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Very Serious iCloud + Pages Questions

I have a lot of anxiety about the way iCloud stores documents. The information from Apple is unclear. All I know is that documents will be stored in the app itself. That's fine if you only have dozen or so documents, but I have about 2,500 Pages documents, arranged in a clear and easy-to-use hierarchy of folders. I used SugarSync to keep the files and folders identical on all devices. So I have these questions:


Will iCloud give me the alternative of storing files in the file system, where they are easy to find?


If I choose not to use iCloud, will Pages continue to save documents in the file system? If it won't, I have to abandon Pages.


Will iCloud automatically import all the Pages documents from the file system into Pages? If so, will it move the files or create duplicates?


If there are duplicates, how will I know which copy of a file I'm opening?


How will I be able to find and delete duplicates? With 2,500 files, it isn't going to be easy or obvious if it's a manual procedure.


Will iCloud recreate the way I have organized my 2,500 files in the file hierarchy?


Will iCloud put my 2,500 files in one place and force me to reorganize them through a grueling manual process dragging them on top of each other one by one?


Will iCloud allow me to have only one level of folders, as in the iPad version of Pages, LaunchPad, and the first Macintosh? There's a reason why Apple abandoned a flat filing system on the Macintosh in the 1980s; that reason is still valid today.


What does iCloud do if a Pages file requires files of a different type, such as JPEG files, or needs to be stored in the same place as files of a different type, such as the Word, Pages, and plain text version of a resume?


If iCloud destroys the way I've organized my files, what happens if two files with different content in different parts of the file hierarchy have the same name?


Obviously I can't use iCloud for documents until I know the answers to these questions, or I risk a huge mess.

iMac 24-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Oct 5, 2011 1:38 PM

Reply
86 replies

Oct 5, 2011 9:40 PM in response to Peggy

Sorry Peggy, this time I can't just take it all on faith.


The advertisements for iCloud are alarming, not informative. They have enough information to terrify, but not enough to reassure. They open up a Pandora's box of questions and concerns. If I only had a dozen files, it wouldn't matter, but I really need to know if iCloud and Pages are going to throw my 2,500 files into chaos. I need to know if I'm going to have to go through LaunchPad-style agony manually arranging files in the 1980s style flat file system that iPad uses--a regression that is cause for alarm, not confidence. I don't want to find out, after installing 10.7.2 or upgrading Pages that I should have stayed at 10.7.1 to avoid scrambling my files.


These are very important, serious, and essential questions. This is not the time for Apple to play hidey-peek with information.


I'd be happy if someone could say authoritatively, "Don't worry, it will be okay." That wouldn't even violate an NDA.


I need to have the answers to my questions.

Oct 6, 2011 11:38 AM in response to Kenneth Collins1

We are just users like yourself here & don't have any inside information. Anyone with inside information is under NDA (non-disclosure agreement) & can't say. Like the rest of use, you'll have to wait for more information.


There is nothing that will require you to sign up for iCloud. If what you have now works, stay with it until the answers you seek are available.


User uploaded file

Oct 6, 2011 1:07 PM in response to Peggy

I found out that Apple does read the discussions, but we can't count on them reading any particular one. They would be stupid not to read the discussions, because it's a gold mine of information about their customers. They don't post to them, so far as we will ever find out. We will never get official feedback.


NDAs prohibit you from giving details, but they don't prevent you from expressing your overall opinion or telling someone their fears are unfounded. I've never been a beta testesr for Apple, but I was a beta tester for Intuit and for many Microsoft products. For example, CSS2 position:fixed works in IE7 because of my bug report.


After many years, I decided that beta testing was not my cup of tea, but I know how the NDAs work.


Apple most likely knows about my questions, though I'll never know. My detailed questions got a general answer, which is what I wanted, and I'm satisfied with it.

Oct 7, 2011 3:04 AM in response to Peggy

It's a reality that as soon as Apple seeds stuff to the Developers, the dmgs are also out on other "channels" all over the net. users that grab stuff from inofficial sources are not under any agreement with Apple, because they never signed up with them .. Go to youtube. How come the videos where average people show how they install iOS5 on their iDevices before it is available .. you know that GM is the final Build, so it is not requiring any sort of activation. And iCloud is fully active as we speak. "It just works". 😉

Oct 12, 2011 9:21 AM in response to Sjazbec

iCloud isn't here yet where I'm located. I searched Apple's web site and it's all sales blather and no concrete information. It sounds like the sync is a manual process of dragging dropping files, according to the help link on the iCloud web site.


