What's Icloud?

[jno]

Since its wonderful upgrade iTunes has decided that some of my tracks are on "iCloud", whatever that means. Most of them seem to be songs I've long deleted, but a few aren't. It won't play any of them because my computer (the one I bought them all on) isn't authorised, whatever that means. I've re-deleted the deleted ones, except for one that won't go because it's got a little circle with an exclamation mark next to it.

What's going on? How do I delete my unwanted song? How do I listen to the rest?

Words of one syllable please, I am not Apple-literate.

[snags]

Possibly something helpful here:

https://discussions.apple.com/article/HT4915

[jno]

so many problems there, but none of them seem to be mine. I don't even know what iCloud is, let alone iCloud Match, which seems to be what most of those are talking about. I've never subscribed to it. It's just walked onto my PC and gobbled up a few songs, and refuses to play them.

I suppose it's too late to give Jobs a good kicking.

[SlackAlice]

I'm quite glad I haven't got iTunes, bearing in mind how many questions arise about it.

[divegirl]

I feel your pain! I tried and failed to get to grips with it [its basically a 'virtual' storage room].
I should be able to take pictures on my phone and they should go straight to my pc... pffffttt!
I've given up to be honest.

Lisa x

That wasn't very helpful was it lol

[Mick-Talbot]

I pay 50 quid for it (per year)...and never use it

http://www.apple.com/uk/icloud/?cid=wwa-uk-kwg-features&siclientid=6297&sessguid=c623b818-dbea-48b4-942d-91be5efd2875&userguid=c623b818-dbea-48b4-942d-91be5efd2875&permguid=c623b818-dbea-48b4-942d-91be5efd2875

[jno]

so as well as people who get it when they don't want it, like me, there are people who can't get it when they do want it? And you're supposed to pay for it?

Gotta love Technology. I think I will try to redownload my unplayable tunes, preferably from YouTube so I don't give Apple the pleasure. Gah.

[tamborine]

its a search engine like safari, for iphones

[jno]

I haven't got an iPhone, just an iPod Classic I've had since before iClouds were invented. I assume it installed itself with the latest upgrade, though I didn't actually spot it till this morning - can it do that?

[tamborine]

its loaded with the latest iphones, not sure if androids have it

[rojash]

"ìts a search engine like safari, for iphones"

Only two thing wrong in that statement.
1) it's not a search engine, it's just online storage.
2) Safari is not a search engine it's a browser.

[Gromit]

The idea of iCloud is that all your music is saved on Apple's server. That means you can have your entire library available to stream to a device such as your phone which could not possible hold all the songs.

Also, when you buy a song on one device (such as an iPhone), it is automatically available on another device (such as your computer) without you having to do anything to make that happen.

Very useful if you are tied into Apple's Eco-System, but probably very annoying if you are not.

On a Mac, if you drag and drop a song from the main iTunes Library (not a playlist) to the trash, it should delete it everywhere.

[jno]

thanks, Gromit. Is this something that has started to install itself automatically with the last upgrade?

[joggerjayne]

iCloud ?

In simple language?

Applekeep a record of everything that every Apple user does ... where they go, what they search, what they look at, what they listen to, etc etc etc ...

They OWN you, in a way that Big Brother in 1984 could never dream of.

And by having an accurate record of the life patterns of hundreds of millions of users, they can target their hardware releases, knowing in advance how many people are waiting for it because they have a record of yourGoogle searches.

Instead of releasing the next iPhone, the iPhone6, they add a few crap things to the last one, and call it the iPhone5, because their information has told them that tens of millions of people will buy a 5, and then ALSO buy a 6 ... so they double their money.

Or ... you can be sensible and opt out of the iCloud.

[jno]

I love my iPod but have no other Apple devices. I have never knowingly opted into iCloud, which is why I wondered if it loaded automatically with the last upgrade. But almost the only tracks in it are ones I'd deleted and imagined (and hoped) were gone forever.

Any idea what the circle with a ! is?