Apple’s iCloud website
(Picture: Apple)You’d be forgiven for having never heard of Apple’s iCloud website. Though it’s hardly front of mind for iPhone and Mac users, there are certain instances where it could come in handy. You can use the Find My Feature on iCloud.com to locate a lost iPhone or AirPods if you’re on your work laptop, for instance. Similarly, you could also use it to view or download your grocery list in Notes, browse contacts, share or delete photos and videos, or even check your emails if you have an iCloud Mail account.
With Apple recently overhauling iCloud.com to match the design of an iPad homescreen, complete with widgets, now may be a good time to get acquainted with the tool. Here’s what you need to know.
How to sign in to iCloud.com
Head to iCloud.com and sign in with your Apple ID, typically your email and password.
If you have two-factor authentication set up, you will be sent a two-step verification, which is basically a code you have to enter on your device.
Once you sign in, you should see two rows of widgets (small tiles that represent apps) for your profile, photos, Drive, Notes, Numbers, and a group of apps collected together.
iCloud.com controls and customisation
To add or remove the apps you are shown, scroll down and select “customise home page”. You can then remove a tile by hitting the minus symbol to the top right of it.
You can also add more apps by selecting the “add tile” button at the top left of the page.
To rearrange the order of the apps, just press down on your mouse or trackpad to drag and drop a tile.
Once you’re happy with the layout, just press done. It will all be very familiar to anyone who has used an iPhone or iPad in the past.
At the top right of the homepage are three buttons:
A grid that lets you quickly open apps and view info like your iCloud storage level.
Next to that is a plus symbol inside a circle that lets you create an email or documents using Apple’s productivity apps, like Pages for text and Numbers for spreadsheets, among others.
The third button in the top row shows your profile info and lets you perform tasks, like recovering files deleted from iCloud in the past 30 days. Here, you can also sign out from iCloud.com, which is advisable if you’re using it on someone else’s computer or a work laptop.
What features are on iCloud.com?
Apple lists the following features as being available on the iCloud website, though some require an iCloud+ subscription, which starts from 79p per month in the UK and gives you more storage along with other perks:
- Account Settings
- Calendar
- Contacts
- Custom Email Domain (iCloud+)
- Find My iPhone
- Hide My Email (iCloud+)
- iCloud Drive
- iCloud Mail
- Keynote
- Notes
- Numbers
- Pages
- Photos
- Reminders