Right now I have SugarSync. When I first set it up, I got a diagram showing me the folders I've shared on all of my computers. Suppose I have folder A on one computer and folder B on the other. I link the two in SugarSync, and the contents of those two folders are synced, including subfolders and their contests. After that, any changes to files in Folder A are reflected in folder B. I don't even have to think about it. It just works.


Now that the NDAs are no longer in effect, is iCloud going to be that easy? How does it work? Is there a manual or how-to guide on the web?

Oct 12, 2011 10:39 AM in response to Kenneth Collins1

you need keynote,numbers,pages version 1.5 - they are now available, just search apps updates via itunes on Mac..


you also need iOs5 on the idevice, you get it via iTunes 10.5 , connect the device and look for software updates-


in the settings of these apps in iOS5, you can then select for each app if it will sync to icloud.



On your Mac you must have Lion 10.7.2 ( comes via Softwareupdate right now ).


You can log into www.icloud.com to download documents that icloud has uploaded from iOS to the cloud.

Oct 12, 2011 6:07 PM in response to Sjazbec

None of the iWork applications on the Mac have any integration with iCloud. You have to manually upload/download documents to iCloud using the web interface. From there they are pushed to your iOS devices and kept in sync among them. To work on these files on your Mac you have to again use the web interface at iCloud.com/iWork to download a copy to your Mac. There is no syncing between the iOS and Mac versions of iWork. At least not yet. The whole process between Mac and iOS is clumsy at best.

Oct 12, 2011 9:11 PM in response to tPet

It's all utopian sales blather. All dazzle, no information. All about the glories of documents in iCloud but absolutely no information about how to use it, and no information about where the document is after you're finished creating it. I have more than a dozen documents on my computer, and like documents have to be together. I have read all that gunk and I still have no idea what it is all about or where my documents end up, or whether they are still in my file structure or in some special place, and whether or not I'd have duplicates. Since there is zero practical information, I can make zero use of this feature. Whatever it is.


I have read adulation about DropBox, but I much prefer SugarSync. I set up two computers, then link folder A on computer A with folder B on computer B. I can link as many pairs as I like. After that, I don't have to do anything. The folders and their subfolders are always in sync, always backed up, and always available from my personalized part of their web site. I can do a three-way or four-way sync also, and SugarSync's iPhone and iPad apps have the same files in the same file structure. No dragging, no dropping, the files are always synced. It's easier to do than to describe and it is very clear to set up.


From what I read outside the glorious utopian sales talk, iCloud Documents is much more complex and partly manual. I'll stick with SugarSync. I don't have to think about it, and it just works. I have to think about iCloud documents, and I have no idea how it works.


Imagine a discussion this long, yet no one has a definitive answer to the question "How does it work, and what happens when I use it?"

Oct 12, 2011 9:19 PM in response to Kenneth Collins1

I here ya it's kind of obscure. The fact remains iCloud doesn't work with the Mac versions of the iWork applications. It is only working for iOS iWork applications right now. What happens is this: any document you have in Pages (or Numbers etc.) on your iOS device will be automatically available and synced and available in any other iOS devices you have linked to your iCloud account. There is no manual syncing required on your part. Everything is current to the latest version, instantly. However, right now this is only in iOS. It does not sync with your Mac version of pages. Useful for editing the same file on your iPhone and iPad, but not your Mac. This still requires a manual upload to iCloud from your Mac using iTunes or the iCloud web interface. No sync. :(

Oct 12, 2011 9:23 PM in response to dignanmorse

That's not enough information.


Does it sync all my pages documents or only ones I open? If the latter, what's the point? I'd have to go around and open and close all my files, manually, one-by-one, to get them synced.


If it syncs my existing documents, are they still in their folders or some special place?


If it copies files from their folders in some special place, will I have duplicates?


If it moves files from their folders into some special place, will it preserve the folder structure? If not, how do I make sense of the chaos?


Is iCloud documents reverting to a flat file system? If so, how can I possibly find a document again?


The iPad versions of iWork applications let you make "folders" by dragging files on top of each other. Does this mean I have to recreate my folder structure manually by dragging 2,500 around? That system, which is also used in LaunchPad, is abominable. It is manual, it takes too much effort, and it takes too much time.


Does iCloud allow a hierarchical file structure, or are we back in MS-DOS 1? (There were no subdirectories until MS-DOS 2).


Most importantly, if I turn on this "feature," what happens to the files on my computer? Am I going to need to use the Time Machine to restore all my files.


There needs to be more information than "try it you'll like it."


I give up. I'm not using this feature, because I can't get straight answers.

Very Serious iCloud + Pages Questions

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