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Apple iCloud is relied upon by users to securely store and backup their photos, videos, and other media files. This provides peace of mind …
Starting at $0.99 per month
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What is Apple iCloud?
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.
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Popular Features
- Reliability (74)9.696%
- Performance (74)9.696%
- Device sync (73)9.494%
- Video files (70)9.292%
Pricing
50GB
$0.99
Cloud
per month
200GB
$2.99
Cloud
per month
2TB
$9.99
Cloud
per month
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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What is Apple iCloud?
Apple iCloud Technical Details
| Deployment Types | Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Unspecified |
| Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
Reviewers rate File search highest, with a score of 9.7.
The most common users of Apple iCloud are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!
- Business Problems Solved
- Recommendations
Apple iCloud is relied upon by users to securely store and backup their photos, videos, and other media files. This provides peace of mind for nomadic travelers and ensures data security for business endeavors. Business teams find value in iCloud as it serves as an additional data repository, automatically backing up media files like photos, mobile settings, calendars, and contacts. This ensures accessibility from any device and promotes collaboration within the team. The standout feature of iCloud is the ability to access documents, photos, music, and videos from any device, making it convenient for presentations and effective teamwork. It is particularly popular among all-Mac shops due to its seamless syncing and compatibility with various Mac and iOS apps. Additionally, iCloud facilitates the syncing of videos, photos, and documents across different Apple devices, allowing for easy editing and sharing. Organizations utilize iCloud for storage and synchronization of documents and applications on Apple devices, especially in fieldwork scenarios and BYOD environments. Individual users appreciate iCloud for its quick on-the-go backup of mobile files and the convenience of accessing files from any Apple device. In educational settings, iCloud enhances learning experiences by creating cloud backups of Apple applications, enabling students to access their documents from different devices.
Users have provided several recommendations for using Apple iCloud. The most common recommendations are as follows: Start with the small storage option to test compatibility, be fully invested in the Apple system for optimal use, consider pricing and multi-platform access when choosing a storage plan. Additionally, it is recommended to consistently back up devices, check compatibility with current device ecosystem, configure settings for automated backups, and be cautious with settings to avoid unintended consequences. Users emphasize that Apple iCloud is a reliable tool for keeping data safe and accessible but caution that iCloud Drive may not be suitable for non-Apple users.
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Reviews
(26-50 of 73)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
February 22, 2019
Best affordable back-up solution
We use Apple iCloud for backing up our entire supply of corporate iPhones. It allows easy and convenient backup of phone data and documents. We use it to integrate, manage and classify various data, emails, phone calls, text messages, and documents.
- Backing up data.
- Easy and convenient backup of phone data and documents.
- Integrate, manage and classify various data, emails, phone calls, text messages, and documents.
- Price-point for the amount of data purchased.
- Automatic reminders are too frequent.
- The time required to re-upload backup.
February 22, 2019
Best in class.
Every department in my company uses this software. This software is being used for storing important data from various departments in my company. In my department, I always use this software to store my Excel sheets. In my opinion, It is one of the most secure cloud services. Its security gives me peace of mind.
- It is a part of the Apple ecosystem and Apple's ecosystem is the most secured ecosystem.
- I can access my documents from my mobile device also.
- Its auto backup feature continuously backs up my data.
- I cannot share data with other cloud services.
- Its subscription is very expensive.
- Sometimes Windows users find it difficult to navigate this app.
February 22, 2019
iCloud: Fantastic cloud storage for a single user
Our org relies heavily on Dropbox for shared document collections, but most of the team members are Mac users, and iCloud's seamless file syncing between a single user's iOS MacOS devices has been a really useful addition to the mix. Most of us use iCloud to store and archive files created by compatible applications, then move things to Dropbox if they're "done" and need to be accessed by multiple team members.
In a few situations, we've used the collaborative authoring tools that Apple's free productivity apps provide (multiple users working on the same Keynote file in the leadup to a large meeting, for example).
