Skip to main content

iOS 11.4 finally cleans up text conversations with Messages in iCloud

[ad_1]


Apple first announced that it was moving iMessage into its iCloud storage system back at its WWDC event in 2017. It sounds like a simple thing: All of your messages now sync to iCloud and sync across any device you enable, including iPhones, Macs, Apple Watches, and iPads. Before, this new feature, keeping track of conversations across devices was a wreck. Saving a conversation would fill up your device storage—especially if you had pictures and videos attached—and things didn’t sync so you could have various versions of the same conversations on different devices.



Today, however, iOS 11.4 is rolling out to iPhone users and Apple included the Messages in iCloud update is included in that release. The feature appeared in the initial iOS 11 beta, but didn’t make the final release. It showed up again in the iOS 11.3 beta, and now it’s finally rolling out to customers.



Now, iCloud will store the entirety of an iMessage conversation, so you can search back through the messages to find something, even if it’s no longer stored on your device. Also, if you delete a message on your phone, it will also disappear on your iPad or your Mac.


The messages in iCloud are encrypted and require a key that’s specific to the device from which the messages were originally sent, which adds an extra layer of security of the message.



The downside, of course, is still Apple’s outdated iCloud pricing structure. If you’re a free iCloud user, you’re still limited to a pathetic 5GB of storage, which hasn’t changed since 2014. Jumping up to 50GB will cost you $0.99 monthly, 200GB is $2.99, and 2TB will set you back $9.99. Pricing also varies depending on your country. Text conversations alone can rack up gigabytes of storage requirements, especially when multimedia is involved.



Apple is currently offering users a free month of iCloud Premium, which allows up to 2 TB of storage for $10 monthly. Once the trial is over, however, it will auto-renew and you’ll pay per month.



If you want to enable Messages in iCloud, go to your iCloud settings and turn on the Messages switch. Just beware that it will take up space in your storage, especially if you never delete texts.



Other stuff to look out for in iOS 11.4:



  • AirPlay 2 now allows multi-room audio streaming on the HomePod smart speaker.


  • AirPlay 2 also gives you a bigger buffer when streaming music so internet hiccups don't stall your songs.


  • USB Restricted mode requires you to unlock your phone with a passcode or biometrics every seven days. Otherwise, plugging your phone in with a cable won't give a computer access to the device, rather it will simply charge. This is a handy feature for fending off would-be hackers.




[ad_2]

Written By Stan Horaczek

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ice technicians are the secret stars of the Winter Olympics

[ad_1] The emphasis of this year's two-week-long Winter Olympic Games has been placed squarely on the Olympians themselves. After all, the stated purpose of the international competition is to bring together the world’s greatest athletes in a nail-biting competition across fifteen different winter sports. But before the curlers, skiers, and skaters even arrived in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the Olympians of the ice technician world were already a few weeks deep in a competition of their own. Mark Callan of the World Curling Federation and Markus Aschauer of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation both say they’re hoping to make the best ice the Winter Olympics have ever seen. To transform the barren concrete jungle of existing tracks and arenas into an ice- and snow-covered wonderland is an enormous undertaking. And it takes a keen understanding of the physics and chemistry that keeps frozen precipitation pristine. Curling Callan has been making and maintaining ice for m
Post a Comment
Read more

In the wake of NYC terrorist attack, Trump says he's ordered increased 'Extreme Vetting'

[ad_1] President Donald Trump has requested for a heightened vetting program following Tuesday's terrorist attack in New York. @realDonaldTrump: I have just ordered Homeland Security to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program. Being politically correct is fine, but not for this! Earlier, he tweeted that the attack in lower Manhattan was committed by a "sick and deranged person." @realDonaldTrump: In NYC, looks like another attack by a very sick and deranged person. Law enforcement is following this closely. NOT IN THE U.S.A.! His remarks came after a motorist drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial and struck several people on Tuesday, leaving at least eight people dead and a dozen injured. NBC News repor
Post a Comment
Read more

How to save everything you post to social media

[ad_1] If you get the urge to revisit that cute photo you posted some time last year, you'll have to scroll through your timeline for what feels like hours to track it back down. Instead, when you share a post on social media, also save it to your phone for safe-keeping. This will not only save your social media hits for posterity, but also make them easier to find if you ever need to rediscover them. In this guide, we focus on saving photos and videos, because text posts are slightly more complicated—the only way to really preserve text from Facebook and Twitter is to download your entire archive (we'll explain how to do this below), and Instagram and Snapchat don't let you save or export your instant messages at all. When it comes to photos and videos, there's a shortcut to make sure they stay on your phone: Originally film them through a dedicated app, which will save them to a gallery. Only then should you open up a social media app to share them. However, there'
Post a Comment
Read more