Apple iCloud vs. Google Hangouts (Classic)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Apple iCloud
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Apple iCloud is a document management software offering from Apple. It includes features such as access to music, photos, calendars, contacts, and documents, and it is built into every new iOS device.
$0.99
per month
Google Hangouts (Classic)
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
The classic version of Google Hangouts included messaging, voice, VoIP, and video call capabilities. It was replaced by the Hangouts Chat collaboration tool, and Google continues to support conferencing via the new Hangouts Meet.N/A
Pricing
Apple iCloudGoogle Hangouts (Classic)
Editions & Modules
50GB
$0.99
per month
200GB
$2.99
per month
2TB
$9.99
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Apple iCloudGoogle Hangouts (Classic)
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Apple iCloudGoogle Hangouts (Classic)
Considered Both Products
Apple iCloud
Chose Apple iCloud
Apple does offer an alternative to Office & the Google Docs family but trusting to use it with both internal and external parties is tough. Google is more universal and easier for 3rd parties to collaborate with. Apple works well for a closed internal group that is native to …
Google Hangouts (Classic)

No answer on this topic

Features
Apple iCloudGoogle Hangouts (Classic)
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
Apple iCloud
8.6
84 Ratings
3% above category average
Google Hangouts (Classic)
-
Ratings
Versioning8.660 Ratings00 Ratings
Video files8.579 Ratings00 Ratings
Audio files8.876 Ratings00 Ratings
Document collaboration8.472 Ratings00 Ratings
Access control8.671 Ratings00 Ratings
File search7.776 Ratings00 Ratings
Device sync9.882 Ratings00 Ratings
Cloud Storage Security & Administration
Comparison of Cloud Storage Security & Administration features of Product A and Product B
Apple iCloud
8.4
79 Ratings
3% below category average
Google Hangouts (Classic)
-
Ratings
User and role management7.763 Ratings00 Ratings
File organization8.375 Ratings00 Ratings
Device management9.176 Ratings00 Ratings
Cloud Storage Platform
Comparison of Cloud Storage Platform features of Product A and Product B
Apple iCloud
9.0
83 Ratings
4% above category average
Google Hangouts (Classic)
-
Ratings
Performance9.183 Ratings00 Ratings
Reliability9.583 Ratings00 Ratings
Storage Reports8.466 Ratings00 Ratings
Cloud PBX
Comparison of Cloud PBX features of Product A and Product B
Apple iCloud
-
Ratings
Google Hangouts (Classic)
6.3
57 Ratings
24% below category average
Hosted PBX00 Ratings6.915 Ratings
Multi-level Interactive Voice Response (IVR)00 Ratings7.725 Ratings
User templates00 Ratings5.022 Ratings
Call reports00 Ratings9.034 Ratings
Directory of employee names00 Ratings3.045 Ratings
Call Management
Comparison of Call Management features of Product A and Product B
Apple iCloud
-
Ratings
Google Hangouts (Classic)
8.0
66 Ratings
4% below category average
Answering rules00 Ratings8.033 Ratings
Call recording00 Ratings7.937 Ratings
Call park00 Ratings7.018 Ratings
Call screening00 Ratings9.036 Ratings
Message alerts00 Ratings8.058 Ratings
VoIP system collaboration
Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of Product A and Product B
Apple iCloud
-
Ratings
Google Hangouts (Classic)
8.6
84 Ratings
8% above category average
Video conferencing00 Ratings9.079 Ratings
Audio conferencing00 Ratings9.079 Ratings
Video screen sharing00 Ratings7.148 Ratings
Instant messaging00 Ratings9.052 Ratings
Mobile apps
Comparison of Mobile apps features of Product A and Product B
Apple iCloud
-
Ratings
Google Hangouts (Classic)
8.0
85 Ratings
0% below category average
Mobile app for iOS00 Ratings8.173 Ratings
Mobile app for Android00 Ratings8.071 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Apple iCloudGoogle Hangouts (Classic)
Small Businesses
SugarSync
SugarSync
Score 4.0 out of 10
CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Score 7.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Druva Security Cloud
Druva Security Cloud
Score 9.4 out of 10
CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Score 7.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Druva Security Cloud
Druva Security Cloud
Score 9.4 out of 10
Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Apple iCloudGoogle Hangouts (Classic)
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(83 ratings)
8.0
(91 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(4 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
8.8
(30 ratings)
8.0
(7 ratings)
Performance
8.2
(12 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.5
(20 ratings)
8.0
(36 ratings)
User Testimonials
Apple iCloudGoogle Hangouts (Classic)
Likelihood to Recommend
Apple
Our growing organization uses about 95% Apple hardware. The Apple iCloud functionality across our organization ensures interfaces and synchronization that makes information workflow seamless. The cost structure and limited AI functionality keeps us dependent on products like Microsoft and Google and unable to put all of our cloud "eggs" into the Apple basket.
