Don’t Be an iFool, Set Up iCloud for Your New iPhone!

Setting Up iCloud

Setting Up iCloud

The iPhone is great, so is iCloud ability to automatically upload photos. It is great for viewing and sharing photos across devices, but most importantly it provides a backup in case something happens to your phone. My mother recently got her first iPhone and quickly regretted not setting up iCloud when her phone died and took two months of pictures!

She got the phone through Verizon after a succession of Motorola Droid devices, and was looking forward to the whole family being on iMessage together across the country. But the Verizon folks didn’t prompt her to set up iCloud or really explain the benefits. After the phone bricked and she went to her local Apple store, she learned what she had been missing. We now have a shared photo stream so they can see pictures of the grandkids!

But it is important to get started with iCloud right away to avoid losing photos and data … here is the simple process:

1. On the Home screen tap Settings (this will also happen automatically when setting up a new device). Tap on the iCloud menu item.
2. Set up a new iCloud account – or sign in with an existing account.
3. Tap Use iCloud
4. Tap Photos & Camera, and Enable Photo Stream

And that’s it! Your photos (the last 1000 of them, anyway) are now synchronized automatically to iCloud!

To get even more from your devices, you can make further use of iCloud. Other capabilities include:
– Use Find My iPhone
– Redownload Purchases from iTunes
– Store and access Pages, Keynote, and Numbers documents online
– Backup your iPhone data and restore from backup over the Internet
– Use your iCloud as a central account for your calendar, contact, and email and sync them to all iCloud-compatible devices
– Use iTunes Match

Head to Apple’s iOS page for even more details!

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About the Author

Michael Anderson
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!

2 Comments on "Don’t Be an iFool, Set Up iCloud for Your New iPhone!"

  1. >Your photos (the last 1000 of them, anyway) are now synchronized automatically to iCloud!

    For REAL backup of your photos (at least for people who don’t sync with a computer), I would suggest setting up either the Google+ or Dropbox app. Both of them can upload your photos to a private folder.

  2. Very true – I made sure my mom set up DropBox as well. They are also both limited, but offer more space …

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