iCloud Alternatives For iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch is a cross platform friendly guide. You may also use these alternatives on Android, Blackberry and Windows phones.
iCloud by apple is revolutionary. But it offers only 5GB of space for free. This would be fine if it was 5GB per device, but it offers
5GB per iTunes account which is quite a limiting factor. Fortunately there are some iCloud alternatives out the for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad that compliment the limited iCloud storage space very well. They are :
Box :
First in line is
box originally called box.net ; Box offers iOS users 50GB of space for free. No catches, no strings attached, no manipulation here.
But you must signup for box only via the iOS app. Once you sign up for box on your iOS device you get 50GB of space per email id and not per iTunes account. So if you family members have multiple email ids for each device and the same iTunes account (or if you have multiple email ids and a single iTunes account) you can get quite a lot of storage for free. Box offers 50GB of space permanently, although it's not clear if its 50GB iOS offer is available only for a limited time. Either way get Box from
here for you iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad since it's a universal app. Box can then be installed on your Windows or Mac so you can sync files wirelessly to all your devices and computers. This option is available for Android and Blackberry too.
Dropbox :
Number two in line is one of my favorite internet services, that I use quite frequently.
Dropbox is available as an app for the iOS, Android and Blackberry. You can easily expand you 2GB dropbox space to 18+GB for free
with this guide I wrote a while back. Where dropbox excels when compared to Box (iCloud in some cases) is that it that many apps on the iOS Appstore sync with dropbox and allow you to make copies, back up or save work progress with it.
Many note taking apps like Bamboo and Notability, Media apps like azul allow you to back up files and stream media from dropbox seamlessly. Most of these apps exclusively support Dropbox instead of iCloud which is a key advantage for choosing this cloud service.
18+GB free space is an excellent reason to try dropbox for you iOS, Android and Blackberry platforms today. You can download this universally supported, free iOS Appstore app from
here. With the rise of cloud services from Microsoft and Google, it's very likely that dropbox will reduce it's prices in the long run.
Evernote :
Evernote is a cloud service that clips, organises and arranges notes, media and other data with a well integrated and easily searchable features. Many apps support evernote to store notes, pictures and other media files. Features like OCR make text in pictures you take, easily and quickly searchable. Evernote does what it does very well. Its quick search, tagging and excellent OCR makes it an instant download. Unfortunately its free space is limited to 500MB and its $45 premium service expands that to just 1GB a month. However Evernote does have a slew of apps to try like Webclipper, Skitch, Everynote Peek etc. This app supports Windows phones while many others don't. Download Everynote for your iOS device
here.
Google And Microsoft:
Google drive and
Skydrive have eventually made its way to the App store. Both provide good services at a very competitive price. Even if it weren't for Google drive, users can use google docs, google plus, gmail, youtube and other services to store data in the cloud. Personally I would opt in for Skydrive if you are looking for an iCloud alternative (as long as you aren't using linux). Google drive is in its early stages and google isn't known for making high quality reliable iOS apps. How ever in the long run I feel these services might be a wise choice since they are backed by reputed companies. Try them out for free, you have nothing to lose.
