Apple rolls out new iCloud site, brings Notes, Reminders out of beta
Apple on Thursday rolled out an updated version of its iCloud web client to all users, with Calendar, Notes, Reminders and Find my iPhone all losing the "beta" tag.
New iCloud site. | Source: Apple
Previously, the site was available as a beta product, however it appears Apple has officially launched the iCloud web client for all users.
Featuring the same textured fabric background seen in iOS, the web portal has options for Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Reminders, Find My iPhone and iWork.
Mail brings up a web-based version of its OS X counterpart, borrowing many of the desktop client's visual cues including the familiar columned layout. Creating a new message brings up a pop-up window while folder creation and message sorting is allowed.
It was reported in May that Apple was working to integrate iCloud Notes and Reminders with iCloud.com. The finalized version is basically an enlarged representation of what an iOS user would see on their iDevice, down to the skeuomorphic leather stitching and torn off pages in the Notes web app.
New Notes page.
Reminders gets the same design treatment as Notes, and allows for the dynamic "checking off" of to-dos.
iCloud Reminders.
It seems Apple will continue to use Google Maps for Find My iPhone, at least until iOS 6 rolls out with the company's first-party mapping app, and not much is changed from the mobile version. Users can have their iDevice play a sound if they have misplaced it. Also included is a battery indicator in the top right corner of the device's information window.
The new "Lost Mode" function that locks the device remotely and will track it every time it moves, has not yet been activated, however there are manual buttons to do a remote lock and data wipe.
Note the battery indicator in the top right corner of the device information window.
New iCloud site. | Source: Apple
Previously, the site was available as a beta product, however it appears Apple has officially launched the iCloud web client for all users.
Featuring the same textured fabric background seen in iOS, the web portal has options for Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Reminders, Find My iPhone and iWork.
Mail brings up a web-based version of its OS X counterpart, borrowing many of the desktop client's visual cues including the familiar columned layout. Creating a new message brings up a pop-up window while folder creation and message sorting is allowed.
It was reported in May that Apple was working to integrate iCloud Notes and Reminders with iCloud.com. The finalized version is basically an enlarged representation of what an iOS user would see on their iDevice, down to the skeuomorphic leather stitching and torn off pages in the Notes web app.
New Notes page.
Reminders gets the same design treatment as Notes, and allows for the dynamic "checking off" of to-dos.
iCloud Reminders.
It seems Apple will continue to use Google Maps for Find My iPhone, at least until iOS 6 rolls out with the company's first-party mapping app, and not much is changed from the mobile version. Users can have their iDevice play a sound if they have misplaced it. Also included is a battery indicator in the top right corner of the device's information window.
The new "Lost Mode" function that locks the device remotely and will track it every time it moves, has not yet been activated, however there are manual buttons to do a remote lock and data wipe.
Note the battery indicator in the top right corner of the device information window.
Comments
Why not use iWork just like google uses google docs? it would be awesome.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pedromartins
Why not use iWork just like google uses google docs? it would be awesome.
I give up? Why not?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris_CA
I give up? Why not?
What do you mean?
I'm just saying that it would be great to have something like google docs made right on iCloud. iCloud.com would become stronger, iWork would become stronger, we would be better.
I find iWork to be the best productive suite (besides for a few excel users) by a large margin. It's simple, fast, stable, capable, beautiful, great and it could run anywhere!
It looks plain wrong.
All it needs is another icon to even it up, something like a GALLERY ICON LINKED TO PHOTOSTREAM.
Like my old MobileMe gallery.
Is that too much to ask?
Is, it?
Find my iPhone is good, the compass animation is a nice touch, it started like this:-
Quote:
Originally Posted by pedromartins
Why not use iWork just like google uses google docs? it would be awesome.
iCloud is available to all recent versions of iDevices, recent OSX computers, and Windows computers. Since iWork does not run on Windows computers, what you propose wouldn't function.
I would like to see iWorks be more cross-platform compatible so as to encourage more enterprise adoption.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Macky the Macky
iCloud is available to all recent versions of iDevices, recent OSX computers, and Windows computers. Since iWork does not run on Windows computers, what you propose wouldn't function.
I would like to see iWorks be more cross-platform compatible so as to encourage more enterprise adoption.
You mean like the ability to save whatever you're working on in MS Office formats, or open Office documents? Oh wait, iWork has been able to do that since I remember.
Like iWork.com which they recently deprecated? Did anyone use that?
