iCloud can be a ray of sun for iOS twist owner look to keep their documents synced between multiple devices and computers . Apple ’s own iWork suite , unsurprisingly , already offers deep iCloud consolidation for keep your Pages , Numbers , and Keynote text file in sync between devices . At this writing , however , only Apple ’s iOS iWork apps support iCloud ; it ’s not yet possible to synchronise your documents directly with the Mac versions of the apps unless you use workarounds .
But iCloud document synchronise — a concept Apple refers to as text file in the Cloud — works expectant between the iPad , iPhone , and iPod mite . The process is very standardised in all three iWork apps ; allow ’s practice Pages as our example .
If you do n’t see this welcome screen , or if you dismiss it with the Later button , you’re able to change state on iCloud musical accompaniment for each iWork app in the preferences app .
If you don’t see this welcome screen, or if you dismiss it with the Later button, you can turn on iCloud support for each iWork app in the Settings app.
In fact , the only way to enable iCloud if you previously dismissed that command prompt is to head over to the configurations app . Scroll down and beg page from the inclination of apps . Once there , slide the Use iCloud switch from Off to On . Switch back to Pages , and you may briefly see arrows superimposed upon your document icons — they signal documents yet to sync to iCloud . Progress measure will come out over case-by-case document picture as the single file are getting uploaded to the swarm . ( remark that each app ’s Getting Started primer document wo n’t synchronize to iCloud . )
You ’ll see progress bar come along on documents as they synchronise to iCloud .
It ’s an all or nothing approach : You either synchronize all of your documents with iCloud , or none of them . Once iCloud is enabled for a feed iWork app on your twist , you need n’t think about it . change are saved to iCloud mechanically as you work , quickly and seamlessly — as long as you ’re online .
You’ll see progress bars appear on documents as they sync to iCloud.
If you ’re working offline — perhaps you ’re using the iPad to add to your novel up at 30,000 feet — you’ll want to make certain to relaunch Pages once you ’re able to put your iOS gadget back online again . Close your current document by tapping the Documents push button at the upper leftfield , and you ’ll see thumbnail icons for all your files . Give it a few sec , and the now - familiar arrow will appear to indicate that your file is syncing ; when it ( and potentially any progress bar ) vanishes , you ’ll know you ’ve updated the iCloud copy .
When conflicts happen , iWork apps allow you choose which interpretation of your papers to keep — and if you ’re skittish , you may save both as separate documents .
The only other major hitch to operate with iCloud and iWork apps occurs if you try something you should really influence to avoid : edit your document on multiple devices at once . iCloud can and will inform you if your copy of a document becomes out of escort , and you ’ll see a notice if updates were made to a text file as you ’re reading it . But if you makesimultaneousedits on your iPad and iPhone , iCloud does n’t know which changes it should synchronise .
When conflicts occur, iWork apps let you choose which version of your document to keep—and if you’re nervous, you can save both as separate documents.
When that happens , your iWork app will come out up a Resolve Conflict alert . you may choose which version to keep as the master key . If you take to keep multiple rendering , the app will create freestanding copies of the written document , likeMacworld article ( Lex ’s iPhone)andMacworld clause ( Lex ’s iPad 2 ) .
If you have a text file unfastened and changes are discover , an alert lets you know about the update .
Generally , though , you ’ll only ever edit out a written document on one equipment at a time , so this should n’t be an upshot . If you know you made updates to a give document on your iPad , and do n’t see those changes directly when you relaunch page on your iPhone , just give the app a moment to notice the update rendering on iCloud . you could sometimes nudge thing along faster by tapping on that Documents release at the upper leftfield , since that spark iCloud to retard for any new documents that it should display .
If you have a document open and changes are detected, an alert lets you know about the update.
Thus , when things are work as they should , you ’ll never demand to think about iCloud anymore ; you may focalize on your documents , while iCloud handles the syncing .
[ Lex Friedman is a Macworld stave writer . ]
