Apple has finally launched Messages in iCloud

After a very long wait, Apple has finally-launched Messages in iCloud, a full year after the announcement of the same. This launch has come with the release of iOS 11.4. If you remember, the announcement for Messages in iCloud was made by Apple a year ago when it first showed off its most recent iOS 11 at WWDC 2017.

The feature might seem a bit complicated to you at first. But, this is a simple list of all the functions that this much-awaited feature will be able to perform –

1. It stores all your messages, all of the messages including the SMS besides the iMessages. It saves the messages from each one of your device in the iCloud. This system has made working with multiple devices more comfortable than ever before. The messages from all the devices can now be stored under a single roof.
2. It also syncs the features such as deleting or editing across all your devices. This means that if you remove a message or a thread on one device, you wouldn’t need to perform the process repeatedly on all your devices to get rid of that one annoying message or thread. iCloud will automatically sync it for you, and the edit will be updated on all your devices simultaneously.
3. If you use this feature, you will never find yourself fretting over the lack of storage space on your phone due to many photos or messages ever again. The images, attachments and older messages from all your devices will now be stored in iCloud and thus will not interfere with the storage space on your phone.
4. In the older system, all of your requirements were stored locally and were backed up several times in huge chunks as a part of the phone’s backup. There is an improvement in this process in the new system. Now, iCloud will allow smaller backups of your messages and only your latest messages will be stored locally.
5. Whenever you buy any new Apple device, you end up losing the messages on your previous device. Now, you will no longer face this problem. Messages in iCloud will allow you to sync all of your old messages to your new iPhone, iPad or Mac.

 

This is a just gist, and there is a reasonably long list of increments with the new system. However, all of it eventually boils down to two things. Firstly, now you will be able to sync the messages on all your devices under one single roof. Next, you will not have to compromise the storage of your phone for photos, attachments, and messages. They will now be stored in the iCloud.

To enable messages on iCloud, you can follow the given steps –

• Go to the Settings app.
• Now, go to the Apple ID page.
• Open iCloud. Toggle on Messages.

For security reasons, users should have two-factor authentication activated on their phones. If you still haven’t done the same, Messages on iCloud will give you an easy walk through the process. Moreover, you should opt for two-factor authentication keeping in mind the security and privacy concerns that are surfacing every other day.

In theory, the backup associated with each device will be much smaller now. However, it is still unclear how the storage situation will turn out to be users. The case might be quite different for those who have a lot of devices and a truckload of messages. It is too early to ascertain anything.