Bought a video - got the "cloud download" icon.

Question

Level 1

6 points

Bought a video - got the "cloud download" icon.

Folks,

I'm brand new to anything Apple, and right now I am not happy. I have a new iPad Air, 64GB.

Yesterday, I purchased a couple of "TV Show" videos via the iPad's iTunes app, and they appear to have properly downloaded to the iPad's memory, WHICH IS WHAT I WANT.

Today, while I was in the Videos app, I saw another episode I wanted, and purchased it. But this video has a little icon next to it -- a cloud with a downward pointing arrow. I am sorry, but I just am not finding anything anywhere that clearly tells me what on earth this means and how to actually download this video to my iPad, but from what I can gather, this icon means that my video was delivered to "the cloud," and not to my iPad.

I do not want this video to be in "the Cloud," I don't want ANYTHING to be in "the Cloud," I don't EVER intend to have ANYTHING in "the Cloud" -- I want to save this video onto my iPad's internal memory.

But, again, I'm just not finding anything that clearly tells me how to do that. I've seen a few things that haven't worked at all, so I figured the best thing I could do was to come in here, and ask if anyone can help me with what should be a pretty simple operation.

So, if anyone can help me, I would absolutely appreciate it!

thoots

iPad, iOS 7.0.4

Posted on Dec 9, 2013 6:38 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Inquiring Minds123

Level 1

4 points

Aug 12, 2017 11:13 PM in response to Lspettey

If the little cloud is still there then probably for whatever reason the video or tv show has not downloaded to your devise. You can test this and find out if it's downloaded by going to your device and click on:

Settings

General

Storage & ICloud Usage

Then under "Storage" (not ICloud) click on "Manage Storage"

A menu should pop up and click on "Videos".

There you will see the video and tv show content that is truly downloaded to your device. And if it's not there it is still in the Cloud and hasn't been downloaded.

Hope this helps.

p.s. I love storing everything in the Cloud so it doesn't take up gigabites on my device but I think when you travel you need to have any content: music, videos, tv shows, apps etc. downloaded to your device that you want to use in case there is no wifi to access the Cloud.

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Answer 2

jpdemers

Level 1

76 points

Sep 3, 2017 12:10 PM in response to thoots99

The "Cloud" icon is NOT your iCloud account - all it means is that the video is paid for, and unlocked and available to your registered devices on demand from Apple's servers. (Why would they want to host tens of thousands of copies, one for every "owner" of the video?) This works fine when you're home, or have a decent Wi-Wi connection, but for 100% mobility you do need to download the files. On your Mac or MacBook, right-click on any "cloud" movie in your library, and "download" will be one of the options. On your phone or iPad, find the movie you want under 'purchased' and tap the cloud icon. It should change to a small blue square, with download progress shown as a band growing around a circular "dial". Here's a download that's about 60% complete:

Even with Wi-Fi this is a s-l-o-w process; you won't see anything happening at all for a few minutes at least, and a full movie is going to take an hour or more. You definitely want to do this with the phone plugged in.

You'd probably be pretty ticked off if Apple tried to download every movie you bought to your mobile device - your available storage would be consumed in no time. It's more sensible to use cloud storage, unless the customer actually wants to carry the files around on the device. The problem encountered by the original poster is that almost nothing about iTunes is intuitive these days. Steve Jobs would be horrified to see how infernally crappy the user interface has become.

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Answer 3

Kathill7

Level 1

13 points

Dec 13, 2017 1:58 AM in response to Matt Magix

You say "(more importantly there is no reason you shouldn't want this feature.)" BIG REASON - Erratic access to internet. Sometimes I have it, sometimes I don't, I live in a remote, rural part of India. So when there is no Internet, I have no access to my downloads, as they have all been sucked up intp the Cloud where I do not have access.

My first Mac was a 512K and I have bought almost everything Apple ever made ever since, for over 30 years, but my loyalty is now going down the drain and my iPad is probably going out the window. It is useless for those of us with poor connectivity.

