- #What is back to my mac in icloud preferences archive#
- #What is back to my mac in icloud preferences upgrade#
Instead, you access them via specific apps: Photos, Pages, etc. However, it doesn't operate in the same way as, say, Dropbox or OneDrive, in that you can't access (or organize) your collection of files via a Finder-like app - not on your mobile devices, anyway. iCloud Drive is more about document sync than backup. It's a cloud-based, document-oriented file-storage service that keeps your data in sync between various devices: PCs, Macs, iPhones, iPads and so on. In the simplest terms, iCloud Drive is Apple's version of Dropbox.
#What is back to my mac in icloud preferences upgrade#
Photos and videos? Yes, unless you've enabled the iCloud Photo Library beta, which already stores your photos and videos in iCloud.īut what's this about "purchase history"? According to Apple, "Your iCloud backup includes information about the content you have purchased, but not the purchased content itself." Movies, music, books, and the like are automatically downloaded back to your device if you restore a backup.Īll those MP3s you ripped from your CDs, though? Or videos you copied from your PC? No dice: "iCloud Backup doesn't back up music, movies, and TV shows that you didn't purchase from the iTunes Store, or any podcasts, audio books, or photos that you originally synced from your computer."Īha! So even if you paid to upgrade your storage plan and enabled every backup option you could find within Settings, you might not be getting a full backup.
#What is back to my mac in icloud preferences archive#
When you enable that, your device will archive things such as purchase history, device settings, app data (but not apps?), iMessage and text messages, and voicemail.
Meanwhile, Photos is set to "On," but where exactly are my backed-up photos located? Mail, Contacts, and a few other core apps are "enabled," but what does that even mean? Like I said: confusing. In this example, taken from my iPhone 6 Plus, iCloud Drive is off - yet I paid for an upgraded storage plan when iCloud Drive was announced. Indeed, venture into Settings > iCloud and you'll find more questions than answers: So if iCloud Drive is off, are my documents being backed up? (That's where iCloud Drive comes in see below.) Rather, it serves to back up much (but not all) of what's stored on your iDevice, while syncing some (but not all) of your data to other devices. ICloud is, of course, Apple's online storage service, but it's not a file-sharing service like Dropbox or Microsoft OneDrive. I base this assessment on my own confusion and the confusion of countless people who have asked me to explain it to them. What is iCloud?Ī big, muddled mess, that's what. So let's take a look at which service does what, with an eye toward what options to consider for whole-device backup.
But is it a replacement for iCloud Backup? An extension of it? A totally separate entity? If you upgrade your storage plan, does that also give you more space for backups? Then, a few months ago, Apple took the wraps off iCloud Drive, a service that seemed to offer more bang for your storage buck. No more syncing? iCloud backs up everything or just some things? What about photos? And do apps like Facebook really need to be backed up to the cloud? For many an iPhone or iPad user accustomed to syncing their devices to their desktops or laptops, the 2011 arrival of Apple's iCloud service created no small amount of head-scratching.