iCloud Drive and Storage Use - Which plan (if any) are you on?

[mikzn]

I am curious to know what the break down of what plans are best for different users and what if any use iCloud Drive is used for ?

Curious to hear any comments on iCloud Drive use and what storage plan you use it and support your use of multiple apple devices?

 

[mikzn]

hmm not much of a sample 6 @ - 3 for free and 3 for 50gb

 

[splifingate]

Ideally, I c/would be comfy with 500GiB, but--since it doesn't exist--I have only one choice (2TiB).

Since my Photos/iMessage databases are shared amongst the comps/phone, that's 310GiB right off the top.

Documents consume 50GiB; Backups 0,5GiB; Mail 0,2GiB

That leaves me with 1,65TiB of 'space', the entirety of which is currently unutilised.

OTOH, if I kept my Photos database to a minimum (e.g., copy-off-locally anything older than the past week), I could probably drop to the 200GiB plan: sadly, the USD7/mo is not that critical, and I let my laziness persist

I had/ve plans to upload some of the multi-GiB of data on-hand to maintain my strategy of multiple-multiple backups, but the time to measure the space between the tyre-and-the-road has been lacking for god-knows-how-long.

Local/Cloud storage is cheap, and there's only so many copies a person can mentor in a Day, so There It Is <smile>

Regards, splifingate

 

[Gregg2]

I just use the "free plan". I treat it as if it's an external that's always plugged in. It's one of three ways I back up my files. I do not use it for photos, and don't make my own videos, so I'm not even close to running out of space.

 

[mikzn]

I don't use it for photos either - would need the 2TB if I did - lol - I do rely on it heavily for Keynote presentations and access to technical documents - works great and a bargain at .99 cents per month

FWIW - I have noticed that even my "iMessage" storage history (4.2g) is almost more than the free plan allocates -

Am on the 50g - good deal for a "buck a month"

 

[lemieuxfan67]

I have the 2TB plan, mainly because of photos backup (approx. 300GB alone). If 500GB or 1TB were available I would go that route. To me, the cost (technically $8.50 per month since I always get iTunes cards at least 15% off) is worth the peace of mind of another backup, that is synced automatically. I lost a majority of my photos around 8 years ago when both my primary hard drive and backup failed at the same time. While this is a rare case scenario, I can't risk that happening again...especially now that I have 3 kids and years of memories.

 

[Fishrrman]

None of them.
I don't put my trust in "the cloud".
That means: ANYBODY'S cloud...

 

[iTarbuck]

I am curious to know what the break down of what plans are best for different users and what if any use iCloud Drive is used for ?

Curious to hear any comments on iCloud Drive use and what storage plan you use it and support your use of multiple apple devices?

I store all of my files in the iCloud Drive, and love it! I can access all of them remotely from all of my devices, including iOS, find the upload and download very fast and use it to sync the desktops of my Mac and MacBook for simultaneous operation. I back all files up on an external SSD for safe keeping each month.

Due to my OCD, I often clean out old or unwanted files so my storage at the moment only requires the £2.99 plan - and hopefully it will stay that way!

For anyone skeptical about converting to iCloud from HDD or SSD - take the leap!

 

[iBarça-Boy]

Have the 2TB formule for 10 euro.
I use it with 3 users. I'm using only 191GB @ the moment.
But waiting for the function on my Netgear nas to backup offsite to apple icloud.

 

[mikzn]

I thought I would bump this poll and open the poll again to get more input

I am using iCloud more and more for working files and create folders for projects and shared use of my iPhone, Ipad Pro and 2 MBP's - Most files are excel, word docs, Keynote Presentations, and a ton of PDF documents ( Also using Adobe Creative Cloud which is also awesome) I don't store any pictures or any media on iCloud because I like to back up Important Media with CCC

Increasingly I am using iCloud for day to day documents and presentations and have yet to have an issue with a missing file, badly synced folder or document and my imessages alone take more than the basic 5g free storage - using the 50g plan which is great for my needs and very affordable - a very good deal

Any thoughts updates?

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

If they followed Google Drive and offered the ability to sync more root folders than Documents and Desktop, I would be all over the higher plans.

 

[mikzn]

If they followed Google Drive and offered the ability to sync more root folders than Documents and Desktop, I would be all over the higher plans.

Maybe I don't understand - but all my custom folders sync - no issues

I just create a folder in iCloud drive and put files into it and they appear on my iPad Pro and iPhone and other macs

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Maybe I don't understand - but all my custom folders sync - no issues

I just create a folder in iCloud drive and put files into it and they appear on my iPad Pro and iPhone and other macs

As in, syncing the original Music, Video folders et al in the Home folder.

 

[mikzn]

ah - ok 👍

 

[BigMcGuire]

If iCloud had selective sync I'd use it for work - but I have to use OneDrive for work because I don't want to sync all my data to my work computers.

I do have all my personal data in iCloud. My family uses iCloud for all their data so I have the 2TB plan. It has gotten a lot better - I can't wait for shared folders - this has been a LOOOONG time coming.

 

[DinkThifferent]

Before my upgrade to the 200GB tier, i only made back ups of my iPhone in the cloud. But that became more and more of a hassle because of my 64GB iPhone. Now that i have upgraded to the 200GB tier, i sync all my pictures and my old iPhoto folders too! So nice to rediscover old pics i hadn't seen in years .

 

[DeepIn2U]

hmm not much of a sample 6 @ - 3 for free and 3 for 50gb

Seems like no easy transition between the monthly to yearly cost when in a payment cycle. You have to cancel and resume after a period of time, at least that’s what I’m seeing. Pricing is not too competitive anymore.

edit: I still use it yet unsure about the full level of trust.

 

[mikzn]

Seems like no easy transition between the monthly to yearly cost when in a payment cycle. You have to cancel and resume after a period of time, at least that’s what I’m seeing. Pricing is not too competitive anymore.

edit: I still use it yet unsure about the full level of trust.

yeah I get the trust thing

I am still using the 50g plan still - no media storage -(ie pictures, videos, audio files) use Adobe CC for sharing most documents since it is great at tracking who actually views your "shared material" and when they did view it.

I do have a lot of Keynote Presentations and "OmniGraffle Files" that I use almost daily for sales and find iCLoud Drive great to sync with other Macbooks and iPhone and iPad 12.9 - knock on wood so far - have never lost a document or file since I started using iCloud and somehow the versions are always correct - so far never had an "old version" wipe a newer version ( which was a concern for me)

 

[mikzn]

Update - Big Sur

I am still not brave enough to put my photos and and any other personal media on my iCloud Drive (faster and more secure on my local drives) - but still using iCloud drive extensively for my active working documents (without "desktop and documents" enabled) - just using "custom folders" which allow selection of what to put on iCloud

I have one custom folder "Tranfers, Files and Folders" - which is great to transfer a file to another Mac (3 MBP's) or iPad Pro / iPhone - works great and much easier than using a thumb drive for a quick file transfer.

Working Great with Bug Sur now - so that is a relief !