[RANT] iCloud sucks

[Grolubao]

Hi everyone,
I'm an apple user for a long time now, and I have to say that when I saw the presentation about iCloud I was very excited. The possibility of creating a document in one device and see it propagated in all others seemed awesome. A seamless integration of all my iDevices.

Unfortunately it just doesn't work... First of all, I'm a techie person and I really find it complicated.

Let's start with my contacts: I would have presumed iCloud would just sync my contacts directly without doing anything, but it seems like it only syncs this iCloud group. Obviously I want to see all the contacts on the Cloud why only this particular groups gets synced?

Next pictures: Why do I need to have iPhoto for it and use this photostream business? I just wanted to specify a folder in my Mac that it would synchronize to and whenever I would take a picture or film a video it would push that to that folder, simple as that.

Reminders: Why does reminders needs to work only with iCloud? Can't understand the correlation...

Now the biggest problem: The syncing. Why can't I just sync to iTunes and at the same time sync everything to iCloud at all the time. Hell, I wouldn't even want to sync manually to iCloud, it should just sync every time there is new content, similar to what Backblaze does.

I'm used in Apple making very easy to use products, not this. I'm really disappointed...

P.S - I just spent 1h trying to make wifi-sync to work, and the only way was to turn uPnP off in my router and restarting it. If this is easy to use then I don't know...

 

[MacDawg]

I haven't experienced any problems with it
Perhaps it wasn't what you expected it to be?

 

[steve-p]

I'm puzzled about a couple of things you say.

First, all of my contacts sync just fine between Lion, iOS5 and iCloud. I don't know what you mean by an iCloud group. I certainly don't have one.

Second, things like notes, reminders, contacts, appointments etc all sync immediately and automatically to other devices whenever you create or change one. Are you saying this doesn't work for you?

 

[YMark]

Now you know why Apple wanted to buy Dropbox. Some of Apple's software engineering is beyond belief. They can't even make a decent calendar application. And iTunes? What a mess.

 

[GraphicsGeek]

Hi everyone,
I'm an apple user for a long time now, and I have to say that when I saw the presentation about iCloud I was very excited. The possibility of creating a document in one device and see it propagated in all others seemed awesome. A seamless integration of all my iDevices.

Unfortunately it just doesn't work... First of all, I'm a techie person and I really find it complicated.

Let's start with my contacts: I would have presumed iCloud would just sync my contacts directly without doing anything, but it seems like it only syncs this iCloud group. Obviously I want to see all the contacts on the Cloud why only this particular groups gets synced?

Next pictures: Why do I need to have iPhoto for it and use this photostream business? I just wanted to specify a folder in my Mac that it would synchronize to and whenever I would take a picture or film a video it would push that to that folder, simple as that.

Reminders: Why does reminders needs to work only with iCloud? Can't understand the correlation...

Now the biggest problem: The syncing. Why can't I just sync to iTunes and at the same time sync everything to iCloud at all the time. Hell, I wouldn't even want to sync manually to iCloud, it should just sync every time there is new content, similar to what Backblaze does.

I'm used in Apple making very easy to use products, not this. I'm really disappointed...

P.S - I just spent 1h trying to make wifi-sync to work, and the only way was to turn uPnP off in my router and restarting it. If this is easy to use then I don't know...

Log into iCloud online and look at your contacts and see if they're all there. They should be. Whatever is in the cloud should be syncing to all your devices logged into iCloud.

You don't need iPhoto to use photo stream. Your stream is pics and vids taken on your iOS devices that can be seen on all of your devices and in iPhoto. But you don't need iPhoto for this to work.

Reminders, notes, etc all get synced via iCloud so they can be synced on all of your devices. You don't want to miss a reminder because your iPhone was in the other room and your iPad doesn't have the reminder.

In the summary screen in iTunes under your iOS device, is "backup to iCloud" selected? If so, it should be backing up whenever your device syncs. You shouldn't have to manually back it up. And if you make a change within the cloud, it will push it to all of your iCloud devices. For example, adding/editing a contact on your iPhone should reflect on your iPad within a few seconds.

All of your problems seems to be user errors and not knowing what iCloud actually does.

 

[Grolubao]

Log into iCloud online and look at your contacts and see if they're all there. They should be. Whatever is in the cloud should be syncing to all your devices logged into iCloud.

