, or other mail, contacts and calendar services not provided by Apple. If you are already signed in to a third-party app using your primary Apple ID password, you will be signed out automatically when this change takes effect. You will need to generate an app-specific password and sign in again.Two-factor authentication ensures that you're the only person who can access your Apple account, even if someone knows your password. To turn it on from any iOS device running iOS 10.3 or later, open the Settings app, tap your name at the top, and then tap Password & Security. If
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WhatsApp Quietly Extends Encryption to iCloud Backups of Chat Logs

Tuesday May 9, 2017 5:58 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
WhatsApp has bolstered the security of the iCloud backup feature in its messaging platform, in an attempt to protect archived chat logs from being accessed in a readable form (via TechCrunch). WhatsApp has offered end-to-end encryption on its messaging service for some time, but that encryption did not previously extend to iCloud backups of messages. Given that Apple holds the encryption keys for iCloud, a subpoena of Apple or an unauthorized iCloud hack could potentially allow access to WhatsApp messages backed up there. However, WhatsApp has moved to prevent that possibility by also pre-encrypting the backup files. "When a user backs up their chats through WhatsApp to iCloud, the backup files are sent encrypted," a WhatsApp spokesperson told Forbes, confirming the change. WhatsApp quietly added the encryption to WhatsApp iCloud backups late last year, however the change only came to light last week when professional hackers claimed to be able to circumvent the security measure. According to Russian-based Oxygen Forensics, third-party hacking tools are able to download the encrypted WhatsApp data backed up to iCloud and then generate an encryption key to decrypt the data using the associated SIM card. The tools could potentially be used by police with access to a phone where the WhatsApp account has been deactivated but the encrypted messages are still stored in iCloud. WhatsApp has yet to comment on the claims. The encryption debate has been reignited in recent weeks on both sides of the Atlantic. FBI director James Comey revealed earlier this month
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Apple Warns iCloud Users Some Disabled Services Were Accidentally Re-enabled in iOS 10.3

Tuesday April 4, 2017 2:04 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today sent out emails to a small number of iCloud users, warning them that a bug in iOS 10.3 may have caused some iCloud services that had been disabled to be mistakenly re-enabled. The email asks iCloud users to revisit their iCloud settings to make sure to turn off any service that might have been turned on through the iOS 10.3 update. It's not entirely clear which iCloud services might have been affected, but MacRumors reader Karl, who sent us the email, said that he typically disables iCloud Mail. Following the update, he found the Mail option turned back on.We discovered a bug in the recent iOS 10.3 software update that impacted a small number of iCloud users. This may have inadvertently reenabled some iCloud services that you had previously disabled on your device. We suggest you go to iCloud settings on your iOS device to make sure that only the services you'd like to use are enabled. Learn more about how to manage your iCloud settings or contact AppleCare with any questions. The iCloud teamiOS 10.3, released on March 27, introduced a new Apple Filesystem among other major features like Find My AirPods, plus it included an overhauled iCloud storage breakdown, which may explain why some iCloud services were mistakenly turned back on. To check which iCloud services are enabled on your iOS device, open the Settings app and scroll down to the "iCloud" section. A list of apps and services using iCloud is front and center, and anything that was enabled via iOS 10.3 can be turned off using the toggle buttons. A wide range of first and third-party
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