It’s more than just a cloud storage subscription.

Wondering is iCloud+ worth it? It’s a very common question. It’s not helped by the fact that many people are confused by what iCloud+ is exactly. How does it differ from a regular iCloud account? How much does it cost? Is it useful?

Those are all questions we’ll answer in this post. Here’s what you need to know…

What Is iCloud+?

iCloud+ is Apple’s newest subscription service. It takes your free iCloud account to the next level by adding premium features. Just what features are those, you ask? Before we get to that, lets mention what a regular iCloud account offers…

With a regular iCloud account, which is free, you get access to iCloud email, web apps, and 5GB of online storage (which isn’t much).

An iCloud+ account adds a ton of features on top of what you already get with a free iCloud account. These features include:

Hide My Email: this lets you create randomized email addresses to give out to people, apps, or websites so you don’t have to give them your real one. If you get sick of the stuff they email you, you can just delete the random email address and cut their access to you off.
iCloud Private Relay: this is Apple’s Tor-like “VPN” service. It basically hides your IP address from the websites you visit in Safari.
HomeKit Secure Video: this lets you store the video footage from your home security cameras on iCloud.
Custom Email Domain: this lets you change your @iCloud.com email domain to a domain your own. So instead of your email being [email protected] it could be [email protected]
More iCloud storage: depending on which iCloud+ plan you have, you’ll get either 50GB, 200GB, or 2TB of storage.

Chances are you won’t use ALL of these extra features, but you’ll probably use a few – and that can make a subscription worth it.

The Three Best Reasons To Get iCloud+

Let’s be honest, some of these features just aren’t going to appeal to a wide array of users. For example, unless you have a home security system, you probably aren’t going to benefit from HomeKit Secure Video. A custom email domain is also unlikely to appear to most users.

But these are the THREE main features that make iCloud+ worth it:

#1 Hide My Email – spam is annoying as hell. Many websites or apps will continue to do so, however, once they have your email. Or worse, some will even sell your email so you soon start getting marketing messages from sites or services you never signed up for.

Hide My Email lets you put a stop to all this going forward. It’s so useful being able to give a site or app a disposable email that you can use delete should they start sending you too much junk.

#2 iCloud Private Relay – iCloud Private Relay isn’t really a VPN, but it’s the next best thing. You can’t set your location to say, Japan or Mexico, but you can hide your most personal information from sites you navigate to (by hiding your IP). This alone makes iCloud Privacy Relay a feature that is worth subscribing for.

#3 More iCloud Storage – it’s ridiculous that Apple only gives users 5GB of free iCloud storage, but hey, what can you do? But if you use iCloud Photo Library, you’re going to need some extra storage. Given that an iCloud+ account will get you up to 2TB of extra storage, it’s a no-brainer to consider subscribing.

UPDATE: Apple now lets you end-to-end encrypt iCloud data with Advanced Data Protection. iCloud+ is not require for ADP.

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Michael Grothaus

Apple expert and novelist, Michael Grothaus has been covering tech on KnowYourMobile for the best part of 10 years. Prior to this, he worked at Apple. And before that, he was a film journalist. Michael is a published author; his book Epiphany Jones was voted as one of the best novels about Hollywood by Entertainment Weekly. Michael is also a writer at other publications including VICE and Fast Company.

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Is iCloud+ Worth It? My 2 Cents…

What Is iCloud+?

The Three Best Reasons To Get iCloud+

Michael Grothaus

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