You don't need iPhoto to use photo stream. Your stream is pics and vids taken on your iOS devices that can be seen on all of your devices and in iPhoto. But you don't need iPhoto for this to work.

Reminders, notes, etc all get synced via iCloud so they can be synced on all of your devices. You don't want to miss a reminder because your iPhone was in the other room and your iPad doesn't have the reminder.

In the summary screen in iTunes under your iOS device, is "backup to iCloud" selected? If so, it should be backing up whenever your device syncs. You shouldn't have to manually back it up. And if you make a change within the cloud, it will push it to all of your iCloud devices. For example, adding/editing a contact on your iPhone should reflect on your iPad within a few seconds.

All of your problems seems to be user errors and not knowing what iCloud actually does.

I already logged in into iCloud and the contacts are not there. Maybe I need to enable backup to the Cloud in iTunes but I wanted to do this without even using iTunes, meaning I would like to backup to my computer but at the same time every change I would make should be persisted automatically in the Cloud and it's not.

In my iPad if I go to contacts it shows: All Contacts, From my Mac, iCloud, Exchange, so I would guess somehow there's a iCloud group created and apparently it only syncs that group to iCloud.

I need iPhoto to see the pics I took with my iPad or iPhone. Why isn't this simply selecting a folder to which the pictures should be synced with?

I want to use the iTunes sync and iCloud sync, but apparently they thought this shouldn't be possible. Or you use iCloud in our ecosystem or forget it, it will not work if you try to combine it with iTunes in a personal computer

 

[saving107]

User Error ≠ Product Fail

GraphicsGeek explained it best.

 

[Defender2010]

User error!
iCloud works perfectly well for me, my family and all friends.....

 

[sparkstsa]

iCloud does everything its suppose to do just fine for me.

 

[Grolubao]

Of course, everything I stated is user error...

 

[ozziegn]

iCloud doesn't do nothing for me that Gmail doesn't do when used on Exchange.

 

[Jest3r]

iCloud doesn't do nothing for me that Gmail doesn't do when used on Exchange.

iCloud offers custom contact tags for email, phone numbers, etc. and supports larger contact photos.

 

[BrianBaughn]

I think the OP's problem is the "All In" philosophy. It's really the same whether you're using Google, Exchange, ReggaeSync (I made that one up) or whatever.

You've got to go all in with one solution because the solutions really don't even talk to each other...and...usually when you try to make them work together it all ends up a big mess.

 

[sparkstsa]

If iCloud isn't working for you the way you want, then simply don't use it... no big deal.

 

[mbhforum]

The truth lies somewhere in the middle. User error plays a part in this, but iCloud does not suck. Admittitedly, Apple could have done a better job making all of these settings a little more intuitive. I've had to assist multiple people set up their iCloud services properly but once you fully understand it, it works well. It's also first gen and will improve just like the original iPhone did.

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I think the OP's problem is the "All In" philosophy. It's really the same whether you're using Google, Exchange, ReggaeSync (I made that one up) or whatever.

You've got to go all in with one solution because the solutions really don't even talk to each other...and...usually when you try to make them work together it all ends up a big mess.

Depends what you want to do. I use gmail for contacts, email and calendar and iCloud for everything else. It's worked well for me so far...

 

[GraphicsGeek]

I already logged in into iCloud and the contacts are not there. Maybe I need to enable backup to the Cloud in iTunes but I wanted to do this without even using iTunes, meaning I would like to backup to my computer but at the same time every change I would make should be persisted automatically in the Cloud and it's not.
Yes you need to enable backup to iCloud in iTunes. You also need to be logged into iCloud on all of your devices. Make sure all of the options you want synced are toggled on.

In my iPad if I go to contacts it shows: All Contacts, From my Mac, iCloud, Exchange, so I would guess somehow there's a iCloud group created and apparently it only syncs that group to iCloud.
What you should do is log into iCloud.com and do all of your contacts there so they push directly to all of your devices.

I need iPhoto to see the pics I took with my iPad or iPhone. Why isn't this simply selecting a folder to which the pictures should be synced with?
Are you using a Mac? Are you updated to the latest updates? Is iTunes updated to 10.5? Are you using Lion? If so, are you logged into iCloud under your Preferences? If not, Stop. That's your problem. iCloud is Lion only and there should be a PhotoStream option on the left column in iPhoto

I want to use the iTunes sync and iCloud sync, but apparently they thought this shouldn't be possible. Or you use iCloud in our ecosystem or forget it, it will not work if you try to combine it with iTunes in a personal computer

iTunes syncs your media and apps from your Mac/PC to your iDevice using iOS 5. iCloud syncs your contacts, app data, etc across all of your Macs and iDevices signed into the iCloud account.

