With the public release of iOS 8 landing today ahead of the new iPhone models shipping on September 19, developers are warning users not to upgrade to Apple’s new iCloud Drive feature just yet. The feature, which allows users to store and access files stored in iCloud on Mac, Windows, and iCloud-enabled iOS apps, is available to users on iOS 8 starting today, but won’t be available for Macs until Yosemite is released later this year. That means that upgrading today will cause syncing issues for apps that previously used other methods of syncing between Macs and iOS devices. The graphics above come from developers of iOS app DayOne, while developer Ginger Labs explained the problem in release notes for its popular iOS Notability app today:
Heads up! iOS 8 is coming soon. It includes a new syncing technology called iCloud Drive which is not compatible with iOS 7 or OS X 10.9 Mavericks. If you use Notability on Mac, we suggest not upgrading to iCloud Drive until Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite is released later this year. After OS X 10.10 Yosemite is released, you can upgrade to iCloud Drive through Yosemite or using the Settings app on iOS.
Realmac Software, makers of popular Clear productivity app, offered a similar warning: “As OS X Yosemite is still pre-release (and not yet available) upgrading to iCloud Drive will prevent you from syncing with Clear for Mac until both OS X Yosemite is released and you upgrade to OS X Yosemite… Developers cannot work around the choice made when upgrading to iOS 8, so please make sure you pay close attention to the iCloud Drive screen shown after you update to iOS 8.”
So, if you’re using an app that syncs documents between iOS and OS X, choosing “Not Now” when Apple prompts you to upgrade to iCloud Drive on iOS 8 would probably be a wise decision (pictured above). You’ll be able to upgrade to iCloud Drive at any point through Settings—> iCloud—> iCloud Drive.
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Hasn’t Apple been warning about this from back to Beta 1?
This isn’t as big a deal as the half-baked release of iCloud Photo Library. But I digress….
I don’t think most users are going to be bothered by this. Worst case scenario is that they are someone that is already used to syncing documents between iOS 7 and Mavericks…..and they also happen to be completely unaware that iCloud Drive is part of iOS 8 and Yosemite….I don’t think this is necessary at all.
Developers are simply going to confuse average users, that ONLY user iOS, and make them think something is wrong with iCloud Drive. If I were Apple I’d be holding back app submissions that advise users against iCloud Drive.
so is iCloud Photo Library coming in a future update or have Apple scrapped it for now?
In my opinion, Apple shouldn’t have offered iCloud Drive until iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite had come out. What a joke. Hell, where is their updated Windows iCloud Control Panel. I don’t even own a Macintosh. If I did, I would be mad at Apple. Because, there were not warnings until after I agreed to activate iCloud Drive. How people will get hoodwinked by Apple when they use their Mac and iPad/iPhone for mission critical work?
You’re right, it is a bit confusing and I think this kind of ‘warning’ is going to cause more problems and confusion
Yeah what happened to iCloud Photo Library?
and what about windows users?
Do others know whether the existing iCloud sync for iWork apps is an option in iOS8? I don’t mind waiting for iCloud Drive, but if iOS8 breaks iWork syncing in the meantime, I can’t risk upgrading. Any advice much appreciated…
It seems that if you use icloud online for any reason they are forcing you to upgrade to icloud drive which will not allow your OSX docs in numbers, pages or keynote to sync any longer which means that all of my numbers docs are pretty much useless on all of my OSX computers. Pretty lame that Apple would roll out something that only works on half of its devices. Maybe we will be surprised and Apple rolls out Yosemite by the end of the month.
Would this be an issue if you have the preview of Yosemite? I haven’t paid much attention to the iCloud Drive part of things yet.
I’d like to know the answer to this question too. I am running the Beta 3 of Yosemite, but have iOS 7 running on my iOS devices. I’m upgrading to iOS 8 now, so will iCloud Drive work between iOS 8 and Yosemite Beta 3?
Just in time for iOS 8 iPhone 6 launch, here is my revised iOS 9 iPhone 7 Wish List. I wished some of these things would’ve happened but there’s always next year! http://ericgreenspan.com/ios-9-iphone-7-wish-list/
I use OneNote on ny Mac… Will the iCloud drive fuck up my notes?
OneNote stores its primary file on OneDrive, so there is no reason you should be affected by this.
At first, I was wondering the same thing, but I think it only affects Mac-specific apps.
iWork Apps on OSX can only be shared with iCloud when on Yosemite. I am on Mavericks and shared documents on iCloud for colleagues using their web browser connecting to iCloud.com. From today this no longer works, which is pretty serious in my opinion.
Just turn off icloud and it works like a charm then
my question is, if my macbook is outdated and latest update available is Lion….what happens then??
What if I was unaware of this information, is there a way to undo the iCloud Drive upgrade.
Apple continues to become the next Microsoft with its release of buggy products. BAD choice to NOT release the same OS for Mobile and desktop at the same time. Do any beta testers know where the mail account settings are now in iTunes? Can’t find them anywhere – Apple, no longer plug and play : (
This warning is not confusing and should have been blasted everywhere. I work from my Mac and my iPad as I constantly flip back and forth. I rely on the iCloud. I now cannot access the most updated versions of my files through my desktop. This is a huge hassle!! there should have been a warning before it asked me if I wanted to update to ICLOUD drive.