32 | MACFORMAT | SEPTEMBER 2019 macformat.com @macformatWith iCloud.com, you’re
never far from your filesA
s well as using iCloud
services and browsing your
iCloud Drive files on your
Macs and iOS devices, you
can access iCloud in two ways that
work with non-Apple products: via
iCloud.com and in the iCloud app for
Windows. The latter is available for
Windows 7 and higher from Apple at
bit.ly/mficfw or from the Microsoft Store
in Windows 10. It adds iCloud Drive as a
folder to Windows Explorer; syncs your
iCloud Photos (see page 24); brings yourMail accounts, Contacts and Reminders
(as Tasks) into Microsoft Outlook; and
syncs your Safari bookmarks to Internet
Explorer, Firefox or Google Chrome. You
can also check your iCloud storage and
change settings.
iCloud.com can be accessed with
any web browser, so it works on Linux
systems and Chromebooks as well as in
Windows. It’s best of all in Safari, giving
you a simple way to get to your own
iCloud on someone else’s Mac without
changing their iCloud system settings.You can browse your iCloud Drive and
Photos, and upload or download files;
view and edit your Calendar, Reminders
and Contacts; and use web app versions
of Apple’s Pages, Numbers and Keynote
apps (also a great way for others to
collaborate on your iCloud documents).
In Mail, click the Settings cogwheel at
the bottom left to set Rules which, unlike
when you do this in the Mac app, are
applied to all your mail on the server, so
your specified actions (such as moving
messages from certain senders to
different folders) are always performed
before you see your mail on any device,
regardless of whether Mail is running
on your Mac.
Note that iCloud.com isn’t designed
to work in iOS, so the only feature you’ll
get is Find My...You won’t find Messages at
iCloud.com – it’s only available
in the Messages app on a device
associated with your Apple ID.
As we’ve mentioned (see page 29), it’s not
dependent on iCloud, but if you enable Messages
in your iCloud settings it’ll keep copies of all your
conversations in the cloud (still encrypted and
with the keys available only to you). Normally,
messages are included in iCloud Backups, but
if you enable iCloud for Messages they’re kept
centrally and omitted from device backups.
With iCloud enabled, older messages may be
downloaded from iCloud when needed, like other
synced data, rather than kept in full on each
device, which can save some space.Apple still maintains two separate
content services: the iTunes
Store, where you purchase
tracks to download, and Music,
a subscription service that gives you
streaming access to a full library.
To combine both with music you’ve imported
from other sources, use iCloud Music Library,
available with a Music or iTunes Match
subscription (the latter is cheaper and brings
similar features to users who aren’t interested
in streaming: see bit.ly/mfsubitm). With a
subscription active, you’ll see an iCloud Music
Library option in Settings > Music or, on a Mac
or PC, in Preferences in the iTunes app. See
bit.ly/mficmlam.Messages Music
iCloud.com can be accessed with any
web browser; it works in Linux, on
Chromebooks and in Windows
Access from
anywhere