iCloud EXPLAINED! Here's what you need to know!
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Shared albums is a way to get extra iCloud storage. My iCloud storage is more than full meaning photos I get on my phone don’t show up on my iCloud on another device. But any photos I add to shared albums do show up on the other device.
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I would love to have spoken to my nan about iCloud’s and apple. She would’ve wondered how you could phone someone on an apple or how you could do anything other than eat an apple. The only clouds she was aware of was the ones in the sky so how could you save anything in them. I didn’t have iPhone when she was alive so no idea what she would’ve thought but she just didn’t understand anything to do with mobiles or computers. She thought there was a big internet and little internet🤣🤣. Big internet was on computer and little internet on laptop. I don’t think she even know mobiles had internet on them that might’ve been tiny internet 🤣
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There’s a part of the Apple ecosystem that I’ve not touched on in all the years that I’ve been working on this channel, but I get asked about a lot in the comments, and that’s iCloud. It’s something that I reckon we all use every day as Apple users, yet a huge number of people find it really confusing. And to be fair, that’s because Apple make it way more confusing than it needs to be.
An excellent explanation that iCloud is for the convenience of immediate access across multiple apple devices and that it is NOT a backup, as my wife has been using it. I used iCloud for Windows to create such a backup. However, iCloud synchronises a lesser quality version to devices to save storage space. It also seems to synchronise very frequently, downloading about 24,000 items for a 6,000 photo library. There's only a handful of non-photo files being synchronised so I figure maybe they're thumbnails. I manually downloaded full size copies, which must be done in a .zip format at 1,000 files per time. Unzipping creates files with a new Date Modified field, making sequencing by date only possible if using a proper photo app that uses the Date Created EXIF data. It's been quite a learning experience, I didn't even know what EXIF was previously. Think different(ly). 🙂 Subscribed.
So in this video, I’m going to explain what iCloud is, and what it isn’t. I’ll debunk some myths, and try and answer some Frequently Asked Questions, so that hopefully by the end of this video, iCloud will be a tool you can use with confidence, to get the most out of it, rather than be confused by.
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I lost last year whats app’s as i did not put icloud on for whats app. Are they still be restored?
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trying to get my step mom's (she is lovely don't worry) stuff to work as a non apple user so i'm really thankfull for this video.
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Love these videos they teach me so much. On the subject of iCloud storage I seem to have a discrepancy of about 90 videos. On manage storage it say 219 videos but when I press review photos and videos It says I have 128 videos, which I am sure the latter is correct. I have cleared all Recently deleted box’s and they are empty, any ideas?
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Do u have deviated nasal septum?
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would be great if it actually worked this way. I can't tell you when I've deleted something on messages on one device and it deleted on any other. I'm between a Mac, iPad, and iPhone and I have to delete messages on EVERY device EVERY time. It's infuriating. all on the same icloud account. all using "messages in icloud". I grew up in the days with Apple products "just worked". But as complexity has grown, that has become the exception.
Chapters
0:00 - Intro
If I take a photo with my iPad and it automatically uploads to my phone, is it pointing to the photo in the cloud or is the actual photo downloaded onto my phone and using my phone space?
0:37 - What is iCloud?
4:55 - What does iCloud store?
As a tech guy, the one thing I've never understood is iCloud. and I am only 5 minutes in and this is SO GOOD.
Separately, and related, I do wish I could use my iPhone like an android in the sense that I could literally plug my old android into my computer and drag and drop the DCIM camera folder. That would be a GAMECHANGER for iPhone. I LOVE my iPhone, but very much dislike how I can not drag and drop files by plugging the phone into my computer. So if you have a solution for that I would love to hear it.
Thank you for this epic video!
7:05 - Isn't iCloud Drive basically iCloud?
10:56 - What about Shared Photo Albums?
A good explanation. Thanks. I dream of Google Drive and its simplicity and usability, but if you are going to use iCloud and its over-complication of just about everything, then this video is as good a place to start :-) .
13:11 - What about Backups?
15:17 - Managing iCloud Storage
Thank you, this was very useful. I like your presenting style, it's is very clear. I've used Mac devices for years and I've always found iCloud unnecessarily convoluted, but it's nice to know I'm not the only one. It does feel intentional, though I'm not sure what Apple achieves in creating the confusion as there doesn't appear to be a monetary gain?
17:24 - What is iCloud.com?
18:40 - What about iCloud+?
Ummm. There is an inaccuray. Icloud drive does the exact same thing. I drop a file in there and it shows up on my desktop Mac, Mabook air, ipad, iphone. And if you. update it. It will sync with all devices. Along with e-mail, photo's, etc.
More User Perspectives
Why hasn’t Apple developed a way to delete a photo on one device whilst preserving it on the others?
@pwrstockis this still relevant for 2025?
@CAINMusic-OfficialEverything I ever needed to know and whole bunch more! Great information.
@hillcountryDIYBecause of this, I have all those photos that I’m afraid to touch! I don’t want the photos on both iPads but I don’t want to lose photos either!😮
@lruss5050Thanks!
@NancyReevesVery good, But maybe covering too much ground in one video. I would prefer you to go a bit slower so that some things have time to sink in.. I know I could pause the video - but...
