Can You Actually Use iCloud on Windows and Android?

Whisper it quietly , but a few hole are bug out to appear in Apple ’s walled garden : AirPlay on video . Apple Music on Android . iCloud on the web . And now , a revamp , update iCloud app for Windows . As Apple shows hints of being more cross - platform - friendly than it has been in the past tense , is its iCloud cortege now operable across Windows and Android ?

Dare iPhone and Mac user entertain the idea of working on Windows and Android as well ? Or should they bind to Apple - made hardware ? We terminate up a Windows PC and aPixel 3a XLto attempt to access our iCloud file , and to see whether these apps and services are in reality usable away from Apple devices .

iCloud on Windows

iCloud has been uncommitted as a public utility company on Windows for years now — as has iTunes , do n’t blank out — but this month a new and improved rendering of the software appeared in the official Microsoft Store .

One of the change with the fresh version is a voguish sync process , so you’re able to keep files in the cloud without having to save them locally on a Windows machine , while still having well-off access to them . There ’s also tighter consolidation for iCloud within File Explorer .

The iCloud app live on down in the notice orbit on the right hand of the taskbar in Windows : It dedicate you quick links to download photo ( by year , to your Pictures leaflet in Windows ) , uploading photo , and head to the iCloud portal on the vane .

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pull up up the iCloud configurations control board and you’re able to arrange synchronise to Windows in four areas : iCloud Drive , photos , email ( and contacts and calendars , via Outlook ) , and bookmarks . you could also see how much of your iCloud computer storage you ’re currently using .

So , does it work ? Well , it ’s vestigial and occasionally slow , but it just about does the job it anticipate to do as advertised . The problem is , the likes of Dropbox , Google Drive , and even OneDrive are all a bit ( or a lot ) deceiver at this sort of transversal - platform syncing — if you really need access to iCloud / Mac data file on Windows , they ’re good choice .

Even something as simple-minded as snapping a pic on our iPhone , opening it up and editing it in Windows , then syncing it back to a Mac was pregnant with delays and inconveniences ( though we did eventually manage it ) .

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Downloading iCloud photos to Windows.Screenshot: Gizmodo

In fact , it ’s easier to just habituate the iCloud World Wide Web port ( which is also an option for those of you on Chromebooks ) , unless you specifically need copies of all your iCloud exposure on your Windows computer . The iCloud Windows app is only really superscript in terminal figure of uploading or downloading large telephone number of files .

ferment with iCloud Drive file in a browser app on Windows is a canonical experience , but a reasonably bland one : Changes propagate to macOS within second , the Photos component is straight and quick too , though nowhere near the Photos app on the Mac in footing of single-valued function and features .

The iCloud web apps have definitely better down the years , but there ’s still a quite a little of body of work to be done : That ’s obvious to anyone who loads up an iCloud Drive entanglement web web browser tab alongside one showing Dropbox or Google Drive ( iCloud folder share-out is coming , at long last , in September ) .

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iCloud integration in Windows File Explorer.Screenshot: Gizmodo

These web apps are unsheathed bones but do the job for viewing Notes and Reminders , Calendars and Contacts , and everything else you ’ve got in iCloud — you do n’t need to worry that your stuff will be mesh away if you have to switch to a Windows auto . But actually drive some serious iCloud - based work done on Windows is another thing , not least because none of Apple ’s major apps have Windows equivalents .

Overall , iCloud on Windows remains a tolerable experience : you may get some emailing and some file share-out done , but do n’t expect everything you ladder as swimmingly as you might hope . If you just need access to the occasional single file , or desire to upload a bunch of pictures to iCloud from Windows then hunky-dory ; for everything else , not so fine .

If you ’re someone who spends a mint of time on both Windows and Mac you ’re always going to opt for one of the more polished and more naturally crabby - platform options : You ’re going to stick all your pictures and video in Google Photos , or do all your file syncing in Dropbox . Apple has a long fashion to go to change that .

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iCloud settings in Windows.Screenshot: Gizmodo

iCloud on Android

This surgical incision is much short , because there is n’t really an option for getting your iCloud stuff — exposure , notes , filing cabinet — up on Android in any useful way … at least not without using a third - company service like Dropbox to bridge the gap . Apple must know it ’s tug people who use multiple platforms away from iCloud , but does n’t seem in particular worried about it for the minute .

Apple Music is usable though . If you ’re pay the $ 10 per month for it , so you could at least get at your music and your playlists ( and even your local files , if they ’re in your iCloud Music Library ) . you may add an iCloud electronic mail address to Gmail on Android as well , it should be noted , enabling you to send and receive message from your iCloud address .

That ’s really where being able-bodied to use iCloud on Android in a serious way starts and finishes : Music and email . Apple does n’t make any other apps available for Android , and while you may copy contact and calendar entropy over , it ’s a clumsy process — and it ’s a one - time procedure , so there ’s no two - way sync .

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The iCloud suite on the web.Screenshot: Gizmodo

Heading to the iCloud web portal in a browser app on Android only leads to the Find My iPhone page , so there ’s no access to files or the other apps there by default . you could request the desktop variation of the site , but then you ’ll be leave with midget icons and a rather awkward work flow — it is technically potential to download iCloud picture to an Android gadget this means , but it ’s far from a pleasurable experience .

We managed to stretch up a PDF from iCloud Drive on Android using the same method , but again you ’re tapping at tiny icons and trying to manage with a web interface that ’s inert at the best of times . It ’s there in emergencies and that ’s about it .

You ca n’t do serious iCloud patronage on Android at the moment , full plosive — if you on a regular basis use an Android twist , or intend you might do at some point in the futurity , then reckon avoiding iCloud for your general role picture and file computer memory need . Whether Apple will eventually relieve this , we ’ll have to await and see … but do n’t bear your breather .

Screenshot: Gizmodo