That doesn't bother me but calling it Find my iPhone when it can find iPods, iPhones, iPads and Macs doesn't sit right with me. It's minor, so I don't care, but it seems wrong.
iWork does hold docs in the cloud - I regularly go back and forth, auto sync between IWork on my iPhone and my MacBook.
If you mean live editing through a browser... Not sure I'd want that. Google Docs is a far cry from a responsive, creamy-UI-goodness office suite. Instead of WYSIWYG it't more like What You See Might Be What You Get As Long As You And Your Collaborator Have The Same Browser and OS.... Why, just today I was told that "Oh, you need to use Chrome, then the doc will look right."
grrrr...
Quote:
Originally Posted by jpellino
Thank you jeebus.
iWork does hold docs in the cloud - I regularly go back and forth, auto sync between IWork on my iPhone and my MacBook.
If you mean live editing through a browser... Not sure I'd want that. Google Docs is a far cry from a responsive, creamy-UI-goodness office suite. Instead of WYSIWYG it't more like What You See Might Be What You Get As Long As You And Your Collaborator Have The Same Browser and OS.... Why, just today I was told that "Oh, you need to use Chrome, then the doc will look right."
grrrr...
Yes, I've experienced routine GoogleDoc freezes in Safari.
Works OK in Chrome.
Seems the weak link with G-Docs is the fact it is emulated across multiple browsers.
I would hope Apple has noticed this and will work to avoid this issue.
Yes it does, but you have to save it to the MS Office format and if someone sends you a copy of a document in that format you have to open it and convert it over. I have iWork and Office 2010 and Office 2011 and I find iWork to be a PITA to use and Office 2011 with the Mac centric features to just not be intuitive so I use the Office 2010 on my Parallels machine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Previously, the site was available as a beta product, however it appears Apple has officially launched the iCloud web client for all users. ...
This isn't true. The notes and reminders might have been in Beta but the site has been the main live site since iCloud was first announced.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hill60
I...
Find my iPhone is good, the compass animation is a nice touch, it started like this:-
I wish we could "correct" find my iPhone. It never gets closer than a couple of buildings (half a block or so) away from where I actually am, and it's frustrating to see the error on the screen every time. Why can't we just put a pin in the map and tell the stupid thing where our home *actually* is. If they included these "corrections" in the system, it would make the GPS that much more accurate for everyone no?
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
Like iWork.com which they recently deprecated? Did anyone use that?...
I used it the first day it was available, but the problem was it never gained any actual functionality beyond "commenting" on someone else's documents. You throw up a document, and your friends can post notes all over it. It was fun for about four minutes.
It never even got close to the functionality of Google docs. No editing, certainly no shared editing etc.
From what I've seen Google docs is awful and really only of use to those folks that are separated in far flung places and absolutely *have* to work on a collaborative document together. If one person is in Miami and the other in Tuktoyaktuk, and you have to write an article/essay together, it's messy and slow but dooable. Otherwise forget it (at least that's what I heard from friends that use it).
Quote:
Originally Posted by pedromartins
What do you mean?
I'm just saying that it would be great to have something like google docs made right on iCloud. iCloud.com would become stronger, iWork would become stronger, we would be better.
I find iWork to be the best productive suite (besides for a few excel users) by a large margin. It's simple, fast, stable, capable, beautiful, great and it could run anywhere!
Google docs is slow and pile of crap. I want access over the cloud to collaborations, not use the cloud to write my collaborations.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
I wish we could "correct" find my iPhone. It never gets closer than a couple of buildings (half a block or so) away from where I actually am, and it's frustrating to see the error on the screen every time. Why can't we just put a pin in the map and tell the stupid thing where our home *actually* is. If they included these "corrections" in the system, it would make the GPS that much more accurate for everyone no?
Mine show exactly at my house, iPad, iPhone 4 and MacBook. two of them are WiFi only.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pedromartins
What do you mean?
I'm just saying that it would be great to have something like google docs made right on iCloud. iCloud.com would become stronger, iWork would become stronger, we would be better.
I find iWork to be the best productive suite (besides for a few excel users) by a large margin. It's simple, fast, stable, capable, beautiful, great and it could run anywhere!
Google Docs is kind of weak, have you tried the MS apps for Skydrive, the online Word, Excel & Powerpoint are pretty great. I would like to see the iCloud Notes have the same functionality as Evernote. Actually as of right now the only thing compelling about iCloud is it adds extra space to iOS devices and makes sharing iPad files in a office easier, the online apps are pretty shabby in comparison to what's available.
very good