Icloud and iPad

[Alanfujii]

I thought when iCloud came out it would allow me to store everything in the cloud and only keep the things you need on your iPhone and iPad. This would let you have a device with smaller storage because you could always get something if you had access to the iCloud.

Right now iCloud only seems good for backing up. There isn't much control on even moving data files. Am I missing something? My Dropbox seems more usable but off course Apple makes it difficult because their programs don't give you direct access to Dropbox. There's got to be abetter way.

 

[twerppoet]

Depends on what you want stored there. Most of the things you buy in an iStore can be re-downloaded anytime, often in the app that plays them. That's includes Books, Music and most Movie and TV shows. They do not count against your storage allotment.

Apps can also be re-downloaded, though their data, or progress (in the case of games) will be lost when deleted.

Rarely, when media or apps are removed from the store(s) permanently, for one reason or another, you'll lose them if they are not stored on the iPad or backed up in iTunes on a computer. The best reason to (still) occasionally sync with a computer.

Mostly only Apples' apps save data in iCloud (though other apps can do so if the developers choose), with few exceptions the purpose is to keep devices synced, not offline storage.

iCloud has never, and never promised, to be a repository for all your data. People have made that assumption, based mostly on what other cloud services do. Apple's claims were about it's own media and syncing.

If you are working with the iWorks apps, Box.com is a better solution (at present) than DropBox. You can upload/download files using the WebDAV option. They've also added a desktop client recently, giving them versatility similar to DropBox there. The basic account is free.

 

[Alanfujii]

What I would like to store is all the movies and TV series that. Have purchased. I so much that even on the MAC I have an external drive for iTunes. I thought I could transfer everything into iCloud and then be able to view any movie I want thru my iPhone or iPad. What else would I need to buy 50gig of memory for?

 

[twerppoet]

The only thing I can think of that might require a 50 GB account (other than insane iWorks usage) is iTunes Match, for which you would need an insane amount of iTunes unmatchable songs to use up.

Your Movies and TV series purchased in iTunes (at least most of them) should be re-downlaodable without impacting your storage limit.

If you did buy a 50 GB account I recommend you contact Apple. It is possible (if you politely explain your misunderstanding) they will refund the difference between that and a lesser account (pro-rated probably). Or maybe they can tell you a legitimate use for 50 GB that I have not thought of. I'm sure there is one.