Apple's Merger of 'iCloud Documents and Data' Into iCloud Drive Now Complete

[amartinez1660]

iCloud is a mess. With each passing day I ask myself again if anyone of influence at Apple actually uses their devices and services. They are probably connected to their own in-house system and are blissfully unaware that iCloud sync actually sucks for the plebeians. An option to force a refresh would be nice, but that would mean acknowledging that it doesn't "just work".

I second this 100 fold.
So many bugs and issues brings up the question “are they even using this”…

• did anybody check the Studio Display camera and noticed the washed out colors (and unoptimal framing) compared to the iMac 2020 or all the M1/M1Pro/M1Max etc machines?
• Did anybody try to connect via Bluetooth trackpad, a keyboard, a mouse, a game pad and the AirPods Max and notice that the sound can cut off or stutter often?
• Or that the keyboard input will lag when a gamepad controller is active?
• Or that Music app hogs and hangs when going through lists and whatnot?
• Is anybody at apple using iCloud daily like a normal user and hitting any of these bugs?

I don’t know, a bit frustrating.

 

[hagar]

I second this 100 fold.
So many bugs and issues brings up the question “are they even using this”…

• did anybody check the Studio Display camera and noticed the washed out colors (and unoptimal framing) compared to the iMac 2020 or all the M1/M1Pro/M1Max etc machines?
• Did anybody try to connect via Bluetooth trackpad, a keyboard, a mouse, a game pad and the AirPods Max and notice that the sound can cut off or stutter often?
• Or that the keyboard input will lag when a gamepad controller is active?
• Or that Music app hogs and hangs when going through lists and whatnot?
• Is anybody at apple using iCloud daily like a normal user and hitting any of these bugs?

I don’t know, a bit frustrating.

iCloud never causes any issues with me. When it launched it was a disaster but it matured a lot over the years. The only app I have sync issues with is Keychain. But everything else syncs almost instantaneously. And that‘s in Europe where Apple services are usually very slow. Like Music, which is barely usable on my Macs.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

Make message, Photos and notifications sync properly.

 

[kingjames1970]

The whole iCloud Drive needs a redesign. It isn’t as fluid as Google Drive or OneDrive.

Don’t get me started on OneDrive. One day I sat down at a Mac and all my work files had been deleted locally and moved to the cloud. Recovered my files from a backup and switched off OneDrive for good. Whether this was Apple depreciating something in the OS or Microsoft’s fault - I found it unforgivable as it was absolutely deliberate.

 

[daved2424]

Right, now time to upgrade this to a proper backup and archive service (rather than the current lame syncing service). Once that’s done, Time Machine integration is next. This should have happened ten years ago.

 

[allan.nyholm]

Great, does this then eliminate the

~/Library/Containers/

folder that is a pain to navigate!?

Many applications saves their license files - e.g `Displays.license` and for backup purposes it's a nightmare to navigate.

Has anyone the same experience? For codes and Application Support files that ought to be in

~/Library/Application Support/

like it was in the old days.

I have been have a thought for a while that Apple, in their efforts to make macOS and iOS more secure, completely screws their users over. Especially with their folder structure.

Sorry for going a bit off-topic.

 

[makinao]

1) I've never had a problem with iCloud, on all my devices.
2) Google Drive is great, but the revolving door of apps isn't. Thank heavens for InSync.
3) OneDrive? I have a school 365 account but don't use it.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Hard to believe now there was a time when Jobs wanted to (and almost) rid of the file system from MacOS… Remember them app containers? 😂

 

[alchemistmuffin]

Quite harsh of you. Not everyone can upgrade an iDevice every often. There is a reason why Apple provides support for devices for 7 years.

But even with that 7 years, Apple only provides super minimal support for devices. And with Apple Silicon transition, I doubt most Intel Macs that were released recently will get full 7 year support, as they are likely going to drop Intel MacOS support within next 2-3 years, which means bye bye security updates.

Same with iPhones. If your device can only run up to iOS 8, well, I hope the phone user like getting phone hacked. No security updates to protect them.

Tell ya what, you use your pocket money to buy those with “outdated“ devices that have to work hard for a living brand new ones?

Unless they want to risk getting device hacked or destroyed by a virus because they got no security updates as Apple dropped support early.

My stance stands basically. Upgrade your device. Because as Jobs said when iPhone dropped price in 2007, “Technology moves fast”

(It doesn’t have have to be upgraded to super latest device. It can be up to minimum that supports iOS 15 or macOS Monterrey. Just don’t use device that only supports up to iOS 8 or something like that. It’s way too much of security risk)

 

[MajorFubar]

these people asking for versioning...you do know that except on iDevices the iCould Drive is NOT a backup...it's only for sync'ing documents across your computers? Use it as as backup at your peril: not ong ago I accidentally deleted 300GB of ripped music from the iCloud Drive. No sweat, thought I, I'll just log in to iCloud and rerstore it from my recently deleted items. Didn't work. After three days of waiting the only thing it had restored was empty folders. Thankfully I had a recent Time Machine backup I could go to.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

About time! Now we can hope for restoring deleted files and file history like Dropbox

I doubt this will have any impact on Apple’s roadmap for iCloud Drive improvements. All they’ve done is completed the transition from an older platform for some users.

 

[alien3dx]

these people asking for versioning...you do know that except on iDevices the iCould Drive is NOT a backup...it's only for sync'ing documents across your computers? Use it as as backup at your peril: not ong ago I accidentally deleted 300GB of ripped music from the iCloud Drive. No sweat, thought I, I'll just log in to iCloud and rerstore it from my recently deleted items. Didn't work. After three days of waiting the only thing it had restored was empty folders. Thankfully I had a recent Time Machine backup I could go to.

been that scenario also . Are you sure to delete ? oops delete the icloud also not just local.

