New to iCloud and have questions

JsGrandma

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I just set up iCloud for syncing my phone (4s, 16 gb) and have a couple questions. I've searched the previous posts and can't find what I am needing, so decided to post.

I set up iCloud on my phone just now and it says there is still 3 hrs left on the back up.....is that normal to take that long?

I turned "off " several apps (Angry Birds, Words with Friends, etc.) and am wondering how those apps will be affected. I chose to do that to save space as I want to stay under the free limit of 5gb.

I currently have my phone connected via USB cable to my laptop and iTunes as I exported my contacts from Gmail to my Windows Contacts and then into iTunes last night at the suggestion of an Apple "genius" at my local Apple store. He said to do this before setting up iCloud for my phone.

Is it ok to use other apps on my phone while it's doing the iCloud backup?

Thanks for your help............
 

Just_Me_D

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I just set up iCloud for syncing my phone (4s, 16 gb) and have a couple questions.
I will try my best to help you
I've searched the previous posts and can't find what I am needing, so decided to post.
Excellent!

I set up iCloud on my phone just now and it says there is still 3 hrs left on the back up.....is that normal to take that long?
Not really, but it depends on several factors. Is your Internet connection reliable and speedy? Apple could be experiencing issues with iCloud which is not uncommon, but according to the iCloud Status page, all is well.

I turned "off " several apps (Angry Birds, Words with Friends, etc.) and am wondering how those apps will be affected. I chose to do that to save space as I want to stay under the free limit of 5gb.
You can always check the amount of available space by going to Settings-General-Usage and looking under the iCloud section on your i-device.

I currently have my phone connected via USB cable to my laptop and iTunes as I exported my contacts from Gmail to my Windows Contacts and then into iTunes last night at the suggestion of an Apple "genius" at my local Apple store. He said to do this before setting up iCloud for my phone.
Sounds good.

Is it ok to use other apps on my phone while it's doing the iCloud backup?

Thanks for your help............
If enabled, an iCloud backup will be performed automatically once a day when the phone is idle and connected to a Wi-Fi network, however, the times vary. Anyway, in regard to your question, I recommend that you cease all activity until the backup is complete. Usually and iCloud backup takes about a minute, if that, but it depends on your device. Hopefully, I answered your questions to your satisfaction. Take care and have a great day. ;)




Just Me, D
(iPhone 4S)
 

JsGrandma

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still need help

Ok my back up is done and I've signed into icloud.com with my Apple ID and password but when I click on the Mail icon it says I have to have an @me.com email address. I checked my settings on my phone and it shows the iCloud address as the Apple ID and no where do I see an option to set up the @me.com address.....HELP!

Also, I checked to see the calendar events that it supposedly synced to the cloud and there is nothing there when I click on the Calendar icon. HELP!

I use gmail for my mail, contacts and calendar and the Apple "genius" told me yesterday how to turn off the syncing for my contacts in gmail on my phone and set them for iCloud syncing but I don't remember what he said........I do have "exchange" set up and he told me to have the contacts sync thru the cloud and not gmail. HELP!
 

Just_Me_D

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Ok my back up is done and I've signed into icloud.com with my Apple ID and password but when I click on the Mail icon it says I have to have an @me.com email address. I checked my settings on my phone and it shows the iCloud address as the Apple ID and no where do I see an option to set up the @me.com address.....HELP!

Also, I checked to see the calendar events that it supposedly synced to the cloud and there is nothing there when I click on the Calendar icon. HELP!

I use gmail for my mail, contacts and calendar and the Apple "genius" told me yesterday how to turn off the syncing for my contacts in gmail on my phone and set them for iCloud syncing but I don't remember what he said........I do have "exchange" set up and he told me to have the contacts sync thru the cloud and not gmail. HELP!

