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serious iCloud users - describe your workflow for me?

G

ggabriele3

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 24, 2012
80
2
I'm a bit of a cloud storage hoarder, and from using all these services i can see that each has its pros and cons.

Google Drive (25GB, $5/yr)
PRO: excellent for Docs and Spreadsheets, sync and sharing from gmail.
CON: web interface is horrible. i never use it.

Box.com (50GB, free)
PRO: i got a ton of space for free.
CON: sync sucks, web interface is too complex and slow, file size limits

Skydrive (25GB, free)
PRO: interface is nice. i got a ton of space for free
CON: i don't use it.

Dropbox
PRO: excellent web interface folder view and GREAT photo handling. Auto upload from iOS or android. good sharing.
CON: expensive. no online editing.

iCloud. i have my 5GB free account.
PRO: great for iOS device backups, iTunes Match, contacts, calendars, etc.
CON: i have no control over what's stored there and can't access my files from anything other than a mac.

So I have a system.
Google Drive for work docs.
Dropbox for Photos.
Box.com for random crap saved from the internet.
Skydrive for the occasional large file i have to share with a client or something.
iCloud for my iOS backups.


I wonder if i'm missing something about iCloud.
it offers to save my files, but won't let me see them on my mac unless i hunt into the Library. I can't access my files from the web.

Do you use it for your documents? if so, how?
 
mabaty said:
I just use Dropbox + local storage. I use to think that Dropbox was expensive, but after finally pulling the trigger on a Pro account I won't look back. I wrote about workflow using cloud + local storage.

http://abottlerocket.net/2012/10/dropbox-and-mac-mini/
Click to expand...

Dropbox Sync is nice, but I would much appreciate the ability (with ANY of these services) to have a mountable drive without the local storage.

these services don't really expand my local storage if they are syncing.
 
We just recently upgraded to Mountain Lion and went all in with iCloud. So far it's been great. With ML, you can move all your Pages, Keynote, Numbers, TextEdit, Preview documents to iCloud.

Then, no matter what computer or iOS device you are on, you just open the application and work on the file. You actually do have access to the file on your Mac. It is done through the application itself. Just click File > Open from the application and you can manage your files from there including adding folders by dragging files on top like in iOS, renaming, etc. It's a different workflow but it makes a lot of sense and really simplifies my workflow and file management.

The only problem so far is how to associate documents with projects. My guess is Apple is planning on implementing some type of tagging/labeling system to handle that similar to how labels in Gmail takes the place of folders. That sounds like the most logical thing to do in an app centric document model.

In the mean time, we're putting the project name in the file name and using saved smart searches based on the file name to group the project together. You can also use the spotlight comments field to save your "project tags".
 
newagemac said:
We just recently upgraded to Mountain Lion and went all in with iCloud. So far it's been great. With ML, you can move all your Pages, Keynote, Numbers, TextEdit, Preview documents to iCloud.

Then, no matter what computer or iOS device you are on, you just open the application and work on the file. You actually do have access to the file on your Mac. It is done through the application itself. Just click File > Open from the application and you can manage your files from there including adding folders by dragging files on top like in iOS, renaming, etc. It's a different workflow but it makes a lot of sense and really simplifies my workflow and file management.

The only problem so far is how to associate documents with projects. My guess is Apple is planning on implementing some type of tagging/labeling system to handle that similar to how labels in Gmail takes the place of folders. That sounds like the most logical thing to do in an app centric document model.

In the mean time, we're putting the project name in the file name and using saved smart searches based on the file name to group the project together. You can also use the spotlight comments field to save your "project tags".
Click to expand...

It seems like Apple wants the applications to appear sandboxed - as if your Pages documents are somehow within Pages.app itself.

The problem is that
...I use applications outside of the iWork suite
...even if i did use iWork, I would not be able to open an iWork document properly in the MS Office suite.
...filenames and folder structure matter and I need to access them directly
...I need to be able to access and work on them from any computer, not just OSX/iOS

I am usually not one of those "durr apple is a closed system" people, but i think they have gone a bit too far with this.
 
ggabriele3 said:
I'm a bit of a cloud storage hoarder, and from using all these services i can see that each has its pros and cons.

Google Drive (25GB, $5/yr)
PRO: excellent for Docs and Spreadsheets, sync and sharing from gmail.
CON: web interface is horrible. i never use it.

Box.com (50GB, free)
PRO: i got a ton of space for free.
CON: sync sucks, web interface is too complex and slow, file size limits

Skydrive (25GB, free)
PRO: interface is nice. i got a ton of space for free
CON: i don't use it.

Dropbox
PRO: excellent web interface folder view and GREAT photo handling. Auto upload from iOS or android. good sharing.
CON: expensive. no online editing.

iCloud. i have my 5GB free account.
PRO: great for iOS device backups, iTunes Match, contacts, calendars, etc.
CON: i have no control over what's stored there and can't access my files from anything other than a mac.

So I have a system.
Google Drive for work docs.
Dropbox for Photos.
Box.com for random crap saved from the internet.
Skydrive for the occasional large file i have to share with a client or something.
iCloud for my iOS backups.


I wonder if i'm missing something about iCloud.
it offers to save my files, but won't let me see them on my mac unless i hunt into the Library. I can't access my files from the web.

Do you use it for your documents? if so, how?
Click to expand...

Google Drive $5/yr for 25Gb? Thought it was 2.49 a month?
 
thunderbunny said:
Google Drive $5/yr for 25Gb? Thought it was 2.49 a month?
Click to expand...

i got in just under the wire...they changed the price right after they switched from Docs --> Drive.

Same thing with Box. there was a 50GB promotion that i got, now it's 5GB.
Same thing with Skydrive. there was a 25GB promotion that i got, now it's like 2GB.
Same thing with Dropbox. there was a 25GB promotion that i got, now it's back to 2GB.

:)
 
ggabriele3 said:
i got in just under the wire...they changed the price right after they switched from Docs --> Drive.

Same thing with Box. there was a 50GB promotion that i got, now it's 5GB.
Same thing with Skydrive. there was a 25GB promotion that i got, now it's like 2GB.
Same thing with Dropbox. there was a 25GB promotion that i got, now it's back to 2GB.

:)
Click to expand...

Yeah, anyone who had used Skydrive got the 25Gb, new users get 7. In my opinion this is the best of the lot by a long way.
 
thunderbunny said:
Yeah, anyone who had used Skydrive got the 25Gb, new users get 7. In my opinion this is the best of the lot by a long way.
Click to expand...

what makes you like skydrive more?

I am interested in their web versions of MS Office, but I haven't tested them out yet. It's only a killer if its 100% the same as the desktop version (formatting, etc).

Dropbox is becoming more attractive for archiving every day. so many apps are integrating it, and not having to store any photos on my phone is a huge plus.
 
ggabriele3 said:
what makes you like skydrive more?

I am interested in their web versions of MS Office, but I haven't tested them out yet. It's only a killer if its 100% the same as the desktop version (formatting, etc).

Dropbox is becoming more attractive for archiving every day. so many apps are integrating it, and not having to store any photos on my phone is a huge plus.
Click to expand...

Large storage and good value. Last time I tested it was the fastest to upload and download by a fair margin. iOS app and web interface is smart and the syncing on OS X and windows works well.
 
newagemac said:
We just recently upgraded to Mountain Lion and went all in with iCloud. So far it's been great. With ML, you can move all your Pages, Keynote, Numbers, TextEdit, Preview documents to iCloud.
Click to expand...

How do you access stuff saved in TextEdit and Preview from iOS devices?
 
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