Again, your problems are user error. I use iCloud and iTunes flawlessly with 0% problems in keeping data synced across my iMac and iPhone/iPad. I just added a contact using my iPad to see how long it takes to sync. By the time I finised adding the contact and picked up my iPhone to find it, it was there. Retrace your steps, you're missing something.

 

[Invincibilizer]

Of course, no point in using a cloud based system when there is gmail and local storage of music on the device.

iCloud is another hyped product that only appeals to hard core Apple fans, average people and Window techs have no interest with iCloud.

 

[GraphicsGeek]

Of course, no point in using a cloud based system when there is gmail and local storage of music on the device.

iCloud is another hyped product that only appeals to hard core Apple fans, average people and Window techs have no interest with iCloud.

Gmail is also a cloud based system. iCloud is just Apples version of it. What's your point? Wake up buddy, average people are using iPhones and those same average people are using iCloud. They may not even realize what it is, but they're using it. The average person may not nerd out about it like we do and nitpick every last grain of it, but they're still using it to backup their contacts and app data, especially since its free. There have been (guesstimating) 5+ million iPhone 4S sales in under 2 weeks. Id bet close to 70% are using iCloud.

 

[donnaw]

Of course, no point in using a cloud based system when there is gmail and local storage of music on the device.

iCloud is another hyped product that only appeals to hard core Apple fans, average people and Window techs have no interest with iCloud.

I'm just an average person. I only have an ipad (I have a Win7 phone). I use .live for my contacts, etc. but I use iCloud in order to be unteathered from my pc when I'm on the road. Now, if something happens and I need to restore I don't have to carry a virtual brick with me until I get home to my pc. Nor do I have to carry my pc on the road when I'm gone for a couple of months - just in case.

Some of us actually use our devices for more than surfing, email and music. So you see, iCloud has its purposes, even if one is not completely invested in the entire Apple ecosystem.

 

[saving107]

I'm just an average person. I only have an ipad (I have a Win7 phone). I use .live for my contacts, etc. but I use iCloud in order to be unteathered from my pc when I'm on the road. Now, if something happens and I need to restore I don't have to carry a virtual brick with me until I get home to my pc. Nor do I have to carry my pc on the road when I'm gone for a couple of months - just in case.

Some of us actually use our devices for more than surfing, email and music. So you see, iCloud has its purposes, even if one is not completely invested in the entire Apple ecosystem.

Bravo.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Depends what you want to do. I use gmail for contacts, email and calendar and iCloud for everything else. It's worked well for me so far...

Yes...separating services can work. Combining them can be problematic.

 

[biker74]

Ye, its not the easiest. Been hearing alot of complaints about it.

 

[Grolubao]

Now I understood that using iCloud backup has got nothing to do with iCloud syncing with your Mac calendar, address book, etc., that is simply to backup the device, nothing more.

It always syncs with the apple ID you set up in your computer, but only with that ID. You cannot sync with multiple IDs.

Amazing that for iCal to reflect the changes on the cloud I had to change the default Calendar to the iCloud one.

I'm wondering how non-techie people are using this?...

 

[marsmissions]

WTF is a "techie person"?

 

[Don Kosak]

Well, I think iCloud is more complicated for technical people than it is for "lay-people".

By that I mean:

A "techie" person has a business address book on exchange, a personal address book in gmail, and maybe a local address book on a computer or in a phone. The iCloud service only syncs one address book.

So, the "techie" can either consolidate into iCloud (and use Groups in iCloud for different sets of addresses) or you keep doing what they already are doing and ignore iCloud.

A "non techie" person has one address book (maybe). They turn on iCloud and it copies their address book into the cloud from what ever device they set up. When they add their phone, it merges those addresses (if there were any). Couldn't be simpler for them.

Same with Calendar, etc.

I think Apple could have done a better job explaining the details to us Techie folks. We could have made better choices when setting up our machines.

I decided to pour all my info into iCloud and empty out several other services I was using (goodbye Google, and Yahoo...)

I'd rather have all of my data into a company I pay, rather than my data in a company that makes its living selling my information to advertisers.

Everyone's milage will vary.