Switching to iCloud for everything, concerns and questions?

[MacintoshJosh3]

Although brief here's what I use as far as services go...


Gmail - Strictly as my only email address

My question is, having setup an @me.com email address, if I were to make the switch with all of my current services and change my contact email to my new @me.com (iCloud email) address what advantages and disadvantages could I face?

For example if I understand correctly our iCloud email can be accessed from the web and not just our iPhones and iPads but what of I no longer own an Apple product? Will my email address continue to exist and will apple provide me access indefinitely?

Also my gmail account is what's tied to my Apple ID, if I choose to switch to using my iCloud email could I change the email associated with my Apple ID or would I have to create a new one?


Any other concerns related to switching to only having iCloud as m sole email provider just drop in some comments.

 

[vitzr]

I've followed iCloud pretty closely and it's my understanding you are free to switch email addresses without consequence.

 

[ugahairydawgs]

Also my gmail account is what's tied to my Apple ID, if I choose to switch to using my iCloud email could I change the email associated with my Apple ID or would I have to create a new one?


Any other concerns related to switching to only having iCloud as m sole email provider just drop in some comments.

No. You would have to setup a new Apple ID

And the biggest concern I would mention would be that I wouldn't switch if I were you. iCloud is WAY too buggy at the moment and the Mail especially goes down far too often for a mainstream service.

 

[driftless]

No. You would have to setup a new Apple ID

And the biggest concern I would mention would be that I wouldn't switch if I were you. iCloud is WAY too buggy at the moment and the Mail especially goes down far too often for a mainstream service.

My experience with iCloud is that it does what what it says it does. I wish that it had more of DropBox's features though.

to the OP - you can change email addresses easily. Just click on manage your account and change your email address. https://appleid.apple.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/MyAppleId.woa/

My wife uses enterprise gmail for work but uses a different email address for the iCloud and her iPad. I have a different iCloud account but we share calendars and iTunes. I doubt that iCloud would be a problem if you don't have an Apple device as you can access iCloud via the web. It does, however, lose it's advantages if you are not using an Apple device.

 

[MacintoshJosh3]

Thanks for the replies, my biggest frustration with gmail has been getting it to push to my device, not matter what I've done emails have to be manually fetched. When I did some tests with iCloud my email showed up instantly.


It sounds like the email associated with my Apple ID can be changed and that specifically is great to hear.


What about setting up my @me email on an android or windows phone device? Despite my username and strong preference I dabble in other mobile OS's quite often and if I were to convert my email and for example get an android phone oh to find out I could sync my email with the phone I would be highly disappointed. Thanks again, the help here is always great.

 

[driftless]

You should be able to set up any email address across platforms.

 

[prss14]

I have not had the problems some have had with iCloud so far. I also never had any trouble with my MM service. You can access iCloud though any web browser on any computer. As Dornblaser said, it seems a lot better and more functional with an Apple computer. I have liked it so far. Since you already have iPhones and iPads you will get good use out of its integration. Plus, switching email address is so easy today. You are switching from GMail. You can always go back, or switch to something else.

 

[paulsalter]

Thanks for the replies, my biggest frustration with gmail has been getting it to push to my device, not matter what I've done emails have to be manually fetched. When I did some tests with iCloud my email showed up instantly.


It sounds like the email associated with my Apple ID can be changed and that specifically is great to hear.


What about setting up my @me email on an android or windows phone device? Despite my username and strong preference I dabble in other mobile OS's quite often and if I were to convert my email and for example get an android phone oh to find out I could sync my email with the phone I would be highly disappointed. Thanks again, the help here is always great.

email will be fine on other platforms as it is just an IMAP service like gmail, if you convert calendars/contacts to iCloud then you might have issues with other platforms

for your earlier questions about push mail and gmail, if you set it up as an exchange account then this should resolve that (not tried this on desktop but it works fine on phones)

I use both of these services, everything is setup on iCloud for me

I still use gmail as my main email service, also I use BusyCal for my calendars, this lets me keep google calendar and iCloud calendar in sync so I can use other devices without issue

the only issue I have is that contacts will not sync between iCloud and Google since moving over to iCloud so if I am on a non apple device I need to manally update it

 

[vitzr]

Even though it still has some bugs, I give Apple credit for doing a good job with the massive project that iCloud has been.

Typically & quite understandably iCloud is proprietary to Apple. All my Macs run far better than my PC's with Apple software. Forget iCloud for a moment. iTunes for Mac has always been far better than iTunes for PC. and that's my point. It's only natural for Apple to want they're own hardware to provide the best experience with their Apps. Safari is no different. It's runs well on my MBP, MBA & Mac Pro, yet it's mediocre at best on my ThinkPads.