In a few situations, we've used the collaborative authoring tools that Apple's free productivity apps provide (multiple users working on the same Keynote file in the leadup to a large meeting, for example).
- Zero set up integration with Apple and many third-party apps.
- MacOS and iOS document sharing is smooth to the point of being effortlessness.
- Enough storage on the "free" tier that many team members can get by without an upgrade.
- Weak to non-existent shared multi-user storage. i.e. "Here's a shared collection of presentations we all use".
- Built-in iCloud support on an app-by-app basis is necessary to achieve "super seamless" workflow. Without that, it's just Apple's brand of a cloud-synced folder.
February 21, 2019
LOVE!
Apple iCloud makes it very easy to have all my files and documents in one place so I'm able to work remotely on any machine. It's also handy to have all these files in one place in case something happens to our computers or equipment, that we have a reliable backup.
- Convenient! So easy to access files anywhere!
- Affordable. iCloud is a very competitively priced cloud service.
- Speed. I don't have any issues with load time—all my files are right there, right away.
- Tutorials may be helpful. I'm sure that I'm not utilizing all its features.
- The interface on desktops seems a little elementary—could use some updates.
- Mail integration could be easier.
February 21, 2019
Apple iCloud - Strictly Personal, For Productivity - Look Elsewhere.
Our organization use for iCloud is limited to collaborating meeting notes on the Notes app and having a no local storage policy - that means everyone needs to back up everything on the cloud constantly. Or put another way, work on the cloud always. Given the integration of MacOS with iCloud, the local desktop folders are always on the cloud.
- Notes app sync across devices. Easily the only thing that iCloud does really well. It is super helpful.
- iCloud allows seamless and good backup for desktop files from the Mac to the web.
- You will constantly run into issues where iCloud is optimized or available only for Apple's own product line. That's frustrating.
- Apple's Mail app and service are just beleaguered by the likes of Gmail. Perhaps even Zoho does better than them on the web.
- iCloud seems optimized more for a mobile user, so desktop apps & services feel a bit force-fitted.
February 21, 2019
Apple iCloud for the win
It is being used by individuals throughout the organization, however, those that use it are making a personal choice to do so. Many people in my career field are required to keep up with numerous credentials and continuing education documentation. For those that use Apple devices, iCloud has become a very valuable tool for securely storing their documents.
- Apple iCloud integrates beautifully with the entire Apple ecosystem. Whether you are using a MacBook, iPhone, and/or iPad they will all sync at a moments notice through iCloud.
- As a company, Apple has a strong reputation for security. Many cloud storage providers share huge amounts of user data, however, Apple prides themselves on avoiding that.
- Even though Apple iCloud is optimized for Apple devices, data stored on the cloud can be accessed through a web browser on a computer running essentially any operating system.
- The user interface of the web version of iCloud is in need of a facelift.
- Sometimes it seems like sharing large files from iCloud to other users who are not using iCloud can be problematic. I've had people report to me that they were unable to view the information that I shared with them.
- iMessages on Mac needs to have more efficient keyboard shortcuts.
February 16, 2019
Cloud Storage and Device Management All in One
I want to start this review off by saying that I am not an Apple fan. That being said, I do not hate the product, in fact, it has saved my tail on at least one occasion. I have also seen $400 devices turned into a paperweight because they were locked to an iCloud account and unable to be recovered. I am an IT Supervisor at my company. All of the management that I support have iPhones as their company phone, and a few have iPads. The feature of iCloud(and any cloud software) that jumps out is that all of your documents, photos, music, and videos are accessible from any device. This is great for when someone has a meeting, and has a presentation on their phone and need to pull it up on a PC so that it can be projected.
- Provides a cost-effective way to store big data
- Gives the user access to all of their files, on any device anytime and anywhere
- Provides added security to mobile devices.
- My biggest gripe is the difficulty of resetting your password. More on this later in the review.
- More data could be provided for free (Apple gives you 5G, Google gives you 15G)
- Customer support is basically non-existent.
February 16, 2019
Great for Apple Ecosystem. Good Pricing options.
