I can definitely see that as being a problem. Fortunately for me though, my email use is fairly light.
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iCloud vs Gmail: what is the best?
- Thread starter AGX
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I can definitely see that as being a problem. Fortunately for me though, my email use is fairly light.
It's just IMAP. You can use any number of email clients, as long as they know how to speak the protocol.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4864
A.
I've thought about that, but I prefer my personal email not be stored locally on my work PC.
I've used both. I prefer iCloud email to Gmail for its better integration with Apple hardware, and the fact that Apple is at least on record for not scanning emails for the purpose of serving ads. CEO Tim Cook has gone public with this acknowledgment specifically.
http://www.apple.com/privacy/privacy-built-in/
http://www.apple.com/privacy/privacy-built-in/
In conclusion...respect more our privacy
It's an illusion that many actually believe. But within any Apple forum it's highly fashionable to blindly bash Google. Therefore it's pointless to offer any opinion that is different than proclaiming Apple as the superior solution.
We love all things Apple
For now I've stuck with gmail for one main reason: it has reliable and fast search.
Sometimes I need to find something from years ago and I just need to input sole keywords or dates and Gmail just pulls it out somehow.
To be honest I haven't exactly tested this with iCloud. Maybe someone with iCloud mail can speak on its search prowess?
Sometimes I need to find something from years ago and I just need to input sole keywords or dates and Gmail just pulls it out somehow.
To be honest I haven't exactly tested this with iCloud. Maybe someone with iCloud mail can speak on its search prowess?
iCloud's search isn't nearly as good as Gmail's. I can perform a keyword search in Mail.app and it will find what I want. The problem is that I group my messages by conversation and when I search a keyword it will return the conversation but not zero in on the actual message. That leaves me to manually look through the whole conversation for what I want. That's irritating because sometimes, those conversations are long and I have a hard time finding the actual message I want.
If you're like me and never delete anything, then Gmail gives you a lot more storage for free. I'm not even sure how much anymore but I know it's more than I'll ever use (I'm pretty sure it's >20GB). With iCloud your email is part of the measly 5GB Apple gives you to also hold your backups, etc. My free iCloud space is nearly used up and I don't use my iCloud mail address.
I think these are the two key reasons for not switching from Gmail:
- less powerful search
- storage limits
Those are deal breakers for me. If they had those, I'd leave Gmail anytime.
It's an illusion that many actually believe. But within any Apple forum it's highly fashionable to blindly bash Google. Therefore it's pointless to offer any opinion that is different than proclaiming Apple as the superior solution.
We love all things Apple
You couldn't possibly argue that Gmail is the superior solution if privacy is a legitimate concern for you. It has nothing to do with being a blind Apple fanboy, it's simply a matter of fact: Google's primary business model is selling ads targeted to you based on the personal information they collect about you, whether that's through social media, your browsing/search history, your emails, etc.
Whether iCloud is the overall "better" mail service is irrelevant; if you value privacy, Gmail isn't for you.
Seriously. Try outlook.com
Good UI, great features (alias, eas, server side rules, category and folders, etc) integrate with one drive. One drive integrate with office and windows tightly.
I used to hate Microsoft and still not really like it but their cloud products are good.
Used to be fan of google. But since they get rids of products easily, remove eas, and bad UI. I'm moving to alternatives
iCloud is ok for other things but really not recommended for critical reliability like email
Good UI, great features (alias, eas, server side rules, category and folders, etc) integrate with one drive. One drive integrate with office and windows tightly.
I used to hate Microsoft and still not really like it but their cloud products are good.
Used to be fan of google. But since they get rids of products easily, remove eas, and bad UI. I'm moving to alternatives
iCloud is ok for other things but really not recommended for critical reliability like email
Make no mistake I'm not advocating for Google.
Nor am I attacking Apple.
I've been a customer for years before iOS even existed.
The topic is best email, if you scan the blogosphere you'll noticed Gmail is the choice worldwide. It's well known as the best email solution.
Now let's talk privacy. Since day one Google's business model is all about selling ads. That is no secret. Nor is it the dangerous nefarious business the paranoid individuals choose to fear. They can only collect what one gives them.
Apple on the other hand has every users full legal name, address, phone number, and complete credit card information_On_File! That leaves Apple in a supremely powerful position. Further reinforced by the fact that Apple Pay will be an immediate easy success for them.
Now let's talk business... And everything in the world revolves around the business of extracting as much money from customers as possible. This cannot be denied. Or if one does choose to deny it they're only lying to themselves.
Finally what's commonly overlooked is Big_Data. They already have everything on us!
Far more than Apple, Microsoft and Google combined. Fed by insurance companies and now the advent of electronic medical records which Apple is targeted with its health app and real time tracking via Apple Watch, suddenly Google is looking like a novice.
Bottom line on privacy?
That horse left the barn a long time ago.
This is the same set up I have. I really like the iCloud services and I've had zero issues so far. I rarely log into my Gmail anymore, I probably have thousands of emails there. I clean it out once a month or so.