@davidwake6886One question that came up for me, was my iPad has only 128 Gb of memory, my iPhone 14 Pro Max is the same, and my Imac has 4 Terabytes. So on my iMac, I could have much more data, whether images, or other files, so I'm wondering how the different size of memory each device has, will react to the uploaded files in the Cloud? I know I'll never have my 4 TB full, but I already have more than the iPad would hold, so I'm confused at how the Cloud works with all devices being different sized memory?
@Powerstroke98Less than 5 minutes into the video and I’ve already learnt so much! Thank you for making this video! I’ve had iPhones since the iPhone 3G came out but have never used iCloud. I’ve always backed up photos and videos to an external hard drive or google photos but I want to now start using iCloud. Found this video and omg it has made things so easy to understand! THANK YOU ❤️
@edenleighlHi! Did you forget about Custom domains in iCloud+ or did you omit that on purpose? This is a very useful feature.
@driver288croke
@mufferrsits rpetty insane that even with the amount of strage thats required, you cant make a full icloud back up. Only "essentials"
@Jensen-CVery helpful; I'm a klutz with tech issues, including ICloud. Your explanation was clear and concise; mega thanks for that.
@MrRezilloUseless for storage then
@Tri_Abhi👏👏👍
@cmramakrishnan9570If "Save to iCloud" is not selected, all the information for that app will be backed up with your regular backup.
If "Save to iCloud" is selected, all the information for that app will not be backed up with your regular backup.
Regular backup means TimeMachine on Mac, iCloud Backup on iPhone.
... maybe you should spend some time learning more about icloud...
@ryshaskThanks for the informative video!
@DigiMixAudioIt’s very interesting using Dropbox it’s easy to open and modify Excel, Word, files, which in iFiles is not the case.
@FrankNicholasDaleOMG. By halfway mark I’m totally confused.
@royking7298Okay you mentioned everything positive about the Apple iPhone and computer, But nothing on their dishonesty You can take most of their apps off the iPhone put not of their computers, and apple can add any app that is theirs that they want, and the customer is paying for more iCloud for their apps, I had Shazam and they charged me for much music which was on Shazam. When I tried to get a hold of them to stop payment I only got a recording, but they were wanting me to pay for more storage on iCloud so I did pay for more iCloud. Then I got a hold of my credit card company and told them I want much music taken off. So then I got a message from Apple saying I need more storage what they did was take that money I payed for more storage and put it on much music they are crooks. Do you work for them lol
@daleholte7234A bit out of date at 14:50. My iPhone 16 Pro 18.3.2 as of 4/16/2025 is a little different. Maybe beause i pay for iCloud Plus?. On my iPhone, I tap iCloud+ then iCloud Backup. There it shows me the "Back Up This iPhone" and the cellular (mine says cellular, not mobile) settings. FYI, I'm in the US and Jess is in the UK. Not sure that matters. Great video. Subscribed.
@21847835gBRILLIANT. I’ve got multiple, simultaneous “issues”. Regardless, Sir, MUCH RESPECT DUE. a comment made from a YT account of our NGO - but my (Shuvo Dastidar) words are relevant to me as an employee and an individual
@ISPaD1947iCloud is very difficult to understand but one thing you did not mention. It’s not a total back of your IMAC. You need a separate external hard drive for a system recovery.
@JB-ej2qyCan I turn of syncing photos on my mac, but still use iCloud syncing on other devices?
@MikeSilaninApple intentionally makes it difficult to move photos & videos in bulk from iPhone to a laptop. If we can put them on laptop or move to external hard drive, then we won’t need bigger storage devices and don’t have to pay for additional iCloud storage. So, apple doesn’t let us do it. I get so mad about these anti consumer practices.
@myspace04Ok. iCloud says I have 15,269 messages stored in the forever section of iCloud. Why are we not able to download those messages if they're stored forever? If we can't download them, why are even being stored?
@navycorpsmanveteran61I'm new to your channel and this is the first video of yours I have watched. This is the best Cloud+ video I have seen. Thank you for thoroughly explaining this. I am new to Apple (I've been a Samsung user for many years) and this has helped me understand Apple's offerings a bit more. I am going to check out your other videos. Subscribed!
@BrandiBlueSkiesMost people can’t use it properly because of the price of apple storage. I have an external ssd in my 256gb Mac mini. If I want to back up stuff from ssd it will then try and drop it on the Mac drive and fill it up.
@JonBushellSuperb explanation, just like your appleTv video - excellent quality really. I subscribed!!
@al6377Let's say i want to get an iphone and i buy the base storage version of the phone, but have an android device with much much more storage. If i bought the iPhone, would I have to purchase the icloud+ first before transferring my data from one device to the other to compensate for the storage difference? I suppose I might have answered my own question by detailing my own question 🤔 😅😂
Blessings
Explained really well. Thanq
@caliph21I-cloud drives are actually stored on a GOOGLE cloud systems
@Rio-by1ehWhat happened to my icloud i just 47 pic only then 5 videos then why my icloud is alrwady full like i can use the icloud email. 😭😭
@NefeliCatsYou forgot to say that iCloud is an extortion device apple could easily allow the owner to print out contacts list and photos or download data onto a thumb drive but if they did that it would ruin the extortion scam
@msbluesmanthe shared photo album is still driving me crazy. is there still no way we can organized/move our photos into different album?
@legioncommander4459Clicked to view info on i Cloud and iCloud drive. Therefore your spending time on Dropbox was Spam. Please change the title so as not to mislead. Dropbox needs to drop dead!
@domciancibelliThank you for the incredible explanation
@Johnjohns-i1p