How to set up iCloud

iCloud is completely free and helps you to keep all your data in sync and backed up with ease. iCloud stores all your music, photos, documents and apps securely and allows you to automatically download them whenever and wherever you are.

The best thing about the iCloud service is there’s no syncing required – everything just happens automatically. Buy an app on your iPad and it’s automatically sent to your iPhone. Similarly, if you download a new album on your iPhone, it’s ready and waiting for you on your iPad. It works seamlessly and invisibly in the background.

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It’s not just for music and apps though, as iCloud ensures that your email, contacts and calendars are all kept up-to-date, too. It doesn’t matter which of your devices the change is made on, every single one will simply update itself.

You get 5GB of free storage, but as apps, books, music and TV shows don’t count towards this space it’s a generous allowance. If you need more space you can buy it. You can also back up your iPhone to iCloud for an added level of protection. No matter what happens, your data will be safe. iCloud also includes Photo Stream that immediately pushes any pictures you take on your iPhone to your iPad or Mac. There’s a lot more to iCloud and it’s sure to be greatly expanded. We’ll show you how to set it up here.

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If you don’t already have an Apple ID then you’ll need to create a new one. Tap on Settings then select iCloud. From here, tap on ‘Create a Free Apple ID’.

You can use an existing email address or get a new @icloud.com one for free. You’ll then need to choose a password and location information.

To choose what is synced to iCloud, all you have to do is toggle the on/off switch in iCloud Settings. You can pick any combination you like.

Should you lose your iPad/iPhone the ‘Find My iPhone’ function of iCloud will be invaluable. Make sure it’s on and you’ll be able to locate your device any time, anywhere.

To see how much of your 5GB data allowance you are using simply tap on Storage and Backup. Here you’ll see how much is left for your documents, photos and settings.

If 5GB isn’t enough storage then you can buy more iCloud space. It’s available in 10GB, 20GB and 50GB portions and costs £14, £28 and £70 per year respectively.

You can let your iPhone apps use the iCloud service to store any documents and data saved on them. Simply toggle the option to on in Documents & Data.

You can use your iCloud storage as a backup location for all your data. We highly recommend doing this in case anything goes wrong, and for when you upgrade to a new iPhone.