26 | MACFORMAT | SEPTEMBER 2019 macformat.com @macformatA
nother string to the iCloud
bow is Cloud Drive – an
all-purpose file repository
within your iCloud storage.
Every relevant app has its own folder
there to store documents, and you can
add folders of your own.
Your iCloud Drive appears in macOS,
when ticked in System Preferences >
iCloud, as a sidebar item in Finder
windows, under Favourites. In iOS, when
turned on in iCloud after opening Settings
and tapping your name, it’s accessed
through the Files app. You’ll see the sameFEATURE iCloud superguide
iCloud Drive^
How much
space?
You get 5GB of free iCloud storage,
which can be upgraded to 50GB (79p
a month), 200GB (£2.49) or 2TB
(£6.99): bit.ly/icspp. Photos,
documents and backups count
against this, but apps and
iTunes purchases don’t.If it’s taking up too much space, turn
on Optimise Mac Storage in System
Preferences > iCloud > iCloud Drive >
Options. Here you can also see which
apps use iCloud Drive by default, and
you can opt to sync your Desktop and
Documents folders, so all the files you
keep there are accessible everywhere.
That may be overkill, though.
In iOS, after you install an app for a a
third-party cloud service, such as Google
Drive, you’ll find the Files app’s Locations
screen gains a More Locations
item. Tap this to add the new
service to Files. This doesn’t
mean your files on that service
are copied over to iCloud, just
that you can view and search
them all in one app.In many apps you can tap the Share icon, then Save
to Files to add items to iCloud Drive.Everything in your iCloud is managed
through your Apple ID, a one-to-one
system that doesn’t always make
sense for households. So Apple lets you
link users – up to a total of six – to access
your purchases and subscriptions and
share photos and calendars, while still
having your own logins and private files.
One person has to be the ‘family
organiser’: purchases go on their
payment method, and they‘ll be in charge
of settings for the whole family. You can
choose which iCloud features to share,
and the rest work as normal. All youriCloud Drives and backups can share one
iCloud storage plan, so you only pay one
monthly fee for extra capacity. If you use
Apple Music, sharing requires a Family
subscription which costs £14.99 per
month to cover all of you.
iTunes Store music, videos and books
that any of you have purchased before
can be downloaded by any of you on a
total of 10 devices (up to five of them
Macs or PCs).
Everyone’s App Store purchases can
be installed on any number of devices.
One shared photo album is created iniCloud, to which anyone can assign any
of their photos; the rest stay private.
Via Find My..., any family member can
find another’s lost device. Find My Friends
is also available by default, although you
can stop sharing your location for privacy.
When you set up a family member as
a child, you, as family organiser, have
control over some of their actions. With
Ask to Buy, any attempt to purchase or
install content will alert you first. You and
another nominated family member can
use Screen Time to monitor children’s
usage and set detailed limits.Family Sharing
folder structure everywhere, with the
same files synced. As with photos,
‘synced’ by default means the files
are stored on Apple’s servers and
copies are automatically downloaded
to each device’s own storage.Storage options
But there may not be room on your
devices for copies of all the files you have
in iCloud. So in iOS, iCloud Drive storage
is always optimised, meaning only files
you’ve recently used are kept on the
device; others are shown in Files, but
only downloaded when you try to open
them. This is indicated on each file icon
by a cloud symbol with an arrow. If you’ll
need a certain file when offline, keep
it open in an app or move it to On My
iPhone or On My iPad, as shown in
step 4 on the opposite page.
By contrast, macOS will try to keep
local copies of everything in iCloud Drive.To save space in iOS,
iCloud Drive storage
is always optimised
Keep those files where you can see them