Wow. iCloud Drive remains a confusing mess.

[riverfreak]

I was really hoping that with the release of High Sierra and the new Files app in iOS 11, we'd see some improvements to the performance and usability of iCloud Drive. Apparently: no.

I was looking into consolidating my files in one place. Super tired of happy to check Dropbox, iCloud Drive, Google Drive, and of not being able to edit files in place, such as those stored on Dropbox.

So I started off copying some files from Dropbox to iCloud Drive. It didn't take long before problems became apparent. First, super slow uploading. Second, files uploaded then immediately are downloaded? Bizarre. Third, grayed out and inaccessible folders after uploads were "complete". Great. Fourth, slow syncing across devices. Fifth. App-specific folders at root. Still? Annoying.

There are other weird issues too, but I'm not willing to wade any deeper. Unfortunately, my Photo library requires a 2TB plan. Syncing there seems to work quite well. Why can't they get the other stuff together?

Is anybody actually successfully using iCloud Drive full time? I'm too worried about file integrity to use it right now but am curious to hear others experience.

 

[jonnysods]

Honestly I tried iCloud myself in a small beta method like you did and wasnt willing to risk my business files.

I stuck to Dropbox. Even dropped my Photos libraries in a folder on there.

I have iCloud space for device backups only now.

 

[riverfreak]

Honestly I tried iCloud myself in a small beta method like you did and wasnt willing to risk my business files.

I stuck to Dropbox. Even dropped my Photos libraries in a folder on there.

I have iCloud space for device backups only now.

Yeah, it’s frustrating. I would like to use iCloud Drive as my single sole storage, but it still has a long, long way to go to reach the speed, ease of use, and reliability of Dropbox. Someone at Apple should get a Dropbox account so they get some implementation clues.

 

[LarryJoe33]

I too am in the same boat. I want to use iCloud Drive as a pure storage resource. I was using Amazon Drive with a 1TB plan. Amazon Drive is buggy when trying to access it with the iOS App and transferring data from a Mac is painful to say the least. Hangs and crashes.

So this weekend, I cancelled my Amazon subscription and deleted 750GB of home movies, etc. I upgraded my iCloud from 200GB to 2TB. I was looking forward to being able to access my files and folders from all my iOS devices. Then I started the transfer and realized that transferring 750GB also kept the files on my MBP and filled my 525GB SDD pretty quickly. "Out of space".

What good is having 2TB of storage space if you don't have 2TB of space on the machine transferring it? And why do I have to keep it in both places?

I have something I am going to try - transferring the data from a Windows machine using the windows iCloud application and hope it doesn't download to my Mac because the transfer did not initiate there.

Anyone try this before I waste more money and time? I am starting to think external hard drives are a better option than cloud storage. I just want to be able to access my crap on the go.

 

[jonnysods]

I too am in the same boat. I want to use iCloud Drive as a pure storage resource. I was using Amazon Drive with a 1TB plan. Amazon Drive is buggy when trying to access it with the iOS App and transferring data from a Mac is painful to say the least. Hangs and crashes.

So this weekend, I cancelled my Amazon subscription and deleted 750GB of home movies, etc. I upgraded my iCloud from 200GB to 2TB. I was looking forward to being able to access my files and folders from all my iOS devices. Then I started the transfer and realized that transferring 750GB also kept the files on my MBP and filled my 525GB SDD pretty quickly. "Out of space".

What good is having 2TB of storage space if you don't have 2TB of space on the machine transferring it? And why do I have to keep it in both places?

I have something I am going to try - transferring the data from a Windows machine using the windows iCloud application and hope it doesn't download to my Mac because the transfer did not initiate there.

Anyone try this before I waste more money and time? I am starting to think external hard drives are a better option than cloud storage. I just want to be able to access my crap on the go.

Dropbox and use Selective Sync to keep HDD space free. DB is rock solid.

