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Q: iCloud File Size Limitation

I recently updated my iCloud storage to 1 TB in anticipation of making better use of it once the new Yosemite OS was released.

 

My first impressions of iCloud drive are not good.

 

The free space on the drive is the same as the free space on my local computer hard drive.  It is working like Dropbox but there is no way to do a selective sync.

 

I wanted to back up my iPhoto library from external drive to the Cloud and it said I didn't have enough room. My file is 166 Gig so in order to back it up I would need equivalent free space on my local drive.  Not Good.

 

Then when I disabled icloud Drive on my Mac and tried to upload to the drive through the web I ran into the 15 gig max file size limit.

 

So, after spending all this money for extra 1 TB storage it looks like I can't even use it to back up my iPhoto library or my iTunes library.

 

Not impressed :-(.

 

I hope that Apple has plans to remove the file size limitation very soon.

 

If I have a 1TB cloud account I would like to use it like any other external hard drive without limitations on file size and I am hoping that Apple won't throttle the maximum number of files uploaded per day or per hour as other cloud services do.

 

When I updated my storage to 1 TB a few months ago there was no indication that these limitations existed.  If they did I wouldn't have upgraded.

Posted on Oct 17, 2014 8:15 AM

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Q: iCloud File Size Limitation

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  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Oct 17, 2014 8:30 AM in response to lrsweet
    Level 10 (106,904 points)
    iLife
    Oct 17, 2014 8:30 AM in response to lrsweet

    iCloud drive is not an external drive. It is a mirror in iCloud of your internal drives. That is the reason for the size limitations. Everything you are storing in iCloud has to fit onto the disks of all devices you are syncing with iCloud Drive.

    See the FAQ:   iCloud Drive FAQ http://support.apple.com/kb/HT201104

     

    The size limitations are imposed by the device with the least disk space you are syncing with iCloud Drive.

     

    With iCloud Drive, you can safely store all your presentations, spreadsheets, PDFs, images, and any other kind of document in iCloud. Documents you store in iCloud Drive will be kept up to date across all of your devices, and you can access them from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC.

     

    Here's what you can do with iCloud Drive:

     

    • Store and access all of your documents in one place from any of your devices
    • Keep files and folders up to date across all your devices
    • Create new files and folders from iCloud-enabled apps
    • Work on the same file across multiple apps
  • by lrsweet,

    lrsweet lrsweet Oct 17, 2014 8:46 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 17, 2014 8:46 AM in response to léonie

    Thank you for your reply.  I don't understand then why Apple was advertising cheaper prices for increased Cloud storage up to 1TB a few months ago when I updated.  It seems then that iCloud storage should be separate from iCloud Drive.  How will I ever be able to use the 1 TB storage unless I have a hard disk with 1TB free space?

     

    I wanted to use the extra capacity (1 TB) to back up my iPhoto and iTunes libraries to the cloud and it appears that I can not even do that.

     

    So my frustration is that I am paying $20 a month for the larger storage and can't use it to back up my files.

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad Oct 17, 2014 9:30 AM in response to lrsweet
    Level 10 (141,095 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 17, 2014 9:30 AM in response to lrsweet
    So my frustration is that I am paying $20 a month for the larger storage and can't use it to back up my files.

    That storage is entirely separate than the iCloud Drive.  The following is from this Apple document: iCloud: iCloud storage and backup overview

     

    Here’s what iCloud backs up:

    • Purchase history for music, movies, TV shows, apps, and booksYour iCloud backup includes information about the content you have purchased, but not the purchased content itself. When you restore from an iCloud backup, your purchased content is automatically downloaded from the iTunes Store, App Store, or iBooks Store. Some types of content aren’t downloaded automatically in all countries, and previous purchases may be unavailable if they have been refunded or are no longer available in the store. For more information, see the Apple Support article iTunes in the Cloud availability by country. Some types of content aren’t available in all countries. For more information, see the Apple Support article Which types of items can I buy in my country?.
    • Photos and videos in your Camera Roll
    • Device settings
    • App data
    • Home screen and app organization
    • iMessage, text (SMS), and MMS messages
    • Ringtones
    • Visual Voicemail

     

    This was in place long before the iCloud Drive was introduced. 

    OTsig.png

  • by lrsweet,

    lrsweet lrsweet Oct 17, 2014 10:07 AM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 17, 2014 10:07 AM in response to Old Toad

    Test:

     

    With iCould Drive enabled on your Mac use a web browser to upload a file to iCloud.

     

    Watch the space available indicator on your Mac in finder for iCloud Drive and you will see it decrease.  As you upload through the web to iCloud the file is also automatically being sync'd back to your local hard disk (iCloud Drive).

     

    Also there doesn't seem to be anyway to disable this.  If you enable iCloud Drive on your Mac it is an all or nothing automatic sync.

     

    With Dropbox there is a way to choose which files and directories are synchronized.  I don't see that with iCloud Drive.

     

    I just want to be able to use this storage to backup files like my  iTunes library and iPhoto library. 

     

    Even if I disable iCould drive I am still hit with the 15 Gig max file size limitation.  So I can't use the storage space I am paying for. 