Read full review
Discontinued Products
Had I completed this review a couple years ago, I would have given a rating of 9 or 10 as Hangouts (Classic) is an excellent product. However, now that Google Chat has succeeded Hangouts, I would not recommend that any new users begin using it where other more modern options are available. Android users who want an internet based instant messaging that also supports calling and video calling could benefit from using Hangouts (Classic) as Google Chat requires the user to also have Google Meet installed to make video calls and there is no voice only calling option.
Read full review
Pros
Apple
  • Syncing files, appointments, Notes and contacts. If I'm away from home, and set an appointment using my phone, that appointment automatically updates real time to my home laptop and vice-versa.
  • It stores files (e.g photos) nicely
  • Once it's set up, it's fairly easy to use.
Read full review
Discontinued Products
  • Google Hangouts (Classic) is embedded within Gmail's scheduler, so setting up the link is as quick as a click of the button. It's a one-step process.
  • Google Hangouts (Classic) is user-friendly and [has] features to share screens easily.
  • Google Hangouts (Classic) is much easier to use than its competitors.
  • Google Hangouts (Classic) have [a] good connection time and there are few glitches.
Read full review
Cons
Apple
  • Customization - iCloud is great at the stuff it does well. But it lacks features that some competitors (in Google Drive or Dropbox) do really well. API support for third-party apps is really great for some other people.
  • Remote use - Managing or accessing information from iCloud while not on one of your logged-in apple devices can sometimes be an issue. From a work computer for example. It doable, but the experience is much less user-friendly.
  • Ability to edit documents on the cloud similar to google docs or some other competitors
Read full review
Discontinued Products
  • I would like to see improved video support, so that saved videos can be sent back and forth via Hangouts more easily, without having to start a separate meet chat
  • More pronounced notifications of messages would be helpful; pop up notifications are good, but once there is one, additional messages do not pop up
  • Custom muting times would be great, so that if I am in a 90 minute Zoom meeting, I can set it for that time; right now, it is 1 hour or 2 hours. Easy to forget.
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Likelihood to Renew
Apple
It's so seamless that I can't imagine another product doing a better job synchronizing all of my devices. I simply do not think about it at all. Everything happens behind the scenes and I'm confident that Apple keeps my data safe and secure. I'm a happy customer as far as this is concerned. I have not had a bad experience with this service.
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Discontinued Products
No answers on this topic
Usability
Apple
While it may be great to use with other Apple products, I find it's an absolutist-style workflow to be debilitating and to lead to many problems. When you sign into the cloud, it completely takes over your device in many ways that you don't notice at first until there is a problem.
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Discontinued Products
The tool is almost self-implemented. It is likely to be available in every pc or mobile device a user or potential user might have, and all you need to do is adding the company's account and you are done. Once you are setted up, you have almost all actual communication methods available in one tool
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Performance
Apple
Occasionally, large files that haven't yet been synced require a few minutes to pull down but I've rarely noticed delays. It does a good job of keeping data cached on my local machines while updating them with changes from other machines transparently.
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Discontinued Products
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Apple
Apple customer service is fantastic. iCloud is built with Apple in mind and its design is extremely intuitive and user-friendly. Additionally, whenever our team has encountered issues, the speed of Apple support has been more than timely in addressing our issues and solving our request. We have encountered relatively few issues in my time with the platform and this only improves our overall score for those who keep the platform stable.
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Discontinued Products
Google Hangouts works great and does not require a lot of work to troubleshoot. Everything is simple and easy to use. Google provides all of the tools that one requires to utilize Google Hangouts and any information can be found in the built-in help tools. There is also a forum for users to report issues and typically, Google responds well and will try to work out any issues.
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Alternatives Considered
Apple
Google Drive is similar to Apple iCloud, but since I prefer Apple products and have operated within the Apple ecosystem for many years, I use iCloud. Some clients who don't use Apple share documents with me in Google Drive so I have experience with the product, but I prefer iCloud. I do think photos syncing is superior in iCloud.
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Discontinued Products
Google is the white cotton socks of the conferencing world. It’s a great ad-hoc tool, but not too much more. If you are not looking to spend money or operate completely on WiFi (without data charges), it’s a great free option as well. The benefit of being free and open is also the liability. It doesn’t have a great integration story with other corporate tools, but [it doesn’t have to] if you aren’t looking for that. All in all, it’s as helpful and ubiquitous as a public payphone…without the pay…and with a video capability.
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Return on Investment
Apple
  • Apple's iCloud service can run very slow in countries where they aren't very focussed, like India.
  • Apple did not back up videos over the cloud for a long time and needed manual sync. You will see similar issues like not allowing mobile data for some tasks.
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Discontinued Products
  • I believe it was part of the google suite that was purchased. It was worth the cost as it was cheaper. I believe it is now free, but also becoming deprecated. It is much better to use Teams, Discord, Telegram, etc. Google does not provide enough support or features to make using hangouts worth it these days.
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ScreenShots