We have around forty Macintosh Servers and our IT staff uses company provided iPhones. We use Apple iCloud on all of these devices. Apple iCloud has a slick app and web interface. I like the fact that it is compatible with Windows, MacOS and iPhone devices, although it is not available on the Android platform. We use it for seamless file syncs across devices. We have bought the $9.99 per month plan for 2TB storage, which is enough for our current needs.
- File sync across devices is great and seamless.
- It works great for Apple's three platforms: iOS, Mac OS and Watch OS.
- Provides free 5GB cloud storage when you buy an Apple phone or computer.
- Ability to access your cloud files through a web interface. However, it lacks the ability to search through the web interface.
- It nags for upgrading the storage if you have free limited 5 GB storage.
- It is not available on the Android platform, which is a bummer if you want to access your files on an Android device.
- It is not truly cross-platform and is more suitable for the Apple ecosystem.
- Collaborative editing on iCloud is not good.
- Sharing files on iCloud with friends and co-workers is only possible through email attachments. This is a limitation as compared to some other popular vendors who provide sharing through links and having an expiration time on the shared permissions.
February 15, 2019
iCloud a delightful and necessary part of a Mac user's experience
We use iCloud across our entire team. I also use it for personal applications. We use several file sharing and collaboration platforms, but as an all-Mac shop, iCloud is the best for in-house sharing. Various Mac and iOS apps that use iCloud for syncing data and file sharing also work extremely well with it.
- File sharing - since its recent updates to allow you to share any type of file and access the whole file system through Finder on Mac and an app in iOS, iCloud is becoming the easiest to use file sharing and collaboration app in our toolkit.
- Document collaboration: iWork apps and Handoff make document collaboration extremely easy across our organization. I even am able to use it with non-Mac users via their iWork in iCloud apps.
- Handoff - the ease of transitioning between devices (handheld, desktop, laptop) has been extremely useful for client presentations and on-the-fly capturing of ideas.
- Sharing interface - the sharing interface is a little bit clunky (relative to most Mac apps) at the moment, it is sometimes difficult to tell whether the sharing functionality is working properly.
- Windows integration - as a Mac-first platform, windows users may find working with iCloud to be difficult. iCloud is perfect for mac-only environments, but will not be as ubiquitous as Google Suite until this improves.
February 14, 2019
Mac Users, Get iCloud!
Apple iCloud makes it easy to sync videos and photos taken on my iPad to my Mac laptop. The photos and videos are readily available for me to edit and share to social media. iCloud is also used to sync documents that I work on with my iPad to my laptop as well. I never miss a beat when editing a presentation from one device to another.
- Documents are synced almost instantaneously.
- Photo sharing
- Backup feature
- I have an old Mac so it takes a little longer than I like for my photo library to load.
- Base storage is very limited, which requires you to purchase more space.
- Transfer of files is very slow for large file sizes.
December 18, 2018
Apple iCloud saves time when using classroom tech!!
I use Apple iCloud daily in my teaching to easily log into applications and websites. My students are young and they often have no memory of their usernames and passwords, let alone the knowledge of what they are for. Apple iCloud allows me to create logins for all of my students that are secure by suggesting passwords for new sites and applications. It also remembers these passwords and usernames for my students and auto fills them. I also love that frequent websites are saved. This saves me so much classroom time when I am trying to use iPads for a student project. It makes the process so much easier!
- Username and password storage
- Secure password suggestions
- Safari browser memory
- Difficult to set up the first time
- Does not remember browser settings within google chrome (many websites function best with google chrome)
- Works better on mobile
December 17, 2018
Convenient Apple iCloud
Apple iCloud allows us to back up our information and easily share it no matter our location.
- Reliably backs up data.
- The ability to do automatic backups is extremely beneficial.
- You can access your data anywhere, and you don't have to have your primary device on you.
- Could be more user-friendly when it comes to navigating through your iCloud account.
