After years of honored service, your trusty mobile has abandoned you and, after thinking about it for a long time, you have subsequently made up your mind to purchase your first iPhone . You feel good. Unfortunately, however, you feel that you do not yet know the best of the world of Apple services and would like to know more, especially regarding the functioning of iCloud .
No problem: if you want to know how iCloud works , I can explain it to you in detail. In the course of this tutorial, in fact, I will talk to you about the characteristics and functionalities of the famous cloud platform of the Cupertino giant, explaining how to use it. Before getting to the heart of the matter, however, you need to know that iCloud is not just a service that allows you to create backup copies of your data and photos.
ICloud includes many services accessible from iPhone, iPad, Mac and in some cases also from Windows and web browsers: the best known is the iCloud Drive data storage and synchronization service, but there are also iCloud Photos (to make photo and video backup), iCloud Mail for email (which also provides an option to create fake email addresses (which refer to the real one of iCloud) and to use custom domains, if you activate a paid plan), ICloud Keychain to save your passwords securely, and the list could go on and on. The basic version of the service is free, with 5 GB of online data storage, but to access all the features you need to upgrade to a paid plan. Find everything explained below.
Index
- ICloud pricing and plans
- How Apple iCloud Works
- How iCloud Plus works
- How iCloud Family works
- How Apple One works
- How to use iCloud
- How iCloud works on iPhone
- How iCloud works on Android
- How iCloud works on Windows
- How iCloud works on Mac
- How iCloud Drive Works
- How iCloud Photos works
ICloud pricing and plans
First let’s see what iCloud offers and how much it costs which, although it has a free plan, gives its best by activating the paid ones.
How Apple iCloud Works
The free version of iCloud is given free to anyone with an Apple ID , which is the online profile they are asked to activate when they start using devices such as iPhone , iPad and Mac or use Apple’s online services. In other words, if you already have an Apple ID, you are already a free iCloud space owner.
For all those who have an Apple ID, iCloud provides 5 GB of online space, which will be used in sharing between the various services that use it: online backup of devices, photos and videos saved in iCloud photos, notes, documents and all app data that requires saving to iCloud. If you want to know in more detail how to create an Apple ID , I leave you to my dedicated tutorial.
How iCloud Plus works
As soon as you start using iCloud a little more intensively, the free 5GB comes out tight. For this reason, you can decide to upgrade to one of iCloud’s paid plans , which fortunately start at more than affordable prices.
The basic plan, in fact, costs 0.99 euros / month with 50 GB of storage and HomeKit’s secure video function for a video camera; higher up is the $ 2.99 / month one with 200GB of storage with support for HomeKit’s Secure Video feature for five cameras, while further ahead is the 2 TB plan for 9.99 a month and support HomeKit’s Secure Video feature for an unlimited number of cameras.
If you upgrade to any paid plan, you will automatically switch to an iCloud + profile , which includes, in addition to online storage, also additional services such as the private iCloud relay (a sort of VPN that increases privacy in browsing. with Safari), the use of fictitious addresses and the ability to use custom domains on iCloud Mail. More info on the official Apple website .
How iCloud Family works
Do you have a family of Apple product users? Then know that by purchasing one of the iCloud + plans mentioned above you will also have the possibility to share everything with up to five family members . Just add family members and let them participate in this shared space.
If one of them already had a premium plan, they can still decide whether to switch to yours (receiving a refund), or stay with theirs but still join the group . Once logged in, anyone can use as much space as they want by uploading their files, but only those they choose to make “public” for everyone will be visible to others.
Sharing therefore does not mean losing one’s privacy, which can only make everyone happy. However, what it is possible to know at any time is how much space a particular member of the group is using, in order to avoid excessive imbalances.
The one who will be in charge of paying the subscription will always be the one who subscribed it, so don’t forget this detail. Also, if one of the family members purchases a service or app, it will be immediately available to all members. If you want to know how to share the account from various devices , you can read the official Apple page.
How Apple One works
If, in addition to iCloud, you intend to use other Apple-branded services, such as Apple TV + and Apple Music , you may want to consider activating an Apple One plan .
With Apple One you pay a single subscription to access all Apple services, then iCloud + , Apple TV + , Apple Music , Apple Arcade (to access a vast catalog of games for iOS / iPadOS and Mac without advertising) and, only for the plan Premium, also Apple Fitness + (for videos dedicated to physical training).
There are three different levels of subscription with different iCloud storage quantities: Individual at € 14.99 / month , Family at € 19.95 / month and Premium at € 28.95 / month . Clearly, by purchasing the package you are going to save compared to the separate purchase of the individual services.