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Answer 4

judysings

Community Specialist

Dec 12, 2013 1:13 PM in response to thoots99

Hi thoots99,

Welcome to the Support Communities!

The articles below may be able to help you with this.

Click on the link to see more details and screenshots.

iTunes: Using the iTunes Store for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1491

iTunes Store: Download options when purchasing TV seasons, Season Passes, Multi-Passes, movie bundles, music box sets, or individual movies or TV episodes

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5731

The iPad User Guide explains how to purchase and download items from the iTunes Store on page 91:

manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1595/en_US/ipad_user_guide.pdf

The Videos app on your iPhone is where you will find movies and tv shows that you have purchased. See page 79 in the iPad User Guide:

http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1595/en_US/ipad_user_guide.pdf

Videos at a glance

Open the Videos app to watch movies, TV shows, and music videos. To watch video podcasts, install the free Podcasts app from the App Store—see Podcasts at a glance on page 97. To watch videos you record using Camera on iPad, open the Photos app.

iCloud: Content everywhere

http://support.apple.com/kb/ph2587

I hope this information helps ....

Happy Holidays!

- Judy

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Answer 5

thoots99 Author

Level 1

6 points

Dec 15, 2013 6:32 PM in response to judysings

Judy,

Thanks for your help, but I have to say that NOTHING in any of that answered my very simple questions:

1. How do I know WHERE the iTunes store will "download" my purchased "TV Show" episode to -- my iPad, or the iCloud? I am COMPLETELY confused about this, since during one purchase, episodes were "downloaded" to my iPad, whereas in a subsequent purchase, an episode was "downloaded" to the iCloud. And please bear in mind that I have NEVER EVEN LOGGED INTO THE iCLOUD, EVER, AT ALL!

2. Is there any way I can TELL iTunes to "always download to my iPad?" I'm presuming "there is no way," because that seems to be the Apple way with just about everything.

3. And the thing that frustrates me BEYOND BELIEF is how it apparently looks like pressing the "cloud icon with a down-facing arrow" apparently DID initiate a download of the episode in question from the iCloud to my iPad, since after about two hours' worth of trying everything imagineable, searching the Internet, and searching through everything I could find from Apple, I couldn't find ANYTHING, ANYWHERE that described how I could actually transfer that file from the iCloud to my iPad, but after all of that frustrated searching, that "cloud icon with a down-facing arrow" was gone, and I was subsequently able to back up that file onto my computer, meaning that it actually had physically made the transfer to my iPad. But in the end, all I can tell you is that "cloud icon with a down-facing arrow" DID NOT ANIMATE, DID NOT PROVIDE ANY TEXT EXPLAINING THAT IT COULD ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING, and DID NOT INCLUDE ANYTHING LIKE THE ANIMATED "CIRCLE OF PROGRESS" THAT IS USUALLY SHOWN WHEN THINGS ARE DOWNLOADING FROM THE iTUNES STORE.

I mean, CAN WE GET SOME PROGRAMMERS OVER HERE AND GET THAT "cloud icon with a down-facing arrow" to animate somehow, or show the "circle of progress," or somehow actually indicate that AN ACTION HAD BEEN INITIATED, AND AN ACTION WAS IN PROGRESS?

I'm sorry, but "Good grief!" I've always heard that the whole Apple experience is "intuitive," but this has been ASTONIGHINGLY the OPPOSITE of that. At any rate, in the end, I'm still as confused as I have ever been about the three questions I just posed, above -- I know that I managed to get that "TV Show" episode to download from the iCloud to my iPad, but I have ZERO confidence about what I might have done (if anything!) to actually make that happen. If you can point me to more information about these specific questions, I would certainly appreciate it!

Thanks again,

thoots

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Answer 6

judysings

Community Specialist

Dec 17, 2013 11:08 AM in response to thoots99

Hi thoots99,

Thank you for using the Apple Support Community. Due to the nature of your issue or question you may find more information by using another one of Apple's support resources - https://getsupport.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action. I think a conversation with one of our technical advisors for the iPad may be helpful for you.

