
Apple’s all-new iCloud for Windows app, now available in the Microsoft Store - teddyfrozevelt
https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2019/06/11/apples-all-new-icloud-for-windows-app-now-available-in-the-microsoft-store/#PZXjypcj2zrrYcxi.97
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jasonhansel
Dear Apple: _please_ make an iMessage client for Windows/Linux/web users. I
find it really inconvenient that, unlike other iCloud services, I can't get to
my iMessages from my other devices.

~~~
pronoiac
Would that be a spam vector, though?

~~~
joenot443
Maybe. But I think if it required an iMessage account with an authenticated
iPhone, it wouldn't be much of a problem.

Still not a perfect solution, but AFAIK, it's also possible to pass iMessage
authentication with a hackintosh. So the same spam vector is technically still
open, albeit with a bit more work.

~~~
Wowfunhappy
> Possible to pass iMessage authentication with a hackintosh

Hackintosh user here, you can get iMessage working but it takes some effort.
You have to choose a serial number that seems plausible to Apple given other
information, and then also hope you get a bit lucky.

I really don't think this would be a useful outlet for a spammer trying to set
up iMessage accounts en messe.

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Slippery_John
Looks like I'll be ending my dropbox subscription then. I only use like 18gb
on dropbox so the $0.99 / month for 50gb iCloud plan is perfect for me.

~~~
scarface74
Well, Jobs warned Dropbox years ago that they aren’t a product they are a
feature.

[https://www.cultofmac.com/124556/dropbox-refused-nine-
digit-...](https://www.cultofmac.com/124556/dropbox-refused-nine-digit-offer-
from-steve-jobs-and-apple-report/)

I can pay $100 a year for Office 365 which includes all of the Office apps and
6TB of storage or pay the same price for just Dropbox.

And like you said, I’m fine with 50GB of storage.

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hprotagonist
I keep holding my breath for a linux client, but so far no dice.

~~~
TwoNineA
I did a ghetto solution that syncs my iCloud Drive to my linux box:

1- Install SyncThing on both your Mac and Linux box.

2- Point Mac client to ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs

3- Optional, for extra privacy run your own discovery/relay server.

4- Enjoy iCloud Drive on Linux.

You could push it much further by running the native app in a Windows VM and
sync more than just your files.

~~~
latexr
> Point Mac client to ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs

I forgot where I saw this (a tweet?) but iCloud Drive may have moved in
Catalina. It should only be a matter of pointing SyncThing to the new
location, but it’s something to be aware of to keep your solution working.

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scarface74
Who would have thought that Apple would be releasing software for Windows in
the Windows Store that from the looks of it is pretty good - better than
iTunes? Also, who would have thought that the announcement would be on the
official windows blog?

~~~
sircastor
I'm wondering what my 17-year-old self would have thought...

May you live in interesting times.

~~~
snazz
Apple still jests a little at Microsoft with the photo at the top of
[https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204301](https://support.apple.com/en-
us/HT204301) (a really chunky old Windows machine next to a nice new iPhone
and iPad). Still, a step in the right direction for both parties.

~~~
oneplane
Maybe, but most people buy windows laptops that look like that - or worse. The
cool good-looking laptops are usually more expensive while not really doing
anything extra that the customer would want.

~~~
kevin_thibedeau
You mean laptops that can be serviced without a heat gun? Where's the problem?

~~~
oneplane
I don't think that is a factor the general consumer can even dream up. People
rather 'consume' a laptop and then throw it away after a few years. It's why
there are so many low-end models sold and why so many manufacturers make them
(usually based on the same blueprint from the CPU manufacturer + laptop design
from the likes of Compal or Foxconn, nobody wants to waste money on designing
those internally).

At the same time, the use case where manual 'servicing' of a laptop was more
relevant has mostly passed. This came about because of post-imaging-once
lifecycle management in the business sectors (which isn't universal just
yet...) combined with the cattle vs. pets approach when it comes to business
laptops. A lot of personal use has moved to mobile devices and clouds, making
the laptop less and less of a special thing to be preserved.

To me, this all is a bit sad and wasteful, if we were to make it easier to
swap out modules while keeping the form factor, that would be a good thing.
But that costs money, and unless the mass market sees a use in it, they are
not going to pay for it.

~~~
scarface74
During the spinning hard drive -> SSD transition, a lot of old laptops had
their lifetimes increased by replacing the hard drives. I don’t see an easy
increase like that in the future. True, you can’t replace the battery yourself
and you have to pay the markup to getting it replaced and you have to max out
the RAM from day one, but RAM prices have been relatively stable for years. It
wasn’t like back in the day when RAM prices fluctuated by 30-50%.

~~~
oneplane
Makes sense. I have to say I haven't had the need to upgrade any laptop for
the last few years. Probably since 2015 or something like that.

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mikepurvis
Can someone with experience using iCloud for family photo management pitch me
on it? My devices are two iPhones, one MacBook, a Windows 10 laptop, and two
occasionally-used digital cameras. So I feel like this might be a good fit,
but it's also a problem a lot of companies have tried to crack and failed at.
I'm a little nervous about vendor lock-in, for example not having a good story
for a future Android phone, but potentially willing to pay that price if the
cost and features are otherwise right.

If you use and like iCloud for photo management between multiple people, how
is it?

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mceachen
I'd tried to make iCloud work in a shared setup and gave up after several
libraries decided to corrupt themselves.

PhotoStructure is designed exactly with this sort of heterogenous family setup
in mind.

My wife uses a Chromebook and MBP, I'm on Ubuntu, Windows and macOS, we have a
NAS, and we can mount the library directly with CIFS/samba/AFS/NFS, or use the
PhotoStructure web interface that's hosted by any of the computers that are
running.

Photos and videos get to the NAS via SyncThing or Resilio Sync. Duplicate and
downsampled files (like via Google photos) are handled gracefully by
PhotoStructure's sync process.

Most importantly, I retain control of my own files.

Disclaimer: I'm the author of PhotoStructure, and I'm eager to get user
feedback during the closed beta. More info on my HN profile.

