Quite a while ago Apple introduced its own answer to Google Drive and Dropbox. It’s called iCloud Drive and you’ve probably heard of it, used it or seen it. Many users, however, are concerned about using the cloud to store their data because they know very little about it. Some think it’s unsafe to store data in the cloud; still others are afraid it’ll suddenly disappear or be stolen.
None of those things are true, and I’ll tell you why.
What is Cloud Storage?
The term “Cloud” in this context refers to a group of computer servers that are connected to each other and to the Internet. That’s basically what iCloud is as well. The entire iTunes environment is cloud, and so is the App Store for that matter. Using this group of servers Apple is able to store very, very large amounts of data.
Some of this storage capacity is given to Apple device users so they can store large files such as videos, high-resolution photos, music and so on. The 5GB that comes free with your iTunes account – which is also your iCloud account – is yours to use for as long as that account is live. You can also “tier up” to higher capacities starting at as little as 99 cents a month. Depending on how much storage you need, Apple offers upgrades up to 1 TB (terabyte) and beyond.
So What is iCloud Drive? And is it Safe?
iCloud Drive is nothing but a location within iCloud where various folders are created to save your content according to its type and source. So does that mean anyone can access those folders? Absolutely not! When you access an iCloud Drive location with a particular Apple ID, you get access to a specific location that nobody else can get to. Even Apple employees don’t have access to that data, for that matter. Nobody but you can see what’s inside your own iCloud Drive folders. I tell you this with confidence because Apple is very, very serious about protecting user privacy.
You will, of course, remember the altercation between Apple and the FBI when the latter wanted Apple to break into the iPhone 5c belonging to one of the shooters in the San Bernardino attack in February this year. That was a simple device unlock of a phone that was issued by the shooter’s employee, but Apple refused to budge, thus directly confronting the FBI with a big “NO”. If they’re that protective of individual devices, you can imagine the kind of security protocols they have in place for iCloud Drive access.
iCloud Drive is one of the most safest, most convenient solutions for digital data storage for Apple users. It is usable not only on your iPhone, iPad or iPod, but also on Macs. The user interface is slightly different for desktops and laptops versus mobile devices, but it works in much the same way. For mobile devices all you need to remember is that you need to have a particular app open in order to access files that were created by that app. For example, if you created a file using Pages, or if it’s a Microsoft Word document, then you’ll only be able to access it with Pages on your mobile device. But that’s about the biggest difference. You can edit the document, share it with another person and do pretty much anything you can on a Mac.
All you need to do is enable the service on your device or install it on your Mac and you’re ready to go with 5GB of free data storage.
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