- Judy

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Answer 7

RGWca

Level 1

4 points

Dec 18, 2013 8:10 PM in response to thoots99

I totally agree with you thoots. I can't make head or tail out of it either. I just bought several movies from iTunes. Some have the cloud showing, others don't. I have also bought digital dvd copies. I know movies bought from iTunes as well as dvd digital copies downloaded to my MAC, yet many are showing the cloud on my mobile devices. So this means I pay through my data plan every time I re-download. So much for purchasing anything.

Like you, I am trying to figure all of this out.

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Answer 8

thoots99 Author

Level 1

6 points

Dec 27, 2013 6:30 PM in response to RGWca

I think Community Specialist Judy's answer speaks volumes: If there was an answer to this question, she could have provided it. It simply, utterly sounds like "There is no way to know." About the only thing that appears to be possible is to set the "automatically download" option in the main settings, so that some way, some how, if something goes up to the iCloud, it will magically download to your device some day.

Perhaps a Technial Advisor could download an app to my iPad which will produce a Men In Black-style flash, and render me oblivious to such extremely unimportant issues like this, so I can "Stop Caring, Be Happy" like the rest of the Apple faithful. In the end, I think this is simply "rubbish programming," and if I can't control something, I'll just stop using it. So, here's my word, Apple: If I can't control where an iTunes Store purchase "downloads," I'll just stop using the iTunes Store. Which is exactly what I have done. I can find plenty of content elsewhere, from vendors who make it clear how their downloading process works.

No disrespect meant at all to folks like Judy, who are just doing the best they can to try and help -- I appreciate the help she has given me. But plenty of disrespect directed to the nonsensical programming in the way that someone decided that virtually everything to do with "iTunes" works -- everything I've done with iTunes and the iTunes Store has been some of the most frustrating tech-related experiences I've ever had, starting with my first usage of personal computers back in the mid-1980's.

In the end, I have decided not to throw my iPad Air through the window and out onto the street, and then run over it a few hundred times with my car, but I am certainly "done" with the iTunes Store.

thoots

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Answer 9

eric1013

Level 1

0 points

Dec 29, 2013 9:14 PM in response to thoots99

Dammit - this was so frustrating but I think I just figured it out.

See below from: http://www.imore.com/movies-icloud-means

Underneath the "Purchased" option there is a "Downloads option" - This should get the d/l going if it hasn't started already. Note - for movies greater than 100mb in size a wifi connection is needed.

How to re-download movies on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad

To re-download movies you've previously purchased from iTunes on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:

Launch the iTunes app.
Tap the Purchased tab at the bottom (if you don't see it, tap the More tab and then check there).
Tap Movies from the selection list.
Tap on the iCloud icon beside any of your previously purchased movies to re-download.

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Answer 10

thoots99 Author

Level 1

6 points

Dec 29, 2013 11:05 PM in response to eric1013

Well, this looks exactly like the one thing I was whining about the most -- for me, it wasn't a "Movie," but rather a "TV Show" episode, and I saw essentially the equivalent thing while I was in the "Video" app. And indeed, there was that "iCloud icon" next to the one video that absolutely wasn't "on my iPad," and I tapped on that icon several dozen times. And I tapped on it several dozen times, because IT DIDN'T PROVIDE ANY INDICATION WHATSOEVER THAT I HAD INITIATED ANY ACTION by tapping it, and IT DIDN'T PROVIDE ANY INDICATION WHATSOEVER THAT ANY ACTIVITY WAS ACTUALLY TAKING PLACE.

Again, I'm sorry, but this is just "rubbish" programming. If we could get a programmer to spend a couple of minutes on this, to provide some kind of text stating that something was happening, or animating the icon to show that something was happening, or by adding that usual "circle of progress" that other downloading activities show, then people like me wouldn't be in here screaming about how UNINTUITIVE this "oh, so much more intuitive than anything else on the planet" operating system actually is.

