3 ms·

I argue that iCloud is a more robust and coherent offering at this point. Robust is highly debatable, but the big problem with iCloud is that it's restricted t

I argue that iCloud is a more robust and coherent offering at this point. Robust is highly debatable, but the big problem with iCloud is that it's restricted to Apple devices only and is really only a benefit if you live entirely in the Apple ecosystem. The last few iOS apps I've written for clients haven't used it because we need to support Android and/or non-Mac desktop users as well.

jpxxx 14y ago
Quite true. But then in a world of Asus Cloud and S-cloud you're still in the same boat. Backup, sync, and asst. services are fragmenting.
- cageface 14y ago
  Sure but the point is that any truly competitive cloud service has to be cross platform.
  - jpxxx 14y ago
    Ah, I see what you're arguing. Perhaps so. Ideally so, for sure.
micampe 14y ago
> the big problem with iCloud is that it's restricted to Apple devices only I am using iCloud contacts, calendar and mail on my Nexus 7. They are plain standard CardDAV, CalDAV and IMAP. To use Google contacts and calendar on any non-Android device you have to go through an old version of Exchange ActiveSync, which is quite limited and loses some information. This is basically the only reason that made me move from Gmail to iCloud: it’s easier to share the data across platforms. This is of course not true for documents sharing in apps, for which I still mainly use Dropbox.
- cageface 14y ago
  But that stuff isn't what makes it interesting. It's the support for arbitrary backend structured storage, but few apps can afford to tie themselves to an Apple-only solution.