iCloud Newbie

[_heatherly]

Hello everyone!

I'm new to iCloud and would like to take advantage of all that it has to offer, but I don't really know how to do that. I have Find My Phone enabled, but that's all I've messed with. I just have a few questions regarding iCloud.

1. What exactly is Documents & Data? It says it allows apps to store documents and data in iCloud, but I'm not quite sure what that means. Is that like saved app history, like scores on games?

2. Does enabling iCloud backup use more battery?

3. Which is really best to use for backup, iTunes or iCloud?

4. How do I store things on iCloud? I understand I have 5GB of free storage available. I heard you can store your music in iCloud, but I live kind of in the middle of nowhere and there are spots around that have little to no service. How would things stored in iCloud, like music for example, be affected when in areas of little cell recepton?

I appreciate your help and answers.

 

[ThePinkChameleon]

heatherly, I just got my 4S yesterday and you have very valid questions as I also am wondering on how to go about using/setting this feature up.

So along with you, any help and advice will be greatly appreciated

 

[imwjl]

Hello everyone!

I'm new to iCloud and would like to take advantage of all that it has to offer, but I don't really know how to do that. I have Find My Phone enabled, but that's all I've messed with. I just have a few questions regarding iCloud.

1. What exactly is Documents & Data? It says it allows apps to store documents and data in iCloud, but I'm not quite sure what that means. Is that like saved app history, like scores on games?

2. Does enabling iCloud backup use more battery?

3. Which is really best to use for backup, iTunes or iCloud?

4. How do I store things on iCloud? I understand I have 5GB of free storage available. I heard you can store your music in iCloud, but I live kind of in the middle of nowhere and there are spots around that have little to no service. How would things stored in iCloud, like music for example, be affected when in areas of little cell recepton?

I appreciate your help and answers.

Backing up is not just for truck drivers so I tell my users to consider a backup from the USB cable to iTunes and to iCloud via WiFi and device being charged.

What data will be backed up seems to depend upon the apps but I've had users get replacement phones since v5 and the new phone came out. Those who had an iCloud backup started getting their phone as they knew it before they left the Verizon store.

The whole iCloud environment is not as mature or feature rich as the competition from Microsoft and Google but should be use at minimum for the kill pill features should you loose your phone, and for aid in getting your settings back if you loose a phone.

New and newer features in this environment will not work at all or work poorly with cel connection. Some need a good 3G connection such as iMessage, others need WiFi connection such as FaceTime, the backup discussed here.

You need to look at the storage used in your phone settings if you use iCloud because the 5 GB you get for free might not be enough for some people.

Good luck.

 

[SnapThrow]

1. What exactly is Documents & Data? It says it allows apps to store documents and data in iCloud, but I'm not quite sure what that means. Is that like saved app history, like scores on games?

2. Does enabling iCloud backup use more battery?

3. Which is really best to use for backup, iTunes or iCloud?

4. How do I store things on iCloud? I understand I have 5GB of free storage available. I heard you can store your music in iCloud, but I live kind of in the middle of nowhere and there are spots around that have little to no service. How would things stored in iCloud, like music for example, be affected when in areas of little cell recepton?

1. Documents would be if you had Pages (Apple's version of "Word") on your iPhone for instance, and app data is just that -- settings/logins for apps, game progress, etc.

2. Who knows, but I will say that it only seems to back up to iCloud once a day so I suspect it has minimal battery impact if at all.

3. iCloud is easy in the sense that once you turn it on it just does it once a day on its own. With iTunes you have to actually plug it in. On that note I would stay away from the wi-fi backup feature... in my experience it is buggy and not reliable. Also even if you are using iCloud as your backup you can manually tell your iPhone to backup to a file in iTunes when you plug it in... best of both worlds.

4. iCloud and the $25/year music match that is coming soon are two different things. The free 5gb of space is for your backups and documents. That will probably be enough unless you have a lot of pics/videos in your camera roll. iTunes match will be $25/year and allow you to access any of the songs you have in iTunes from Apple's servers ... download them to any device with your account credentials.

 

[ame]

I would turn off the Documents thing if you can. That I think is based on backing up things from iWork. If you're not doing that it's not worth having on, esp since it gives you the yes/no on using cellular data. That would eat your data up fast.

 

[SnapThrow]

I would turn off the Documents thing if you can. That I think is based on backing up things from iWork. If you're not doing that it's not worth having on, esp since it gives you the yes/no on using cellular data. That would eat your data up fast.

No -- leave it on for sure, but there is a setting to not use cellular so data usage is a non-issue.

 

[avmsam]

iOS 5: What is iCloud and What Will it Do for Me?

also, icloud only backs-up when your device is plugged in to a power source and is on standby.

for daily backing up, i use icloud and every once in a while i do a manual backup to itunes.

 

[chenzo76]

my icloud will not backup my ipad or iphone says there is not enough room and I have to pay WTF!

 

[NoleScream]

my icloud will not backup my ipad or iphone says there is not enough room and I have to pay WTF!

Check to see if you have an app that is using a ton of storage and / or turn off some of the apps that you don't want to back up. I saw a screenshot the other day of the Time App taking up 3+ Gigs. That will put you over the 5GB limit rather quickly.

 

[anapena]

Well yes I liked the views here.