What I do is use my iCloud email for personal use, and the gmail one for registration on non personal sites. That way if I ever need I just delete the account and start over ( if the spam gets out of control).
As far as reliability, I would guess Google is a little bit better since they have more to lose if they have an outage. They actually make money off it with ads. But as I said, I really like the iCloud services and I haven't had any issues at all.
That's a matter of opinion.
Google has all that too (from Android users using the Google Play store) plus a lot more (e.g. they actually collect all Google Wallet transactions, which Apple does not do with Apple Pay). In addition, they aggregate data across all their services (Gmail, Search, ad-tags recording your visits on millions of websites, Maps, Google+ etc.) to build a profile about you.
Apple has officially stated that they are not using information you store on iCloud for advertising purposes. It is very likely true, because if it wasn't and that came out, Apple would lose trust and open themselves up to all kinds of legal trouble.
Who is "they"? Google uses big data technology (they basically wrote the book with map/reduce etc.) and has bigger reach than just about any other commercial entity. And it's their core business to exploit all that data.
One does not need to provide any of this to Apple in order to have an Apple ID or iCloud account.
There is no question that a lot of people *do*, but not "every user".
A.
That's a mighty fine straw man you've stuffed there. Yes, your data is "out there" scattered across a litany of servers tied to different businesses and services with whom you've done business. I never argued that was not the case. My point was that if privacy *is* a concern for you, then Gmail is likely not the best service for your needs.
Note that I didn't say that iCloud was either, however Apple's business model is not based on collecting data on and selling you as an advertising target, so I think with iCloud you're a lot better off than you would be with Google. However, there are a lot of alternatives that cater to the privacy-minded.
All I'm saying is that Google is very open about the fact that they make apps they think you'll want to use so they can collect data about you to use for advertising. Did I say it was nefarious? No. Did I say it was a secret? No. Did I ever imply that you can expect to have real privacy while also taking advantage of internet services? No, but I will say that there's no need to simply throw away the entire idea of privacy just for the sake of using a well-rated email service.
Personally, I use iCloud because I'm wholly bought into the Apple ecosystem and it just works for me. Nothing fancy, nothing particularly special about it; it just works.
It just works is a well worn slogan that no longer applies. It's merely a warm and and fuzzy fantasy people love to buy into.
I use a few cloud services, one of which is iCloud. It's uptime has been somewhat better than when I used MobileMe. Yet it pales in comparison to the competition.
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I failed to say " all those who have purchased Apple hardware, or patronize the apps stores, Apple's online store, or brick and motar stores." That encompasses a vast number of individuals.
Apple may claim the customers data is safe, but it's no safer than any other space in the blogosphere. Apple's true expertise is convincing people to believe everything Apple says.
Your experiences are anecdotal; it "just works" for me and that's all I care about. I used Gmail for years; I used to provide volunteer support for Chrome OS and Chromebooks back in the day, so I'm pretty familiar with Google services, and I experienced several service outages during that time frame.
Frankly, expecting more from a consumer-class cloud service is a little bit asinine in my opinion, particularly one that is not financially bolstered by ad revenue.
"It Just Works" is a design goal which is often mistaken for a claim of perfection. e.g. when when I take a picture with my iPhone, by the time I get to my desktop it has already arrived without my interaction. And for the most part that is what happens. I realize it is 'convenient' to imagine it is a claim that there will never be any mistakes or downtime.
But once again, you overstate your case. Purchasing Apple hardware does not necessarily place your information in Apple's hands, and even if purchased in an Apple store, not necessarily permanently. Also, you do not need a credit card associated with your Apple ID in order to download free apps.
The information you detailed is probably sitting at Amazon too, but your list does not touch the quantity of information that Google collects about you.
A.
Addendum:
But I do not think that is the significant part of their claim. Apple claims that they do not collect your private information unnecessarily, and they do not use what they collect inappropriately. When my Android friends and I get in range of our favorite watering hole, all our phones ping when we cross the geofence. But my Android friends acknowledge that in their case Google knows where they are - but in my case my iPhone knows where it is.
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And what do you think about the policy of Microsoft, Yahoo, Google etc.... of recycle username that are not used from a long time?
I find disturbing that a people that is "dead" see his/her email recycled and reassigned..... because in future the new user that will be use the username... will be receive email or other newsletter of the "past" people, or other important email
I find disturbing that a people that is "dead" see his/her email recycled and reassigned..... because in future the new user that will be use the username... will be receive email or other newsletter of the "past" people, or other important email
The difference is that linked to an email addres there are a lot of other service like Amazon etc
Not really different, people have a lot of things linked to their phone numbes also. Typically it's bill collectors in my experience, that's why a lot of people get their numbers changed and someone else winds up with the number and calls. I have never gotten that type of deal from email addresses.
I use both but prefer iCloud mail--no real reason other than it works best for me as far as synching with all my devices. Gmail is fine too--so really just use whichever you prefer.