 

[urnotl33t]

Used it for couple of years, it generally works now. But still needs a sync button, selective sync functionality, along with versioning and easy file recovery.

There's a hidden/secret/non-obvious version of this:

If your sync is weirdly delayed like you're describing (has happened to me many times), go to Settings and do an immediate "iCloud backup" (tap "Backup Now").

Yes I know, mind-boggling and weird and wildly non-obviously. Apple support had me do that a few times when I had a few issues with sync.

Good luck!

 

[urnotl33t]

iCloud is a mess. With each passing day I ask myself again if anyone of influence at Apple actually uses their devices and services. They are probably connected to their own in-house system and are blissfully unaware that iCloud sync actually sucks for the plebeians. An option to force a refresh would be nice, but that would mean acknowledging that it doesn't "just work".

I posted a similar reply just now for the same issue. Check that and see if it helps your issue.

If not, hit up @Applesupport on twitter and they'll help you out.

 

[urnotl33t]

Make message, Photos and notifications sync properly.

Messages finally works well *now*, with "messages in iCloud" enabled and Bug Sur + iOS 14/15. (Unsure of Monterey; not using that). It was a train wreck for years. I think the key is the iCloud integration with recent iOS/macOS/watchOS. I had NO END to sync issues with high Sierra (I skipped Catalina and the other one) with my mobile devices on newer versions. Something broke badly in the middle. It's MUCH better now.

HTH. Good luck!

 

[hagar]

these people asking for versioning...you do know that except on iDevices the iCould Drive is NOT a backup...it's only for sync'ing documents across your computers? Use it as as backup at your peril: not ong ago I accidentally deleted 300GB of ripped music from the iCloud Drive. No sweat, thought I, I'll just log in to iCloud and rerstore it from my recently deleted items. Didn't work. After three days of waiting the only thing it had restored was empty folders. Thankfully I had a recent Time Machine backup I could go to.

But it does have versioning. Just like on your main drive, macOS will save different versions of your files. And sync those different versions to your other devices.

 

[ignatius345]

I've made my peace with iCloud Drive's limitations (no selective sync, no version history) because those are very typical Apple: you're supposed to set it up and then have it magically do everything. When it works, it works nicely, and they've even graced us with "remove download" and "download now" controls.

What I don't like, however, is how incredibly frequently iCloud Drive just randomly gets "stuck" and stops syncing for no discernible reason. There's just no excuse for that, not when Apple controls everything from the hardware to the OS to the cloud server itself.

 

[jav6454]

But even with that 7 years, Apple only provides super minimal support for devices. And with Apple Silicon transition, I doubt most Intel Macs that were released recently will get full 7 year support, as they are likely going to drop Intel MacOS support within next 2-3 years, which means bye bye security updates.

Same with iPhones. If your device can only run up to iOS 8, well, I hope the phone user like getting phone hacked. No security updates to protect them.

Unless they want to risk getting device hacked or destroyed by a virus because they got no security updates as Apple dropped support early.

My stance stands basically. Upgrade your device. Because as Jobs said when iPhone dropped price in 2007, “Technology moves fast”

(It doesn’t have have to be upgraded to super latest device. It can be up to minimum that supports iOS 15 or macOS Monterrey. Just don’t use device that only supports up to iOS 8 or something like that. It’s way too much of security risk)

Minimal? Define. Apple provides parts and you pay for labour outside warranty periods and your device is always made to work. Yes it, costs, but it's cheaper for those who can't afford a $2k device every 3 years.

Apple has provided security updates for several devices beyond useful years. Just look up the articles here in MR. Not sure where you get your information. It's the other manufacturers that don't (ie Samsung, Huawei and MS).

 

[Tagbert]

Maybe the piece of absolutely complete garbage crap they call iCloud Drive should be fixed first before doing anything else. It has NEVER worked properly.


Computer 1 (this space usage is correct)

$ du -hd1 Documents/ | tail -n 1
408G Documents/

Computer 2 (and here we are at almost double used for the SAME files)

$ du -hd1 Documents | tail -n 1
740G Documents


2.5 TRILLION dollar company.

Do you have the same files downloaded to each location? Files that are not locally cached may not show up as full size to a low level file size query like that.

 

[Jim Lahey]

I posted a similar reply just now for the same issue. Check that and see if it helps your issue.

If not, hit up @Applesupport on twitter and they'll help you out.

Thanks but I don't use iCloud backup due to it being a privacy gray area. As I understand it Apple holds the keys with which to decrypt the entire contents of the device backup.

 

[TheOldChevy]

Thanks but I don't use iCloud backup due to it being a privacy gray area. As I understand it Apple holds the keys with which to decrypt the entire contents of the device backup.

So, what are you using ? (honest question, I'd like to have an independent and trustworthy solution for Cloud backup)

 

[GTDaveMac]

So, what are you using ? (honest question, I'd like to have an independent and trustworthy solution for Cloud backup)

I am using Backblaze for an end-to-end encrypted solution.

 

[matrix07]

When will we get “pinned documents” promised a few years ago?

 

[matrix07]

I am using Backblaze for an end-to-end encrypted solution.

AFAIK Backblaze doesn’t back up iOS.

 

[mannyvel]

The only problem I have with iCloud is the OS (or apps) deleting things from local storage, so I have to re-download from the cloud. It's most annoying with Books, because I'm out and downloading a book out of the house is slower than, you know, local storage. There's no way to pin a book either. And yes, this has happened to books that I'm reading.

iCloud Data was apparently a disaster. A flaky object store with no logging? No thanks.