- It is not well-explained at times. My first experience with deleting data on my iCloud, I was unaware that it would sync and delete data from my primary device as well.
December 14, 2018
Seamless integration with iOS
Apple iCloud is used by a handful of users to help with their backups and to transfer files between devices.
- seamless integration between devices
- quick setup
- easy to train end users on
- not the best with non ios devices
- expensive
December 14, 2018
A necessary evil :)
I used iCloud to sync personal data from apps that are supported in the OS X and iOS environments.
- It's integrated into the operating system
- It syncs in the background with out requiring my engagement
- It is inexpensive
- It does not play well with all vendors / apps.
- It is one of many services that others do better - depending on what aspect you are talking about. For example, DropBox is a much more platform neutral product that works everywhere
- It is difficult to share some information through iCloud with other parties - even though that is the intention. For example - sharing a spreadsheet or analysis in Numbers via a link to collaborate. The recipients rarely can access without creating an account unless they already use iCloud. Even then it may be awkward
December 12, 2018
Great cloud solution for Apple devices
Our organization uses Apple iCloud for storage and synchronization of documents and applications on Apple / IOS compatable devices used in the field work (e.g., data collection using ipads). However, most of the hardware in our organization has MS Windows as main operating system, so primary use of Apple iCloud is restricted to several Departments (e.g., Data Group).
- Very user friendly and easy to use
- Automatic synchronization
- Quick and efficient
- Expensive, lowering costs is important
- Free version has very limited space
- Manual synchronization is cumbersome and problematic
December 10, 2018
Why I like iCloud?
I've only used Apple iCloud for a little over a year with my iPhone, however when my department purchased me a iPad it made work so much more easy by being able to move between my phone and the iPad.
- Able to move between an iPhone and iPad.
- Able to retrieve information from iCloud without having to worry if my document was backed-up or not.
- Apple iCloud has been very easy to use. I can't think of anything negative.
December 07, 2018
Apple iCloud is a Great Choice for Remote Teams
Apple iCloud is used across the whole organization. It is being used because our team is 100 percent remote and it enables us to work collaboratively and have access to important documents no matter where we are located. It's a great tool for remote teams to have access to, and I highly recommend it.
- Document sharing - enabling teams to have access to the same resources.
- Time saving - saves users the time of having to send documents back and forth.
- Security - Stores documents in a secure manner and prevents loss of important data.
- Apple iCloud could find a way to compress files so that more could be stored. I have run out of space on many occasions.
- Pricing for upgrades is a bit steep.
- Better transferability between Apple and PC products.
April 02, 2018
Great cloud storage system for Apple users
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Just as we have used other cloud storage systems, we have used iCloud in our business to share documents without the need to use hard drives, flash drives, SD cards or an intranet connection. We mostly use iCloud in the graphic design department since we use Mac products for them and iCloud has an excellent compatibility with Mac IOS.
- The ability to share any type of information easily and without any type of additional hardware.
- You can synchronize every Apple product to keep all the information accessible, and since iPhones, iPads and Macs are really common devices this compatibility comes in really handy.
- With iCloud backup, no document is going to get lost. If something is deleted from a device, you can retrieve it from iCloud
- If you pay for a song to be downloaded from iTunes and then pay to store it in iCloud, it's like paying twice so it can be costly in comparison to other cloud software.
- There has been several hacks to iCloud so security is always a concern.
- It works better with Apple products. In business based on Windows there are some better options
January 22, 2018
An essential for personal use, not ideal for business use
iCloud is mainly used to organize personal contacts to import into our contact database, sync photos across multiple devices, share settings between iPhone, iPad, and MacBooks, to screencast presentations and multimedia, and to message rather than use cell phone data.
- Sync across multiple devices
- Update contacts in address book
- Share documents for easy access
- I’m having a problem with duplicate contacts when I sync with other email accounts
- Sometimes the software updates cause it to be a bit buggy
- Upload settings can be different on different devices
January 15, 2018
iCloud - Personal rather than back up
I use it for back up of my documents because I have multiple iOS devices, iPhone, and iPad, which the standard cloud doesn't have enough space for. I am a paid user so I can back up documents and it's convenient because it integrates with other apps when I need to upload documents.
