Questions about iCloud?

[siritalks]

Hi there,

A couple of very quick questions about iCloud... I can't seem to find the answers anywhere else.

I want to set up iCloud (or something similar) to sync my Calendar, Tasks, and Contacts between my iPhone 4S, Macbook, and iMac.

However, I want control over when it actually syncs. For example, I don't want it to sync every single time I add a new contact or add a new calendar entry... at least certainly not from my phone I don't. I'd like to somehow set it to only sync from my phone at certain times (for example midnight every day). Is this possible?

Also, is it possible to specify that you only want it to sync when you have a Wifi connection? I don't want it eating into my already small 3G data allowance.

Any help with this would be great.

Thanks.

 

[siritalks]

Any clarification on this would be great if you can help?

 

[swiftaw]

The only solution i could see would be to keep iCloud syncing turned off on your phone and then just turn it on once a day to let it sync.

Syncing calendar entries and contacts, however, requires minimal data and battery life.

 

[siritalks]

OK cool. So I can set it up to sync whenever I want it to by literally switching it on and off?

 

[mreddys10]

Or just turn off cellular data usage for iCloud. This way, only when the phone is charging, has wifi, and locked, an iCloud sync will occur

 

[siritalks]

OK cool. So that is a fairly simple thing to do is it? Is it just in the phone settings? I haven't set up iCloud yet (was waiting until I had answers to this before deciding whether to do it), but sounds like it should be fine.

 

[swiftaw]

OK cool. So that is a fairly simple thing to do is it? Is it just in the phone settings? I haven't set up iCloud yet (was waiting until I had answers to this before deciding whether to do it), but sounds like it should be fine.

In Settings->iCloud there are toggle settings for Contacts, Calendars, etc. You could toggle those on and off as needed. Although as I said, the amount of data and battery life saved is negligible.

 

[siritalks]

In Settings->iCloud there are toggle settings for Contacts, Calendars, etc. You could toggle those on and off as needed. Although as I said, the amount of data and battery life saved is negligible.

It's as much to do with not wanting the phone to be always connecting when I'm out and about to be honest. As much as I love iPhones, I hate the idea of something connecting all the time when it's in my pocket.

I've just had a look through the settings in my phone. How do I "turn off cellular data usage for iCloud"?

 

[swiftaw]

It's as much to do with not wanting the phone to be always connecting when I'm out and about to be honest. As much as I love iPhones, I hate the idea of something connecting all the time when it's in my pocket.

I've just had a look through the settings in my phone. How do I "turn off cellular data usage for iCloud"?

Its not constantly connected. Changes to contact and calendar are pushed to the phone in the same way mail is pushed. The phone is not constantly checking to see if anything has changed.

 

[mreddys10]

It's as much to do with not wanting the phone to be always connecting when I'm out and about to be honest. As much as I love iPhones, I hate the idea of something connecting all the time when it's in my pocket.

I've just had a look through the settings in my phone. How do I "turn off cellular data usage for iCloud"?

I'm sorry. I got a bit confused there. I mixed up iCloud backup with contacts/calendar sync. The option to turn off cellular data is under Settings>iCloud>documents and data.

I'm not sure if 'data' here also refers to contacts/calendar as well. I think swiftaw may be right

 

[siritalks]

Cool, well by the sound of things, I should just set it up and switch it on and off when needed. Thanks for your help.