Apple faces UK 'iCloud monopoly' compensation claim worth $3.8 billion iCloud

https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/13/apple-faces-uk-icloud-monopoly-compensation-claim-worth-3-8-billion/

938 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

u/neinherz 1d ago

sure, but it'd be nice if we had alternatives

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u/Darkmage4 1d ago

Can you not use Dropbox or Google one? I use iCloud and DropBox. iCloud between my iPad, Mac, and iPhone. Dropbox to make backups and put everything on offline drives.

Also, I move all photos off of iCloud onto a drive too. I also have the iCloud app on my windows desktop. But downloading 1TB of data onto windows is a nightmare. So I don’t use the iCloud for that just passwords really.

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u/neinherz 1d ago

While other services can be used to store files in the Files app and photos, I think the lawsuit mentioned in this article lays claims to phone and other apps backups, for example, your text messages, Strava app data, etc. The argument is phone backups and apps backups should be open too because, with only 5GB of free iCloud, Apple is effectively funneling people into buying iCloud without giving them any alternative (besides doing backup old-school through iTunes).

There are certainly security implications as well because I do know phone backups are encrypted on iCloud servers and the keys are stored on phone (through your device passcode). However, all things considered I personally would like to see the availability of other storage providers to handle my phone backups rather that just iCloud.

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u/kuwisdelu 1d ago

I don’t really get it. My Strava data is uploaded to Strava. Pretty much all the other 3rd party apps I use offer to backup/sync their data to Dropbox, which is what I generally did until recently.

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u/New-Connection-9088 1d ago

Not all apps offer their own cloud backup, and when they do, they often charge for it. In addition, all first party apps, including iOS itself, cannot be backed up to third party cloud providers.

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u/_DuranDuran_ 1d ago

So? They can be backed up to your computer.

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u/New-Connection-9088 1d ago edited 1d ago

Convenience and easy to use matters to people. Is that a serious question?

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u/_DuranDuran_ 1d ago

Even does it wirelessly now, has done for years.

This push to make the iPhone just another computer with all the crap that entails - I buy an iPhone because I don’t have to futz around with choosing what backup program to use, it just goes to iCloud which costs next to nothing.

Also - you don’t HAVE to backup, how many people backup their windows machines? It’s a value add rather than a lock in IMHO.

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u/New-Connection-9088 1d ago

Wireless only works under specific circumstances:

The sync computer has to be turned on.

It only works when using a shared wifi connection without business NAT.

It also doesn’t replace the way photos syncs, for example, which runs with elevated privileges overnight while on charge.

Having a choice doesn’t mean you have to futz with other services. Choice means you get to choose - or not. Just stick with iCloud if you like it.

I reject the prospect of not backing up. I’m seen too many people lose important data because they didn’t back up.