- Always backed up, backs up automatically when you are on wife
- Reliable, haven't lost a file yet
- Relatively inexpensive
- The look and feel is not particularly good looking
- I feel like I am saving a lot in the root directory because of the layout
- Annual billing at a discount instead of a monthly fee
January 12, 2018
iCloud for Apple Shops
iCloud is the glue that ties together desktop and mobile in our Apple environment. It lets us work seamlessly moving from iMacs to iPads and iPhones. It has a slick web interface where all of the apps can be accessed even from dumb Windows boxes. This keeps us productive no matter where we are.
- There is almost no downtime.
- It is truly seamless.
- There is no performance hit, even on mediocre networks.
- It is an attractive interface.
- Basic iCloud gives 5GB free per account - but that really needs to be per device. It is way too small when you have multiple devices.
December 28, 2017
Apple iCloud Honest Review
Apple iCloud is being used by our organization to keep our digital file system in order. It makes it easy for us to pass files back and forth, along with keeping track of revisions of files as we continue to save new versions. It's accessible from anywhere and even works well for those that don't use Mac computers.
- Easy digital filing system
- Keeps track of revisions
- Accessible from PCs and Macs
- Accessible anywhere around the world for our global team
- Not highly used by our clients
- Not great for android phones
- Slower than Google Drive
December 06, 2017
iCloud vs. Flickr
I use Apple iCloud to temporarily back up my personal files and photos from my iPhone 7. I also use this phone for work, so sometimes my work files and photos are inadvertently backed up. The iCloud provides automatic storage for files on my phone, which means if it were damaged, lost or stolen, these files would be accessible to me.
- Set it and forget it
- Free for iPhone users up to a certain amount of data
- I find the “unable to backup” warning annoying.
- Free version is only 5Gb.
- Web interface version can be a little confusing to navigate
December 06, 2017
iCloud is Great!
It's primarily used to upload, share and store documents, photos, etc. It has provided us with a way to collaborate on projects while working across multiple locations. It improved upon our previous system that didn't work nearly as well. It also made training time easier, since many of us are iOS/Mac users and have already been familiar with iCloud.
- Store documents and photos- I think this is pretty self-explanatory.
- Allow for simpler collaboration- a few of us have started using Pages and Notes on iCloud.com to work on a few projects together. This isn't always as simple in Microsoft Office, I've found.
- Set reminders- iCloud.com has the Reminders app that we've used as a quick, dirty system to remember to make calls or follow up with one another. It's cut down on the number of sticky notes on my desk and in my notebook.
- The Notes app in iCloud.com lacks the same functionality as iOS/Mac, in that it doesn't recognize when you've inserted a table into a note.
- Pages, Numbers, and Keynote aren't as up-to-date as their iOS and Mac counterparts.
- The level of editability (adding colors, etc.) isn't there in iCloud Drive like it is with Google Drive.
September 29, 2016
iCloud's KeyChain syncing shines
The most used part of Apple iCloud that we have is iCloud KeyChain. It is used to back up login credentials and authentication for various apps. We use it across all our devices in the company. The main problem it solves is that it makes transition from one device to the next very easy for each user. They can simply log in to their iCloud account on the next machine and KeyChain restores their authentication information seamlessly.
- Backup of login credentials with KeyChain works particularly well. No other competitor can match the fully integrated nature of iCloud because Apple owns the operating system.
- Seamless syncing with iCloud Backup works to a decent degree. Competitors like Dropbox are catching up, but iCloud comes out of the box and ready to go on new Apple devices, so it saves time for IT.
- iCloud contacts helps with organization-wide syncing of contacts.
- There's lack of configuration options for most iCloud services. You cannot tune things to your IT department's requirements often.
- It would be nice to have unlimited iCloud Backup by default across all devices.
- iCloud Mail needs improvement of UI/UX.