If you're only going to use iCloud for backup purposes, you don't need to set up an @me.com email account. You already have gmail set up via Microsoft Exchange and therefore your mail, contact and calendars are all set up for you and are automatically backed up and synced to Google's servers. If for some reason you had to setup your device as new again, all you would have to do is setup your gmail account via the exchange setup and you will find that your mail, contacts and calendar will be intact and will sync to your device. Anyway, I would re-enable the gmail contacts because they will sync between Google and your device with ease and when you compose an email, you will be able to pick your recipient(s) just by clicking on the + sign. There's really nothing more you need to do unless I'm missing something and unless you also want to create an @me.com email address specifically for iCloud. You DO NOT NEED iCloud for mail, contacts & calendar purposes if your primary account is and will remain Google or any other non-Apple account.


Just Me, D
(iPhone 4S)
 
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JsGrandma

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almost there

Thank you for being so patient with my dumb questions. I think I've narrowed down exactly what I need to do.

I am not going to sync my emails or calendars to the cloud so no need for the @me.com address. They work fine right now just as they are and I can access them from my laptop if needed.

.....I do want to sync my contacts though as that is the only way I can have full screen caller ID. (This is after much time spent at the Apple store yesterday and much time on trial and error testing) and this is where I need help now. How do I set my phone to sync my contacts (exported from Gmail, into Windows Contacts and then into iTunes) to the cloud and not thru the "exchange".........if they go thru the "exchange" then I get my locked screen with a small thumbnail of the contact (if a pic is assigned to it) in the upper right corner.

If I need to update a contact, would I do that on my phone so that the change is also shown on the backup on the cloud or can I do it from within my gmail account like I do now? I just want to make sure that the change shows on my phone as well as the backup on the cloud.

I hope this all makes more sense now and again thank you so much for helping me with this.
 

Just_Me_D

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Thank you for being so patient with my dumb questions.
You're very welcome and your questions are not dumb, by any means ;)
I think I've narrowed down exactly what I need to do.
Excellent

I am not going to sync my emails or calendars to the cloud so no need for the @me.com address. They work fine right now just as they are and I can access them from my laptop if needed.
That is correct. An @me.com email account is a gift from Apple hoping users of i-devices will use their iCloud service. It's not perfect but it works quite well.

.....I do want to sync my contacts though as that is the only way I can have full screen caller ID. (This is after much time spent at the Apple store yesterday and much time on trial and error testing) and this is where I need help now. How do I set my phone to sync my contacts (exported from Gmail, into Windows Contacts and then into iTunes) to the cloud and not thru the "exchange".........if they go thru the "exchange" then I get my locked screen with a small thumbnail of the contact (if a pic is assigned to it) in the upper right corner.
Via your i-device, Go to Settings-iCloud and if ON is displayed next to contacts then you're all set. If not, turn the feature ON. You can verify it by logging onto www.icloud.com from a computer and then logging on with your iCloud credentials. Select the contacts icon and see if they are present.

If I need to update a contact, would I do that on my phone so that the change is also shown on the backup on the cloud or can I do it from within my gmail account like I do now? I just want to make sure that the change shows on my phone as well as the backup on the cloud.
Whatever change you make on your iPhone, it will reflect in iCloud via an immediate sync and it doesn't matter if you're connected to Wi-Fi or not. Backing up is irrelevant. Once the contact information is synced to iCloud it will remain there until you delete it. Just like I stated earlier with gmail, if you needed to reset your iPhone as new, all you would have to do to get your contacts back is to login to iCloud. Your information will immediately be synced to your phone.

I hope this all makes more sense now and again thank you so much for helping me with this.
It did and I hope my replies made sense to you ;)




Just Me, D
(iPhone 4S)
 
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JsGrandma

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All is good!

Thank you so much! Because of you I now do not need to go back to the Apple store today. YES! I did turn "on" contacts in the iCloud settings and "off" in the Exchange settings and just checked online and they are all there.

Thank you again for your help......it is much appreciated and your answers were very clear to understand....thanks again!
 

Just_Me_D

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Thank you so much! Because of you I now do not need to go back to the Apple store today. YES! I did turn "on" contacts in the iCloud settings and "off" in the Exchange settings and just checked online and they are all there.

Thank you again for your help......it is much appreciated and your answers were very clear to understand....thanks again!

You are very welcome. Take care and enjoy the rest of your day. :)


Just Me, D
(iPhone 4S)