 

[LarryJoe33]

Well, I uploaded a 10GB file to iCloud using a Windows machine and then my MBP SSD grew by 10GB. Jeesh, I don't want my iCloud files on my MBP! What a crappy way of doing things.

Also, not for nothing, but that optimize button in iCloud settings does nothing. The files are still on the MBP just included as
system" files.

 

[TraceyS/FL]

UGH. This thread sums up my issues.

The files I airdropped to the iPad from the MBP are on an external drive. I don't have room for them on the internal SSD. But now, iCloud Drive is attempting to copy it all over to the computer. These are files I have backed up in multiple places already. I just need to be able to drag and drop them into Affinity. OneDrive lets me NOT keep things local, but hasn't updated to support eh files app - and it sucks at offline on the iPad.

I'm basically back to square one. 512 iPad, and I can't use it as storage. Oh and I was/am using Utiful on the iPad - but it doesn't do more than 1 folder deep, AND also still isn't supporting Drag and Drop within files either.

 

[Tech198]

I was really hoping that with the release of High Sierra and the new Files app in iOS 11, we'd see some improvements to the performance and usability of iCloud Drive. Apparently: no.

I was looking into consolidating my files in one place. Super tired of happy to check Dropbox, iCloud Drive, Google Drive, and of not being able to edit files in place, such as those stored on Dropbox.

So I started off copying some files from Dropbox to iCloud Drive. It didn't take long before problems became apparent. First, super slow uploading. Second, files uploaded then immediately are downloaded? Bizarre. Third, grayed out and inaccessible folders after uploads were "complete". Great. Fourth, slow syncing across devices. Fifth. App-specific folders at root. Still? Annoying.

There are other weird issues too, but I'm not willing to wade any deeper. Unfortunately, my Photo library requires a 2TB plan. Syncing there seems to work quite well. Why can't they get the other stuff together?

Is anybody actually successfully using iCloud Drive full time? I'm too worried about file integrity to use it right now but am curious to hear others experience.

Only used iCloud for a short while with 50Gig, but the selective sync of Dropbox to me was more important.

The only way to achieve the same thing with Apple with sign out which stops everything.

iCloud does take ages, but i don't think its just that.

 

[MobyDills]

it still sucks. shocking how bad it is. I don't get it.

 

[Easttime]

Fortunately, iCloud Drive works as I pretty much as I want it to: mirrors my key files on all my Apple devices. I created a folder structure in “iCloud Drive” on my main desktop Mac and moved my key files there. (I left the larger volume of lesser-used files on my desktop Mac). The iCloud Drive files sync nicely though not super speedily to my MacBook when I open its lid. The annoying bit is that I have to remember to select files on my iPhone and iPad for syncing before I leave my office wifi, if I want them available for offline use. Then there’s version control: I need to be careful to close a file on one device before opening and modifying it on another. That’s my very basic workflow. Certainly won’t work for busier people with big folder systems and more complex needs, and I should spend more time understanding version control. But it works OK for my one-person operation.

 

[MobyDills]

Then there’s version control: I need to be careful to close a file on one device before opening and modifying it on another.

I haven't even attempted using it for something like that. I'm all dropbox for that. I just use it for backup--and even that ends up being very wonky.

 

[NetChemo]

iCloud does not work. The entire thing is not intuitive on an iMac. You can see the file, but can't download it. If you try to transfer the file to another folder, locks up. If you try to copy the file to Dropbox, lock up. Click the Download Now buttom, doesn't work. Very frustrating. I am going to start a YouTube account where I destroy my iMac and EarPods, and other Apple devices with a hammer.

 

[Easttime]

iCloud does not work. The entire thing is not intuitive on an iMac. You can see the file, but can't download it. If you try to transfer the file to another folder, locks up. If you try to copy the file to Dropbox, lock up. Click the Download Now buttom, doesn't work. Very frustrating. I am going to start a YouTube account where I destroy my iMac and EarPods, and other Apple devices with a hammer.

Are you working in Finder? I don’t have those problems at all. The iCloud folders/files work just like they were on my desktop’s hard drive.