How to use iCloud
We’ve seen what it offers, so now let’s get to the action and find out more about how to use iCloud on various devices.
How iCloud works on iPhone
To use iCloud on iPhone you must activate this item during the initial configuration of the device ; alternatively you can remedy at any time by acting from the Settings : in this case, just tap on your name to access the section relating to your Apple ID (if your name is not there, log in to your Apple ID by pressing the appropriate item).
On the next screen, tap on the iCloud item , then on the iCloud Backup item and move the lever relating to the iPhone backup function to iCloud to ON . As for the data of the individual apps, go back to the iCloud screen and press the Show all item under the app panel, to select which ones, among those on your iPhone, must save the data on iCloud (I recommend that you leave all active).
Do you want to know more about the space occupied by apps on iCloud , manage this space and possibly increase it? Then go back to the Settings> iCloud menu and, by pressing on the Manage account space item you will be able to view detailed information about the space occupied by the apps. On devices with a version prior to iOS 10.3, this item is visible by tapping on Settings> iCloud> Archive .
In case you want to upgrade to a higher iCloud plan , just go to Settings> iCloud and, subsequently, scroll down and then press the item Upgrade to iCloud + .
If you work from iPad , the procedures to be performed are the same as those just illustrated. For more details on how to backup iPhone and iPad , I leave you to my dedicated tutorials.
How iCloud works on Android
Do you use an Android smartphone ? In this case, I’m sorry to inform you that in the current state of things, there is no official app that allows you to use iCloud via a device animated by this operating system: all those that promise to do so are unofficial, often of dubious origin. and therefore are to be avoided as they can cause data security risks.
You can still use the iCloud applications from your browser by connecting to the icloud.com site or, if you are interested in Apple Music , you can download the relevant official app .
How iCloud works on Windows
You can use iCloud on Windows and have access to your data even on PCs with the Microsoft operating system. To do this, simply download the official iCloud client from the Windows 10 or Windows 11 Microsoft Store .
Once the application is open, log in by entering the access data relating to the Apple ID that you have previously created or that you use on other devices. At this point, put the check mark in correspondence with the items you see on the screen ( iCloud Drive , iCloud Photos , Bookmarks ) to synchronize them and have access to data also through your PC.
If you want to have access to some customizations for iCloud, click on the Options items corresponding to the words Photos and Bookmarks . It should also be noted that, for those who have installed Windows 11 , integration with iCloud photos in the Windows Photos application is provided (at the time of writing, however, the function is not yet available).
Also from the iCloud application for Windows, if you want to switch to an iCloud + plan, click on the Archive item , then on Change storage plan then choose the plan and buy it.
To access your emails, contacts, reminders and calendar, you can also use the web version of iCloud , where you can simply connect, log in and manage everything you have on the cloud without any problems. For more details on how to download iCloud , I leave you to my guide on the subject.
How iCloud works on Mac
As easily understood, iCloud on Mac is included “as standard”, so using it is really a breeze. The first thing to do is to activate the service in macOS, if not already done during the initial setup.
To do this, click on the System Preferences icon and then on the Apple ID entry next to your name. Now press on the iCloud item and then on the Start using iCloud button . From here enter your Apple ID and password to access your profile.
You will then be able to access the iCloud screen on Mac and check which items you want to be synchronized. To do this, just put the check mark next to the items on the iCloud screen ( Contacts , Favorites , Photos , Calendar , for example).
If you want to know more about the synchronized data and the remaining space on iCloud, just click on the Manage … item that you can find below. To confirm the synchronization of your iCloud data with the respective macOS applications, simply close the iCloud window.
If, on the other hand, you want to view all the data stored on iCloud Drive, start the Finder at this point (the emoticon icon ) and click on the iCloud Drive item that you find in the left sidebar. You will be able to view all the documents synchronized in the cloud.
If you want to switch to an iCloud + profile, then click on the System Preferences icon , then on the Apple ID button and choose the iCloud item . Then click on Manage followed by Change storage plan . Once you’ve entered your Apple ID, you can choose the one you prefer.
How iCloud Drive Works
If we are only talking about the cloud service where to store your data, then we are referring to iCloud Drive . This memory, which I have talked about extensively in the various previous chapters, is ideal for those who are afraid that, in the event of the device being stolen or broken, their data will be lost. To know more about how iCloud Drive works , I leave you to my dedicated tutorial.
How iCloud Photos works
When it comes to photos and videos, space is never enough: for this you can turn to iCloud Photos , one of the services of the iCloud package that allows you to store your shots and videos on the cloud. To learn more, in addition to what has already been said in this tutorial, on iCloud Photos , I leave you to my dedicated article.
