iCloud Question

[tawcat]

Call me silly, but I haven't the foggiest how the cloud works. Than said, let me provide my concern.

I recently upgraded from a 64GB iPad 1st Gen to an iPad2 16GB. With apps, photos, etc, I have about 4.5 GB of storage left. If I use the Cloud on my iMac, does all the stuff I put on the Cloud transfer to the iPad and use storage space? Or does it wok similar to DropBox?

I know y'all are shaking your heads thinking I shouldn't own anything techie! Thanks for helping.

 

[twerppoet]

Maybe this will help.

Apple - iCloud - Your content. On all your devices.

 

[tawcat]

Maybe this will help.

Apple - iCloud - Your content. On all your devices.

Thanks, seen that before, but still doesn't explain if a copy "resides" on each device. Again my concern is storage space, if the Cloud puts copies of photos etc on the iPad and they use storage space, it really doesn't help me due to my only having 16GB.

 

[twerppoet]

Your Camera Roll in the Photos app is backed up in iCloud if you have iCloud backups chosen (Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup), and Camera Roll turned on in the backup settings (found in Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup > Manage Storage, select your device).

Photo Stream is part of iCloud, but does not count against your storage limit. Yes, they sync to the iPad, so the photos are also on the iPad until you delete them from the Photo Stream. I'm not 100% certain, but if you take a photo on the iPad and it syncs back from the Photo Stream, it is probably being stored twice on the iPad. It would pretty much have to be, since deleting if from one does not delete it from the other.

Albums synced through iTunes are not backed up, nor stored in iCloud in any form.

I'm not sure about the Imported Albums (using the Camera Connection Kit). If they are stored in iCloud it would be as part of the backup.

The takeaway on this should be that you can turn off the services you don't want between iCloud and the iPad, and reduce the load on either side of the equations. No photos at all need to go to iCloud. Only the Camera Roll has to be on the iPad.

Btw, I went from a 32 GB 3G iPad 1 to a 16 GB wi-fi iPad 2. Going backwards was very uncomfortable. I don't know if I would have upgraded to the new iPad (3rd gen) for the retina and ram/speed boosts alone, but for more storage and getting my 3G (and GPS) back, it was worth every penny.

 

[tawcat]

Your Camera Roll in the Photos app is backed up in iCloud if you have iCloud backups chosen (Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup), and Camera Roll turned on in the backup settings (found in Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup > Manage Storage, select your device).

Photo Stream is part of iCloud, but does not count against your storage limit. Yes, they sync to the iPad, so the photos are also on the iPad until you delete them from the Photo Stream. I'm not 100% certain, but if you take a photo on the iPad and it syncs back from the Photo Stream, it is probably being stored twice on the iPad. It would pretty much have to be, since deleting if from one does not delete it from the other.

Albums synced through iTunes are not backed up, nor stored in iCloud in any form.

I'm not sure about the Imported Albums (using the Camera Connection Kit). If they are stored in iCloud it would be as part of the backup.

The takeaway on this should be that you can turn off the services you don't want between iCloud and the iPad, and reduce the load on either side of the equations. No photos at all need to go to iCloud. Only the Camera Roll has to be on the iPad.

Btw, I went from a 32 GB 3G iPad 1 to a 16 GB wi-fi iPad 2. Going backwards was very uncomfortable. I don't know if I would have upgraded to the new iPad (3rd gen) for the retina and ram/speed boosts alone, but for more storage and getting my 3G (and GPS) back, it was worth every penny.

Thank you again. Thats how I thought it all worked, so I have the majority of iCloud features turned off. I think the cloud is a great concept, however, if using something drains the gas tank from two ends what's the point! I prefer Dropbox for that reason, I have access to all the files I've put there, without sacrificing space on the iPad.

If by chance I upgrade to the 3, I bet I spring for the 32 or 64. Thanks again for the help.

 

[twerppoet]

iCloud isn't meant to be a DropBox replacement, at least not in it's current state. It has no general file storage or sharing (though a few apps have shown that sharing is possible).

It is hard to really categorize iCloud with it's hodgepodge of features, but the main thrust is to keep your various iOS devices' apps (and to a lesser degree your computer) in sync. This only involves files if files happen to be what needs to be synced.

DropBox is much more general, and far more useful for file management purposes.

No need to choose. You use each for what it is best at. And since the 5GB of iCloud storage is free, no need to worry about it unless you're crowding the limit.

 

[tawcat]

Gotcha!