5 Things iCloud Storage Can Do (Besides Saving Photos)

There are some things you should never upload to the cloud, but that doesn’t mean your iCloud should only be used for saving photos online. iCloud, like other cloud storage services, basically lets you borrow remote storage servers and store your files there. This is the same process used by apps like Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox, and while these apps differ in specifics, they offer the same underlying benefits: you can protect your data and delete it from local storage.

Apple iCloud does this too, but if you’re just using it to store photos, you’re missing out on the majority of its features. Unlike most other cloud storage platforms, iCloud is more of a centralized hub that manages and syncs information across your devices rather than just a backup. It’s heavily integrated into the Apple ecosystem, and knowing how to use all of its features correctly can make your life much more convenient.

For example, you can ensure that data remains consistent across all your devices so you don’t have to know which device an image is on. You can also edit images on one device and have the changes appear on another, and effortlessly transfer all your personalized settings to another device. iCloud+ offers even more benefits, but even with the free version, Apple gives you a lot of features you probably aren’t using.

The easiest way to see how iCloud works as a centralized storage hub is to use Safari, Apple’s native browser. When syncing is turned on, the tabs you’ve opened, pages you’ve bookmarked, and form data you’ve filled out on your iPhone are all shared with your MacBook, iPad, and iMac. If you close a tab on one device, it closes on another, and if you were reading something on your MacBook before going out, you can get it back on your iPhone.

There are some things to keep in mind about this. First, although the feature is enabled by default, it only applies if you use the same Apple ID on all your devices. It’s also worth keeping in mind that these tabs are not only shared but synchronized; Closing a tab on one device closes it on all others. This also only applies to Safari and no other third-party browsers, including popular ones like Google Chrome.

Sync isn’t enabled by default for Safari, but enabling it is relatively simple as long as you’re already signed in with an Apple ID. On an iPhone, iPad, or MacBook, open your Settings and tap your name. You can then go to iCloud, select Show All, and toggle the switch next to Safari.

iCloud offers many features related to cloud storage, but if you choose to subscribe to the iCloud+ subscription, you also get many additional benefits unrelated to storage. Even if you’ve been using the subscription to increase storage for a while, chances are you’ve never used the Hide My Email feature.

As the name suggests, the feature hides your email address when you subscribe to a service. It does this by automatically creating a proxy email every time you use your Apple ID to sign in to a website or app. When you receive an authentication code, iCloud forwards it to your Apple ID email address, allowing you to verify it without sharing your personal email address. This is a great way to avoid scams and protect your data and privacy because emails are designed for a specific purpose and leave no digital trace. This disconnects them from your online presence, making them useless to companies that hoard user data.

The feature prompts you to use it whenever you have the opportunity to do so if you have iCloud+, but you can also create proxy emails manually. To do this, open the Settings app on your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook, go to iCloud, then Hide my email. You can create new emails and label them here, manage existing ones, or change feature-specific settings. There are many amazing iCloud+ alternatives, but this is one feature you can’t get with any of them.

When you upload a photo to Google Photos, it creates a copy that you can access from any device. However, this copy is separate from the one on your phone. Editing the image on your phone does not change the file on the cloud and the copy stored online will remain even if you delete the image from your smartphone.

This makes Apple iCloud more like Google Drive than Google Photos, but still quite different. Each of your devices using iCloud has the same copy of each file, which is synced between them. Editing an image locally on one device automatically updates it on all other devices, and deleting it from one device also clears it from the cloud.

This difference isn’t very important if you’re just storing files, but it becomes a powerful tool for productivity tasks. If you need to sign a PDF, you can do it on your phone and then send it directly from your MacBook without transferring it to your computer first. Likewise, if you were working on a project on your MacBook and it suddenly stops, you can get the same file back on your Mac with all the changes saved. This also helps reduce file clutter because all your edits across different devices are saved in a single file.

Cloud storage is incredibly convenient for backing up files. Your photos and videos don’t need to consume local storage, your app data stays safe even if you lose your phone, and all your important files, form information, and passwords have an emergency backup you can access if you ever lose them. All the best cloud storage apps offer most of these features, but iCloud takes it a step further by letting you back up your entire phone.

This includes downloaded apps and app data, as well as many other important things like local message history, custom settings, and personalization features like Focus modes on your iPhone. Even things like your ringtone, personalized voice messages, wallpapers, and home screens are backed up. This makes switching from one phone to another incredibly smooth, and even if you lose or break your phone, you can start using your new phone with all your customization settings without having to tinker with it for hours.

To do this, simply open the Settings app, go to Apple ID settings by tapping your name, select Cloud Backup, and then enable Back up this iPhone or a similar option, depending on your device. Keep in mind that these backups are quite large, so unless you get additional storage with iCloud+, it’s usually not worth it.

iCloud works best when you have multiple Apple devices to fully utilize its syncing capabilities, but that doesn’t mean the feature is useless just because you only own an iPhone or MacBook. You still get the same cloud storage and phone backup in case you upgrade to a new phone or lose your old phone, but you’ll also get some features that you don’t even need an Apple device to use.

To use Apple apps on a non-Apple device, open iCloud.com. It could be your Android smartphone, your Windows laptop, or a PC running Linux: any operating system and device works as long as you have a working browser. Alternatively, you can also get the iCloud app for Windows. Here you can view all the data you have backed up and see a number of commonly used Apple apps. This includes Photos, iCloud Drive, Mail, Contacts, Keynotes, Numbers, Pages, and you can also customize it to show any other app.

You can open any of these apps and access the data. For example, you can upload photos downloaded from your iPhone to your Windows laptop here, or edit a budget in Numbers from your PC. It also works with iCloud sync, so any changes you make on the website are synced to your other devices. It’s an incredibly convenient way to integrate your non-Apple devices into your daily workflow, especially for those who don’t own a ton of Apple products.