  • by David Collantes,

    David Collantes David Collantes Oct 17, 2014 11:35 AM in response to lrsweet
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Oct 17, 2014 11:35 AM in response to lrsweet

    Yes, that is bad. Definitely selective synchronization is urgently needed.

  • by gtot,

    gtot gtot Oct 17, 2014 12:35 PM in response to David Collantes
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 17, 2014 12:35 PM in response to David Collantes

    I feel exactly the same... totally showstopper for moving from Dropbox..... really a pity...

     

    Hope so much it will be changed.

  • by gary harrogate,

    gary harrogate gary harrogate Oct 20, 2014 8:38 AM in response to lrsweet
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 20, 2014 8:38 AM in response to lrsweet

    I've got similar frustrations.

     

    Prior to Yosemite's release, I installed the latest iCloud app on a Windows 8.1 box that has a large number of photos on it. All stored securely on the web I thought.

     

    I then upgraded to Yosemite on my Macbook Air, enabled iCloud Drive and wondered a few hours later why I had no disk space left.

     

    This needs the option of a virtual drive rather then syncing  locally.

  • by chris2good,

    chris2good chris2good Oct 21, 2014 11:36 AM in response to lrsweet
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 21, 2014 11:36 AM in response to lrsweet

    Completely agree with Irsweet - I am BEYOND livid! False Apple market ******** with a slowed down Macbook Air to boot due to poorly tested OS!

     

    Also, am I right in thinking there is no iCloud Drive app for iPhone/iPad?!? Because, I currently can't find any way to access my files on my phone... which is just  absolutely pointless!

  • by Jammeke,

    Jammeke Jammeke Oct 22, 2014 2:27 AM in response to lrsweet
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Peripherals
    Oct 22, 2014 2:27 AM in response to lrsweet

    Same issue here.

     

    I want to use my iCloud Drive to automatic backup my music iTunes Library (317 Gb) and my iPhoto Library (181 Gb)

    Uploading the library takes a long time .. so when i add music or photo's to my local library i want it to automatic add it also on the library's on my iCloud Drive.

     

    Also if i look in my finder i see only the space available on my local (iMac) drive and not the available space on my iCloud drive.

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad Oct 22, 2014 8:58 AM in response to Jammeke
    Level 10 (141,095 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 22, 2014 8:58 AM in response to Jammeke

    You should be using the iTunes Match feature to manage your music: https://www.apple.com/itunes/itunes-match/.

    It would be a lot cheaper than purchasing 500 - 1000 GB for what you want to do. iTunes Match is only $25/year whereas the iCloud storage would start at $120 per year for 500 GB. 

     

    We'll have to wait until the new Photos application for the Mac is released next year to see how it will work with the iCloud Drive. 

    OTsig.png

  • by bartlettpsj,

    bartlettpsj bartlettpsj Oct 22, 2014 10:06 PM in response to lrsweet
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 22, 2014 10:06 PM in response to lrsweet

    Like several people on here I'm pretty surprised that Apple have only really implemented a Google Drive clone.

     

    I was expecting much better things after all the fanfare. I guess implementing a proper caching solution was either too difficult or my more likely too slow or Else they got it wrong

  • by bartlettpsj,

    bartlettpsj bartlettpsj Oct 22, 2014 10:22 PM in response to bartlettpsj
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 22, 2014 10:22 PM in response to bartlettpsj

    Sorry, bad last message.  It was meant to say.....

     

    Like several people on here I'm pretty surprised that Apple have only really implemented a Google Drive / Dropbox clone.  Lightweight at that and way too late.

     

    I was expecting much better things after all the fanfare. 

     

    I guess implementing a proper caching solution was either too difficult or my more likely too slow or else they got it wrong.  I think they focused their energies on continuity features rather than a network drive that we all want & need to free up some of that valuable Macbook SSD space.

     

    I see no reason to use iCloud drive over the competition and plenty of reasons not to use it.

     

    Opportunity lost.

  • by bartlettpsj,

    bartlettpsj bartlettpsj Oct 22, 2014 10:41 PM in response to bartlettpsj
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 22, 2014 10:41 PM in response to bartlettpsj

    Ps.  There is a package called ExpanDrive that does exactly what we want on the Mac.

  • by JorCoop,

    JorCoop JorCoop Oct 29, 2014 2:20 AM in response to lrsweet
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 29, 2014 2:20 AM in response to lrsweet

    Hello All new to this forum,

    I am in the same boat I have upgraded to 200 gb storage to use the iCloud drive like Mobile Me and this seems to be very difficult.

    I am using Sugar Sync and it will do all that we all seem to want but I was really hoping that iCloud would be the apple answer.

     

    Can somebody clarify if i want to add files that are on my local drive, will these files then be doubles up on the local drive due to the automatic sync?

     

    I am the same I do not want all the files I add to iCloud to be downloaded on all devices, I want them accessible if I need them but will only download when I need them then save them back to the cloud. This is shaping up to be a disappointing addition and I would have stayed with Mavericks if I know this.

     

    The other thing I found was that trying to up load folders over 100mb you get asked to zip the folder before uploading (web app) this would then make the folder useless on line and i could not access the other folders contained in the master folder. (bad form)

     

    I hope some one has found some answers to some of these issues otherwise I will leave iCloud to iPhone backs up and photo storage, I thought apple wanted to be take seriously in the business world.

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