iCloud-LogoSo, it’s no secret anymore, Apple has enabled iCloud, its new cloud streaming/backup service together with the iOS 5 updates for iDevices. Hopefully, by now, you’ve updated your iPhone or iPad to iOS 5. If not, I suggest you connect your iPhone or iPad to your Mac or PC and fire up iTunes.

Follow the instructions on upgrading to iOS 5, and if you’re lucky – meaning the Apple server is not choking up, you’ll have your iPhone or iPad running iOS 5.

Now that your iPhone or iPad is on iOS 5, your next question will obviously be – how are you going to set up iCloud on your devices. This is where our brief guide to enabling iCloud on your iPhone or iPad comes in. Follow these step-by-step instructions and soon, you’ll be reaping the benefits of having iCloud enabled on your iDevices. Ready? Let’s get started.

Setting Up iCloud on Your iPhone

After updating your iPhone to iOS 5, you will be asked to log in to your Apple ID. Apple says that this will help you get set up with iCloud immediately. So, go ahead and login to your Apple ID. The next step is simply turning on iCloud on your device. You’ll see that in the next screen.

Screenshots setting up iCloud on iPhone

Customizing Your iCloud Settings

Once you’ve logged in to your Apple account and turned ON iCloud. You need to specify which of the apps and services you want to back up or sync in iCloud. To do this, simply tap the Settings icon and select iCloud.

Then you’ll see the list of apps and services on your iPhone that supports iCloud. Tap the on/off switch for the apps and services that you want to use in iCloud. These services include – Photo Stream, Documents, and Find My iPhone.

screenshots turning on iCloud settings for apps

To backup your iPhone to iCloud, tap on Storage & Backup. Take note that the iCloud account provides you with free 5GB of storage.

If you need more, you’ll have to buy additional storage. The pricing is as follows – $20/year for additional 10GB storage, $40/year for additional 40GB and $100/year for additional 50GB.

If you have enough storage to back your iPhone, simply tap on the On iCloud backup switch and tap on Back Up Now. Note that your iPhone needs to be connected to a Wi-Fi network.

Enabling Automatic App Downloads

One nice feature of iCloud is that it allows you to download apps you’ve purchased from the App Store only once. You can have these apps automatically downloaded to all your iDevices registered under the same Apple ID account. Meaning, you don’t have to reinstall them one by one on each idevice. To use this feature, simply tap Settings and select Store. Then turn on automatic downloads for apps, books, and music.

screenshots setting up automatic apps downloading

How to Enable iCloud on Your iPad

Guess what? The procedures for enabling iCloud on Your iPad is similar to how you do it on your iPhone. So, go ahead and check out the above process to set up your iPad with iCloud.

Conclusion

That’s it. You’re all set up to use iCloud on your iPhone or iPad. Go check out iCloud.com and login to your Apple ID to see whether your Photos and Contacts are backed up on the iCloud server.

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