Although both iCloud and iCloud Drive are basically characterized by being two cloud services developed and offered by Apple, which are also free and are used to safely store our data online, it is a mistake to think that they are the same.
What exactly is iCloud?
iCloud basically consists of Apple’s cloud service , which offers us the possibility of saving, from our Apple device, a wide variety of data, and then synchronizing that information in the background with the rest of the devices .
What’s more, everything that is in iCloud will be backed, protected and one hundred percent available to be able to consult it comfortably online, both from our Apple device and through the official website, which we must access by logging in with our Apple ID , in the same way that, for example, we would do it on our iPhone, iPad or Mac.
In addition, it is possible to use it when synchronizing some basic data, such as contacts, calendars, notes, reminders and events, photos, videos and documents. Thus, when we have iCloud enabled, the different devices that we have accessed with the same Apple ID will be updated automatically when they are connected to the Internet.
Its operation is quite simple: just add a note on our iPhone and it will immediately appear on our iPad or Mac. And the same would happen with editing an event in the calendar: we could create it on our Macbook and then modify it from Apple Watch. Although it seems like magic, it is what we understand as Apple’s wonderful ecosystem, where all its devices work in a kind of symbiosis.
What is iCloud Drive?
In the case of iCloud Drive , however, we are dealing with a part of iCloud . In other words, it consists of one of the many services that we find under the iCloud umbrella , in the same way that it happens with Photos, Backups or the Search application.
In fact, we can use iCloud Drive to store our documents , such as PDF files, screenshots, Word or Pages documents and any other item that could not be synchronized with iCloud.
In this sense, it is true, we could assimilate iCloud Drive to any other common third-party online storage service, such as Dropbox or Google Drive.
However, as with the rest of the services that we find in iCloud, iCloud Drive is characterized by being an optional function , so that, if we have not enabled it, all our files or documents will be stored locally on our device. However, if we enable it, we can access them from any other device with the same Apple ID.
One of its main advantages is that it is possible to easily enable it on Mac, iPhone, iPad or even iPod Touch, and through the iCloud application for Windows , it is also possible to use it with this Microsoft operating system (something very useful when, for For example, you have an iPhone or an iPad and you use a PC instead of a Mac or Macbook).
What is the best option for backing up?
Everything will depend on the personal taste of each one. For example, it is possible to choose to synchronize our data manually , for which it will be enough only to connect our iPhone or iPad to the PC or Mac, and let the system make a backup, something highly recommended to do every one or two weeks approximately.
Although it is true that this is an additional annoyance, it is almost without a doubt the best way to ensure that the system carries out a backup of everything that interests us . In addition, it is the fastest option when it comes to restoring everything when necessary.
However, iCloud offers the added advantage of having all files, documents, photos, contacts, calendars and notes at all times and wirelessly, so it is also a useful option, but with limits, since the plan of free storage reaches only 5 GB of capacity, enough to start, but in just a few months we could easily exceed