And, of course, this still doesn't explain why some episodes of the same TV show downloaded to my iPad, whereas others "downloaded" to the iCloud. I sure haven't found any answer to that.

Thus, in the end, this is just confusing, unintuitive, and frustrating. This is my first experience with any Apple device, ever, and I am utterly NOT impressed.

thoots

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Answer 11

Apr 7, 2014 5:09 AM in response to thoots99

Hey on the bright side iOS 7 will make the transition away from apple so much easier.

I want to watch things while I travel - can't cause it's stuck in the bloody cloud. Already downloaded it once and then hey presto it up and vanishes like a fart in the wind.

Thanks for chewing my data caps Apple.

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Answer 12

dkubicek

Level 1

0 points

Apr 7, 2014 1:43 PM in response to thoots99

I have a similar problem in that I have downloaded several movies (iTunes purchases and free digital from BluRay purchases) onto my Mac laptop and supposedly synched onto my iPhone and iPad but then I get the cloud icon with the arrow (for some movies) asking me to download AGAIN! Is this an option I can turn off? I also do not want to use precious data usage to download a second time what I already downloaded in my home's WiFi.

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Answer 13

Jul 27, 2014 3:45 PM in response to thoots99

OK the problems you guys are facing is very simple and the only reason you guys are having a problem is because of some missing information you don't know about. I will try my best to explain and fix your problem.

Make sure you have your Apple Devices up to date with software.

I am currently using iOS 7 on a iPhone to explain this situation. However, an iPad should be the same, just make sure its updated to iOS 7.

Basic Things You Should Know

When you make a purchase from iTunes with your Apple ID, all purchases are available automatically in iCloud (using your Apple ID login). This is so you can download the things you purchased before anytime you want without purchasing again. You can also use it to stream Music, TV shows, and Movies that you have bought without download. There is now way to stop purchases from showing up in the iCloud (more importantly there is no reason you shouldn't want this feature.)

iCloud (icon)

Now say you are in the Video app under the "movie" section. You may see a cloud icon near the title. This simply means that the movie is not downloaded in your Apple Device. To download just tap the iCloud logo and the download should start right away. The logo should change into a circle and show a stop button. If you see the circle begin to turn blue it means it's showing you how much has downloaded until fully complete.

Syncing from iTunes

Now, I will explain how to sync your purchased Music, Movies, TV Shows, etc. from iTunes on your computer.

Make sure you are running the latest version of iTunes or at least iTunes 11 for this example to work.

Make sure your purchases are downloaded and not on iCloud (check for the cloud icon). Now click on the iPhone or iPad button at the top.

And go under the section you want to. I will go under movies for this demonstration.

If you have tried syncing the movies and it's not working make sure you have "Sync Movies" checked and also "Automatically include all movies" checked.

Then click on the sync button at the bottom and wait until the sync is complete. After that make sure the movie is now in your Apple device and without a iCould icon.

I hope this helped you guys. I don't know why no one has helped you before. And the Apple Community Specialists help was just horrible. If there is something I left out that you need help on leave a reply.

P.S. Sorry for the spelling/grammar mistakes or if I left out words (i tend to do that) because I'm rushing. 😊

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Answer 14

Jul 27, 2014 4:20 PM in response to Matt Magix

The Apple support people can only post links to Apple support documents.

They can not provide actual troubleshooting help.

They only usually post when a thread does not get a response in a certain period of time.

also the thread is almost a year old.

I Think they have moved on.

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Answer 15

Maxiepoo

Level 1

9 points

Jun 9, 2015 9:29 AM in response to eric1013

Thanks Eric. I've never noticed that 'purchased' area before. The flipping iCloud is designed to make people spend more money on 'storage'. My iPhone keeps saying I can't back it up due to lack of storage space. Say whaaaaat? There's hardly anything on my iPhone and I don't USE THE ICLOUD! Still, it barks orders at me to buy more storage space on the Cloud.

This is why they're making laptops without DVD/CD ability...so we have to use the iCloud and pay for it!

:::bangs head on desk::::

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