I can Fix iCloud for Apple, Philosophically speaking.

[jadot]

Currently I have the following.

Apple Music/Family Sharing - £14.99 p/m
iCloud, Family sharing -
email, calendars etc.
iCloud Drive. 200GB Storage @ £2.50 per month - Me (Using around 56GB)
200GB Storage @ £2.50 per month - My Wife Using around 50GB.
1TB Dropbox Pro @ £7.99 per month. Using around 500GB

I use dropbox as a file server, in a way. I share my small business documents with another user who can edit and save files back to the same folder. I share folders of images to clients who can view and download them from a link to the folder.

I'm using iCloud for not very much really. I store pictures there, and my wife does too on her 200GB. A few folders, a few files.

Wait.

Office 365 home = £7.99 per month.
I can use it like I use dropbox, collaborate on folders, and sync and share between whomever I choose.
I get 1TB of data per user up to 5 users.
I get A suite of office Apps on all the devices I need.
One Note, Word, Outlook, Excel, etc.

Isn't that essentially what Apple's 'Family Sharing' is supposed to be? They've crippled iCloud by dividing up the storage. iCloud drive doesn't act like a drive but is instead just a sync pot for individual Apple IDs to access on multiple devices. Why can't Apple consolidate the following between family members?:

Storage - Let me decide with the other responsible adults on family sharing how much data we can have between us. A bit like partitioning. You have 1TB - You're using 345GB, member 2 is using 243GB, member 3 is using 33GB, and so on.

Shared Folders. What can't family members be allocated permission to access folders? If one member is working on a document then make it about collaboration!

Shared Photo Library (storage) - Why not have it so that images are pooled into a shared library by default if I want. At least let the images part of life able to share common storage.

Apple Music - £15??!! Come on! That's streaming the same thing to a different device in the same house!

Apple need to bring this Family Sharing thing together a bit more. It's all about permissions. They could offer an iCloud service thus:

1 TB shared storage (Tiered Pricing to 2TB - Charge more for more storage, dummy)
Apple Music
iCloud Drive Sharing (Treat iCloud Drive like a hard drive that individuals can share & sync)
£15-£18 per month.

What's that? All of Dropbox's users are migrating to Apple because of the all in one eco system of it all?

Right now family sharing means I can't use iCloud any more. I'm done with it. I've gotta say, Microsoft seem to have a much better handle on what their customers want these days...

 

[M. Gustave]

There is no "iTunes Match" anymore.

 

[jadot]

There is no "iTunes Match" anymore.

Really?

 

[M. Gustave]

Really?

They may be servicing old accounts, but it's been completely removed from the iOS interface, and the Apple page describing the differences between AM and Match gives an error message now.

 

[jadot]

They may be servicing old accounts, but it's been completely removed from the iOS interface, and the Apple page describing the differences between AM and Match gives an error message now.

So how does that equate to 'there is no iTunes Match anymore"? I agree iTunes Match should be a feature integrated into Apple Music, but it's not. I can't access my own music recorded and pushed into iTunes without Match (i.e my own compositions and demos aren't on the iTunes store), which is just one of the reasons I need it.

Either way, I have to pay for that service if I want it, when it should have been built into the Apple Music cost, keeping in context with my original post

 

[M. Gustave]

...I agree iTunes Match should be a feature integrated into Apple Music, but it's not. I can't access my own music recorded and pushed into iTunes without Match (i.e my own compositions and demos aren't on the iTunes store), which is just one of the reasons I need it.

You're wrong. I have an Apple Music subscription (not Match), and all my demos from my old band are uploaded and available just fine.

There is no longer any functional difference between the old "iTunes Match" and Apple Music.

 

[Rigby]

There is no "iTunes Match" anymore.

Well, you should better tell Apple then:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204146
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204439

 

[M. Gustave]

Well, you should better tell Apple then:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204146
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204439

Ok, I stand corrected on that point. But as I said, Apple Music does have the "iTunes Match" functionality rolled into it now.

 

[Rigby]

Ok, I stand corrected on that point. But as I said, Apple Music does have the "iTunes Match" functionality rolled into it now.

Apple Music was always capable of uploading own (non-catalog) music to the iTunes Music Library. The only thing that has recently changed is that they switched from using metadata to using audio fingerprints when trying to identify songs that are in their catalog (like iTunes Match has always done).

 

[jadot]

Ok, I stand corrected on that point. But as I said, Apple Music does have the "iTunes Match" functionality rolled into it now.

Apple Music was always capable of uploading own (non-catalog) music to the iTunes Music Library. The only thing that has recently changed is that they switched from using metadata to using audio fingerprints when trying to identify songs that are in their catalog (like iTunes Match has always done).

Right - I've deleted iTunes Match out of my Original post - the subscription is ending soon, and it has little to do with iCloud storage anyway. Can we get past it?
The post was intended to discuss iCloud storage and sharing and permissions - not the differences between AM and Match.
Thanks.

 

[tromboneaholic]

So how does that equate to 'there is no iTunes Match anymore"? I agree iTunes Match should be a feature integrated into Apple Music, but it's not. I can't access my own music recorded and pushed into iTunes without Match (i.e my own compositions and demos aren't on the iTunes store), which is just one of the reasons I need it.

Either way, I have to pay for that service if I want it, when it should have been built into the Apple Music cost, keeping in context with my original post

I cancelled Match, since my Apple Music subscription does indeed replicate it.