myadele
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Q: should I switch to iCloud Drive (including changing @mac email to @iCloud)? or is it risky?  Will I lose previously purchased content by using apple username in iCloud email address?  I also have Gmail and Dropbox.  Too confusing!

Need advice about using iCloud Drive and/or switching email address from @mac.com to @iCloud.com.

 

I am using current iOS 8 and Yosemite.  I use all Apple products (iPad, iPhone 5s, iMac and Macbook Air late 2010).

 

I also use gmail and google calendar AND Dropbox.

 

I am overwhelmed by the confusion caused by multiple platforms, email addresses, contacts, calendars...Cloud, etc.)

 

Need to simplify. Need advice about whether it is safe to trust EVERYTHING to iCloud, or is it even recommended at all?

 

I also heard that if you switch your @mac.com email address to an @iCloud.com email address using your Apple Account username, if that's the right phrase, that you risk losing previously purchased items from iTunes.

 

So basically, I'm looking for the best, most efficient, least confusing way to use the Cloud, back up my stuff and need help deciding whether to switch to iCloud.com email address or use gmail, or both.

 

One last question regarding switching to iCloud.com email.  Is there a way that I can easily use this opportunity to get rid of spam?  That is, can I just let certain contacts know about the new email address or will all of my contacts be notified?  Also, what happens to the old messages from the @mac.com email?

 

Sorry, I know this is a lot but I am VERY FRUSTRATED.

 

Thanks!

iMac, iOS 5

Posted on Mar 11, 2015 4:49 PM

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Q: should I switch to iCloud Drive (including changing @mac email to @iCloud)? or is it risky?  Will I lose previously purchased ... more

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  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Mar 11, 2015 5:58 PM in response to myadele
    Level 9 (50,094 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 11, 2015 5:58 PM in response to myadele

    myadele wrote:

    I also heard that if you switch your @mac.com email address to an @iCloud.com email address using your Apple Account username, if that's the right phrase, that you risk losing previously purchased items from iTunes.

    AppleID are forever linked to the software you purchased with that AppleID. If you create a new AppleID, those purchase are not transferred to the new AppleID. However, you can manage your AppleID at https://appleid.apple.com. There, you can change the login name and the email addresses associated with the AppleID. Changing that information should not disassociate your previous purchases.

    So basically, I'm looking for the best, most efficient, least confusing way to use the Cloud, back up my stuff and need help deciding whether to switch to iCloud.com email address or use gmail, or both.

    You can use whatever email address and server you want. That has nothing to do with your AppleID. Your AppleID does come with a free email account at the me.com and iCloud.com domain (and includes the old dotMac mac.com domain as well). As far as I know, your @mac.com email is also tied to your @me.com and @icloud.com email addresses which are associated with your AppleID.

     

    Any email pointed at your @mac.com (including Spam) will still go to your iCloud email account, unless you create a new AppleID, but that comes with the problems noted above.

    See this article: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201309

    That article references using appleid.apple.com to associate you @mac.com AppleID with a valid email address (which could be your current gmail address). That is used to communicate with you should the Apple accounts be unusable and to verify the account. You can only associate an email address with one AppleID.

    Also see the section for using separate AppleIDs for purchase and for Services (such as email). You would keep your @mac AppleID to make purchases, and use a newly created AppleID for iCloud, email, etc.

  • by myadele,

    myadele myadele Mar 11, 2015 6:46 PM in response to Barney-15E
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 11, 2015 6:46 PM in response to Barney-15E

    Thank you, Barney.  I hope you don't mind some follow-up questions.

     

    So if I change my @mac.com email address to an @icloud.com email address, does that constitute creating a "new" AppleID if I'm only changing the @mac.com portion of the AppleID?  In other words, if I just changed from john smith@mac.com to john smith@icloud.com would I risk losing my previous purchases?

     

    Overall, do you recommend switching everything to iCloud Drive if the goal is to streamline?  I am getting lost in all of the different Cloud and Backup accounts (Googledrive, iCloud, Dropbox, iTunes, etc.)  All of my devices ARE Apple products so it would seem to be a good choice.  Do you recommend keeping iCloud mail AND gmail accounts?  I have too many email and cloud accounts and just want to simplify my life, including making it easy to enter something once and know that it will be entered on ALL of my devices simultaneously.

     

    Thanks!

  • by kahjot,

    kahjot kahjot Mar 11, 2015 8:04 PM in response to myadele
    Level 4 (1,347 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 11, 2015 8:04 PM in response to myadele

    I'd have to feel a lot more confident about iCloud's reliability before I abandoned Dropbox, etc.

  • by myadele,

    myadele myadele Mar 11, 2015 8:07 PM in response to kahjot
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 11, 2015 8:07 PM in response to kahjot

    How do you rank googledrive/gmail in terms of reliability?

  • by kahjot,Helpful

    kahjot kahjot Mar 12, 2015 5:00 AM in response to myadele
    Level 4 (1,347 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 12, 2015 5:00 AM in response to myadele

    I haven't used it enough to know. I tried it out, and was impressed by how smoothly it worked. I have problems with my iCloud mail sometimes disappearing the second it hits the inbox, so I don't feel like trusting iCloud with anything important. For $99 a year, you can get 1TB of storage through Dropbox. If you have anything approaching that amount of stuuff stored off-site, you have to be much more careful about Dropbox sync settings on your smaller devices.

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Mar 12, 2015 8:31 AM in response to myadele
    Level 9 (50,094 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 12, 2015 8:31 AM in response to myadele

    If you manage it on applied.apple.com where you change the name, it is still the same AppleID. That is the way I understand the info on that article and the appleid website; however, I haven't changed mine.

     

    I don't reccommend a gmail account because Google sells all of your online habits, indirectly. They use your information which they collect from your searches, email, etc. to sell their services to advertisers. I have one that I use for signing up to lists and stores. All the spam goes to the gmail account which I don't bother sorting. Also, they use their own email server which simulates IMAP, but is not really IMAP. For my needs, it is all quite screwy.


    DropBox allows you to share files on your Dropbox with others. Same with Google. That is not a feature of iCloud Drive. You can store your files there, and access them from your iDevices, but you can't send others a link to those files.