How much space will it really save me?

[Farmdreads]

I am assuming that if I have the 5GB account on iCloud, then that means that there will be 5GB less of stuff i will need to store on my phone, right? I have 16GB and I am finding that i am getting really low on space. (I know, I know, I should just get a bigger phone, but hopefully with iCloud I won't have to.)

 

[rgar3388]

Well, music, apps, photos, and movies won't take any of your 5 gigs. But if you do want content from there you have to download it, therefore, taking space on your phone and having to delete something else to make room for it. The point of it is that you have access to all the content while away from your computer, but not necessarily at the same time. iTunes match will let you stream instead of having to download and delete things. Go from there.

 

[KrispyKrink]

iCloud is a backup service, not a streaming/digital locker like Dropbox service. If you buy music or a TV show on iTunes on your computer, it'll be in iCloud waiting for you to download to your iPhone.

Too many people out there are confused thinking iCloud is like Amazon's Music locker/streaming service or like Google Music were you can stream your music without storing it on your iPhone. It's not.

 

[diamonddialogue]

Well I'm sure it will be a bit more clear when it's actually available to the public. Unfortunately right now people can't get the help they might want/need on iOS 5 from Apple because it's not official yet.

 

[davjaxn]

The biggest misconception of iCloud is that it will hold all your music and movies for you so you don't need to store them on the device. This is wrong. Look at iCloud like an invisible, automatic dock cable. It will put all your content on your iPhone, iPad and Mac, keep in in sync with each device and make it easy to share between devices.

iCloud will store/backup everything you have in iTunes (up to 5GB) but you will only be able to access it if it is on your hard drive. If you lose your iPhone or your computer breaks down or you decide to get another computer, it will be very easy to get your content on your new device.

 

[EmceeGeek]

iCloud is a backup service, not a streaming/digital locker like Dropbox service. If you buy music or a TV show on iTunes on your computer, it'll be in iCloud waiting for you to download to your iPhone.

Too many people out there are confused thinking iCloud is like Amazon's Music locker/streaming service or like Google Music were you can stream your music without storing it on your iPhone. It's not.

Gotcha, I was wondering this at first and figured that wasnt the case. Glad I went for the 32GB anyway! Would be nice though.

 

[rstark18]

iTunes Match will allow you to stream your music when it comes out at the end of the month (if you choose to subscribe).

 

[Steve28]

iTunes Match will allow you to stream your music when it comes out at the end of the month (if you choose to subscribe).

No it will not. If you chose to play a song that is not currently on your device, it will DOWNLOAD it to your phone. It will play as it's downloading, but it will be then stored on your phone.

iTunes Match is Not Streaming in iOS

 

[pipemilo]

I think icloud only stores your music of itunes for up to 5G.
but at the end, it will be stored in your phone. So no extra space for you ^^

 

[Farmdreads]

Thanks for the explanation. I like the "invisible docking cord" metaphor. I understand things better when I have a metaphor to compare it to. So iCloud doesn't really store anything, it just allows me to access my information. Wait, that's not right cause you can buy more storage. So it DOES store information, but to access that info you have to download it to your device in order to use it. Right? Good. Thanks for letting me talk this out. I hope I helped someone else besides myself.

Another question: if my wife and I have our contacts shared on our iMac, is there a way to make it so that all of my work contacts aren't hogging up her contact list? Perhaps if I put them in a "work" folder on the iMac she can choose to not sync that folder to her iPhone?

 

[diamonddialogue]

You should both have separate iCloud IDs. iCloud seems to require about 5GB per device.

 

[rstark18]

No it will not. If you chose to play a song that is not currently on your device, it will DOWNLOAD it to your phone. It will play as it's downloading, but it will be then stored on your phone.

iTunes Match is Not Streaming in iOS

re: streaming:
From the horses mouth. 10/04 Keynote speech 42:20 in.
Also from Apple - iCloud - All your music on all your devices.
"Once your music is in iCloud, you can stream and store it on any of your devices. Even better, all the music iTunes matches plays back from iCloud at 256-Kbps AAC DRM-free quality"

 

[diamonddialogue]

Steve is correct. There's been a lot of talk about this in the developer communities. iTunes Match is technically a separate service that uses iCloud, you pay $25 a year to be able to download/listen to your songs that weren't bought via iTunes. If you aren't paying for iTunes Match, Steve's comment is even more true.

 

[rstark18]

iTunes match does CACHE music but if you choose to not to download your entire library to your device you don't have to. That saves space if you choose to use it that way. If you choose to stream all your music then the caching will happen in the background and Apple will manage what is currently cached and what is not.

 

[chychychy]

I always thought that iCloud would allow streaming... yikes

 

[rgar3388]

iCloud will not allow streaming but iTunes match will for $25 a year. The 5GB that iCloud offers only applies to your email, backups, and documents. iCloud will store all of your apps and iTunes bought music and movies for free and that will not count against your 5GB. iCloud is essentially a digital hub replacing the need for a computer for iTunes purchased content.

 

[Eric Gunther]

One other way is to manage your space by prioritizing and deleting everything else that is really unnecessary because this will not only save your phone space but also make it a lot faster.

 

[korp#IM]

You can always buy more storage if you need it but like everybody said you just download it from iCloud not similar to Dropbox.