iCloud

Apple to wipe all CloudKit data on July 22

Timothy Reavis ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

Apple has sent an email to registered developers notifying them of a complete wipe of CloudKit databases. The erase, which is scheduled to take place on July 22nd, is related to the iCloud APIs introduced at WWDC this year and will effect iCloud containers with public databases.

This is the second time Apple is deleting iCloud server data, as the tech giant performed a similar wipe on July 7th in order to upgrade their servers to coincide with the latest beta releases for iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite.

Here is Apple's full email to developers:

Apple is now encrypting your iCloud emails in transit between providers

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 15, 2014

A month ago, Apple confirmed that it would soon start encrypting iCloud Mail traffic in transit.

As Google's Transparency Report noted at the time, Apple and several major email providers did not properly encrypt email messages sent and received from other providers like Gmail and Yahoo, creating security concerns.

Although Apple only encrypts emails sent between its own iCloud customers, the company appears to have stepped up iCloud Mail security and is now finally protecting your emails from eavesdropping as they travel between various third-party email service providers using end-to-end encryption...

iCloud Mail down for a small number of users for 17 hours now

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 14, 2014

If you use iCloud Mail, you may have noticed by now that your emails are not arriving, or are having difficulties accessing the web interface or your account in Apple's stock iOS Mail app and third-party email clients.

If so, you're among a tiny 0.1 percent of users who've been unable to receive mail for 20 hours and counting, according to Apple's iCloud dashboard on the web...

Apple rolling out two-step verification for iCloud web portal

Cody Lee ∙ June 30, 2014

Apple has apparently begun rolling out a two-step verification system to its iCloud web portal this afternoon. The new system adds an additional layer of security to an area that offers access to web versions of stock Mac and iOS apps like Mail, Contacts and Calendar.

It's not clear if Apple is simply testing the feature with some users or plans to eventually roll it out to all iCloud.com subscribers, but it seems not everyone has access to it yet. Those who do see it, though, say it requires users to enter a special code to access their apps...

Apple updates iWork for iCloud with new features

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 24, 2014

In keeping true to its promise of bringing back most of the missing features pulled from its iWork for iCloud web apps following a major rethinking of the productivity suite, Apple on Tuesday rolled out another refresh to web-based Pages, Keynote and Numbers apps.

Features enabled across all three web productivity apps include tips on how to cut, copy and paste using keyboard shortcuts, the ability to right-click to mask images and suggestions for your most recent screen name when opening a shared document.

Jump past the fold for per-app specifics...

Apple working to encrypt iCloud emails in transit

Joe Rossignol ∙ June 13, 2014

Email encryption is a hot topic right now. A few weeks ago, Google published a report that reveals how much email sent in transit is encrypted and which major providers are taking measures to encrypt their own emails. Then yesterday, the NPR published a more in-depth report (via 9to5Mac) that looks at how well major email providers in the United States are doing at protecting the data of users online.

As it turns out, Apple was among several major email providers failing to properly encrypt its emails sent and received from other providers like Gmail and Yahoo. Following the report, however, the iPhone maker reached out to NPR to confirm that it will be working on encrypting its emails in transit. The company says the change will occur "soon," but no timeline was provided…

App Store, iTunes and iBooks are down for some users [update: it’s back to normal]

Joe Rossignol ∙ June 12, 2014

There are multiple reports on Twitter and elsewhere indicating that the App Store, iTunes and iBooks services are either down or functioning erratically. The downtime appears to be affecting users in the United States, Sweden and possibly other regions. On top of that, the App Store appears to be loading incorrectly for some users as well. Hit the break for the latest updates…

iCloud hackers who held iOS devices ransom detained in Russia

Joe Rossignol ∙ June 9, 2014

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Russian authorities have detained two young hackers for hijacking iOS devices through iCloud and holding them ransom for payment. The suspects, both residents of the Southern Administrative District of Moscow, are a 23-year-old named Ivan and an unnamed 17-year-old that served as his accomplice.

Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs announced on Monday that the hackers were detained during the course of "operational activities" by the Russian Interior Ministry. The hackers were caught on closed-caption TV after attempting to withdraw ransom payment from an ATM machine. The ministry also noted that one of the suspects has already been tried before…

Apple introduces new iCloud storage tiers

Cody Lee ∙ June 2, 2014

In addition to all of the other big announcements Apple made during its WWDC keynote today, the company unveiled some significant iCloud changes. The service now has a Dropbox-like front end called iCloud Drive that allows you to access your files across all of your devices.

And that's not all. Apple also announced some much needed new storage tiers for iCloud that will allow you to store more things in the cloud, for cheaper. Unfortunately, the free tier stays the same at 5GB, but users can now get 20GB of iCloud storage for just $0.99 per month...

iOS 8 Photos app syncs full libraries across all devices, adds new search and editing tools

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

Apple has updated the Photos app in iOS 8 with some great changes. Most importantly, Photos now sync with iCloud—a feature called iCloud Photo Library—so that users can access all of their photos from all devices at any time. In fact, iCloud can store more photos on the cloud that your physical device can hold, meaning you can get to all of your photos and any time courtesy of the cloud.

Even the edits that you make on your devices go up live to the iCloud Photo Library, and sync with all devices, including the Mac. Apple is working on a new build from the ground up photos solution on the Mac, which will be shipping later next year.

You can even upload videos, and save the original and full resolution versions of both photos and videos. This is all possible via a new tiered pricing plan, which is detailed inside.

Apple introduces iCloud Drive: all your OS X and iOS documents in one place

Jeff Benjamin ∙ June 2, 2014

Apple just announced iCloud Drive, which allows you to store files directly into iCloud and synchronize them in folders across your Macs and iOS devices, and even Windows machines.

iCloud Drive will allow you to access not only the personal files that you wish to sync, but it will also allow you to access files from apps synced with iCloud, even if those apps are from iOS devices.

Apple says Australian iOS device attacks not caused by iCloud breach

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 2, 2016

On Monday, a number of iOS and Mac users came forward with complaints that their devices had been remotely locked by hackers. In most of the cases, a message appeared via Find My iPhone on the locked devices, demanding payment for the hack to be reversed.

As far as we can tell, the attacks have been concentrated on Mac and iOS products in Australia. And among the various theories of how the hackers were able to set a remote lock has been the fear that iCloud was breached. But Apple says it hasn't been compromised...