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iCloud Website Error Hints at Upcoming iCloud Bookmarks Feature

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Apr 12, 2001
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An error on Apple's iCloud.com portal is displaying a "Coming Soon" page for iCloud Bookmarks, suggesting that the website may soon gain functionality for displaying iCloud Bookmarks saved in Safari on a Mac or an iOS device.

An online iCloud Bookmarks section, if added to iCloud, could be useful for users that wish to access their bookmarks on a computer that is not used regularly. While iCloud already syncs Safari bookmarks between Macs and iOS devices, iCloud bookmarks are not currently accessible via iCloud.com.

icloudbookmarks.jpg
First discovered by a Twitter user (via 9to5Mac), the iCloud Bookmarks page can be seen briefly when visiting a specific URL, originally accessed by installing the Chrome extension from the iCloud Control Panel for Windows app on a PC: http://icloud.com/bookmarks_extension

Though the page text suggests that an iCloud Bookmarks feature could be in the works for iCloud.com, it is possible, based on the "extension" URL, that it is referring to an iCloud Bookmarks extension, but iCloud browser extensions for both Chrome and Firefox on Windows have been available for several months following the launch of iOS 7.

As noted by 9to5Mac, the introductory screen also features the iOS 7-style design for Bookmarks, which seems to indicate that it was rather recently created, pointing more towards a new feature than an old page for an existing feature.

Apple has been hard at work beefing up iCloud during the last year. At WWDC, the company introduced iWork for iCloud, giving users a way to work on collaborative documents from any device, and more recently many of the apps received a full iOS 7-style redesign.

Article Link: iCloud Website Error Hints at Upcoming iCloud Bookmarks Feature
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/01/29/icloud-bookmarks/
I'm a little confused here. What's the difference between "iCloud Bookmarks" and iCloud syncing bookmarks between Macs and iOS devices? Right now I can reformat my iMac's hard drive and download my bookmarks from iCloud onto my iMac. So what else would someone need? :confused:
 
HenryDJP said:
I'm a little confused here. What's the difference between "iCloud Bookmarks" and iCloud syncing bookmarks between Macs and iOS devices? Right now I can reformat my iMac's hard drive and download my bookmarks from iCloud onto my iMac. So what else would someone need? :confused:
Click to expand...

I’m guessing the intent is to allow you to use them on a computer that isn’t yours or in a browser you don’t want to/can't link to your iCloud. I can’t imagine any other situation where you’d need them.
 
HenryDJP said:
I'm a little confused here. What's the difference between "iCloud Bookmarks" and iCloud syncing bookmarks between Macs and iOS devices? Right now I can reformat my iMac's hard drive and download my bookmarks from iCloud onto my iMac. So what else would someone need? :confused:
Click to expand...

If they are on a Windows/Linux machine or a public device where they can't set up iCloud syncing, they can still access their bookmarks.
 
Good to see Apple investing in online services and finally competing with Google. I think even the most hardcore Apple fans have to admit that Google has had an edge in this market for some time.
 
It needs Dropbox functionality....bring by iDisk but make it actually work correctly and I won't need Dropbox anymore.
 
Ah so its the return of the MobileMe web access for bookmarks, which was discontinued when it became iCloud.

EDIT: Ah remembered it wrong, the web access for bookmarks was removed in the transition from .Mac to MobileMe.
 
rudychidiac said:
You thought of it before it was cool!
Click to expand...

Not really. This was a feature years ago back when iCloud was called .Mac.

It was handy at times, and it was perplexing when it was dropped in one of the transitions. Seems like the easiest feature of all the .Mac/MobileMe/iCloud ones to implement.
 
Apple really need to overhaul iCloud mail to keep up with every other web based mail product out there (gMail, Yahoo, Outlook etc). It's a simpleton's product that looks years out of date.

I would be very interested in a much more powerful, flexible and better interface for mail rules. If Apple wants me to use their mail product across all my devices then it needs a lot of improvement.
 
Oh man, I hope they add Reading List to it too. I use that more than bookmarks. Since it doesn't work offline on iOS devices like it does on a Mac, I just throw them on my Kindle for now. Would love to get to them on different machines.
 
GeneralChang said:
I’m guessing the intent is to allow you to use them on a computer that isn’t yours or in a browser you don’t want to/can't link to your iCloud. I can’t imagine any other situation where you’d need them.
Click to expand...

djtech42 said:
If they are on a Windows/Linux machine or a public device where they can't set up iCloud syncing, they can still access their bookmarks.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I see now. Thanks you guys. I didn't understand the point. I can see where that would be convenient at times.
 
Jessica Lares said:
Oh man, I hope they add Reading List to it too. I use that more than bookmarks. Since it doesn't work offline on iOS devices like it does on a Mac, I just throw them on my Kindle for now. Would love to get to them on different machines.
Click to expand...

Reading List has worked offline since iOS 6, it's how I use my WiFi-only iPad most of the time. It does seem to require the occasional reboot to start downloading items for offline viewing, though (6.1.2).

But it's silly that one cannot have Reading List or bookmark syncing without enabling iCloud Tabs as well, which basically stores every URL you are looking at on Apple's servers. I want less cloud, not more :(
 
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This seems like a great option for some people. If/when this is enabled, this means that I could access my bookmarks from home on my work computer simply by visiting my icloud account. Unfortunately where I work icloud is blocked.

I could also see this as something useful when over at a frieds house or the library, etc. Basically, I like where this is going :)
 
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