"If you've upgraded to iOS 8 or Yosemite, perhaps, like me, you're trying to understand about -- and the differences between -- iCloud, iCloud Drive, Dropbox, and other 'cloud' storage options," Jim Hamm begins. And he's got some good stuff to share. Read on . . .
"Here are some articles that may help you understand the differences.To start off, take a read on this article. Then, take a read here on iCloud Drive. And finally, here's yet another article that asks whether now is a good time to use iCloud Drive? A question like this always makes me a bit nervous."
And you do picture Jim's grin at this point. So there's more . . .
"For me, it's easier to think of iCloud as another external hard drive (a storage repository), except the drive is in the 'cloud.' Then, I think of iCloud Drive as a way to access iCloud from any (almost) app, and to sync them. I do back up to iCloud, but haven't used it except to transfer my files, documents and apps to a new iPhone 6 from an older iPhone. It worked well for that.
"But on a daily basis I use Dropbox, which is cross-platform, and always handy when I need it. So far, I've never actually logged into my iCloud account to see what's in there, or what it looks like. I don't seem to have a need to do so. As to iCloud Drive? Well, in theory I'm using it -- I've initiated it -- but haven't noticed any real results yet from using it. Perhaps with time."
So, thinking of his readers, Jim concludes, "Hopefully the above articles will be of some benefit in understanding these storage options."
Beat Storage Devices: USB Flash to RAID
David Passell relates this helpful info: "While the cloud has appeared just in time to offer free and easy access to gigabytes of storage space, some people like to keep their data close to hand. Here are some of the best storage devices money can buy that will help you keep your data safe." http://www.zdnet.com/best-storage-devices-from-usb-flash-drives-to-raid-units-7000023992/
Get More Storage via Dropbox
Use Dropbox? Jim Hamm shares this new info. "Want more free storage — up to 3 GB more? Here's how: On your iOS device upgrade to the latest version of Dropbox, then upload pictures from your iOS device to Dropbox. Everytime you do that, you'll get 500MB more storage up to a max of 3GB. Even if you remove the pictures later on, you get to keep the additional storage. I just did this with my iPhone, and while I was uploading the pictures I got a popup box from Dropbox on my computer (which I was using while the upload was going on) stating good news: your account has just been increased to 'x' GB of storage. Don't forget to turn wifi on to speed up the transfer of pictures." See this article.
Gmail Increases Your Storage
Jim Hamm says, "Here's some good news: If you have a Gmail email address, your storage has been increased to 10 GB to celebrate the release of Google Drive. Here's the announcement. I checked my account and, sure enough, I've got 10241 MB of email storage available to me. This is one of the reasons I use Gmail — I don't have to alert people to stop sending emails when I won't have access to the internet for awhile — I've got plenty of storage available. Another reason is Gmail's filters are excellent — I almost never get a spam email."As a side note: if you've thought about using Google Drive for storage of documents, it's not available for everyone yet — it's a rolling release. If you're interested, you can sign up to be notified when it will be available for you." New info: MailTab for Gmail, "the best Gmail app for free" is v7.5, dated 6-12-2015, is available. Read about it at iTunes.apple.com.
Storage: How it Has Grown!
This is just in from John Carter. "Another edition of Tech Tuesday is posted here. Learn more about storage, its history, what the goal of storage is, how it compares to RAM, and a lot more."