~~~
skoskie
Just signed up and so excited. I need a solution so badly.

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mark_l_watson
Excellent, I like that both platforms are working together doing the right
thing for consumers.

A little off topic, but I also wish that GCP, Azure, and AWS would cooperate
by having a few data centers collocated with very low bandwidth costs to make
multi-cloud easier and cheaper. That would really put the consumer first.

And as long as I am wishing for things that probably won’t happen: I wish
Apple would support custom email domains for a low cost (perhaps a few dollars
a month).

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jasonlotito
This shouldn't be a surprise. If you want to be a services company, you need
to be where the users are. And any place you are not, you limit your users.

~~~
psadri
I wonder if this means iMessage will be coming to Android and other mobile OS?

~~~
metildaa
Doubtful, Apple seems to want to keep iMessage as an iOS/MacOS exclusive as
part of their moat to bring people into the full ecosystem.

iCloud was accessible through the web browser before this app was available.

~~~
helge5
The "app" (aka iCloud Control Panel) was available at iCloud launch, that is
alongside the web apps.

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minimaxir
The iCloud for Windows app has been around for _years_ : the earliest I can
find an article on it is 2014. [https://www.pcworld.com/article/2686017/apple-
releases-iclou...](https://www.pcworld.com/article/2686017/apple-releases-
icloud-drive-for-windows-pcs.html)

This is likely an update for deeper compatibility.

~~~
morpheuskafka
By "all-new" it means that this is a major rewrite, not that there has never
been any support for Windows. I might just switch back to iCloud--I am about
to get a Mac mini and it would greatly increase convenience with my iPhone,
but I still need a decent client for my Windows laptop.

It must be using a brand-new API, because I just installed v1903 and I still
had to install an update to be able to install it.

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SpikeDad
Even better than dealing with the Microsoft Store is to download it directly
from Apple's servers: [https://support.apple.com/en-
us/HT204283](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204283)

~~~
adfm
I'm curious about the upgrade path for folks who have been using the existing
iCloud for Windows. Is the Microsoft Store version somehow different than the
version Apple offers on their site? What's involved with moving to the newer
version?

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madspindel
I hope they also can fix the Your Phone app also working with iOS, not just
Android.

~~~
zeusk
That is more of a platform limitation from my understanding, sort of like
complaining that the x button to close the window is not on the left in this
app.

~~~
derefr
Not just a platform limitation; an _intentional_ one. The API surface that
Your Phone takes advantage of on Android, has no equivalent on iOS, because
those particular APIs would essentially be used by 1. sync frameworks like
Your Phone; 2. spyware; and nothing else. (That's what happens on Android!)
And, in Apple's opinion, allowing #1 isn't really worth allowing #2.

~~~
zeusk
Intentional or not, it is just a platform limitation. If Apple really cared,
it isn't impossible to have user verify what an app is requesting should be
granted. Infact, Apple caught up with Android on having App permissions.

Google's implementation isn't perfect, but they're not the role model for
privacy anyway.

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philo23
This iCloud app doesn't look new, unless I'm missing something, it just
appears to be available in the Microsoft Store now?

~~~
scarface74
iCloud Drive looks like it takes better advantage of MS’s syncing APIs and
lets you download files on demand more like every other modern equivalent.

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pookeh
I think this may have been part of a deal where Microsoft agreed to put Office
on the Apple store...

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furyg3
I wasn't totally paying attention to the last WWDC news:

Is this part of a bigger strategy? Will there also be an Andriod version of
Photos?

I can't find anything and am not holding my breath, but it would be so
compelling for many scenarios. As an apple fanboy I frequently am using third-
party apps to share photos with relatives and colleagues who aren't on the
platform.

~~~
bad_good_guy
I would say its definitely part of a bigger strategy. Simply put, now that
Apple is focused on being a Services company over a Hardware company, it
doesn't make financial sense to limit its availability to only Apple device
users.

I don't doubt for a second that they will make the services behave in a way to
drive users towards adopting their hardware too - such as gating certain
functionalities.

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specialist
I love that my iOS devices backup to iCloud.

I really wish iCloud would support macOS (Time Machine) too.

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oneplane
Isn't this just because win32 apps are not hostable in the MS Store?

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MikusR
This joins OneDrive in offering onDemand files as standard. While Dropbox and
Google Drive keep them behind paywalls.

