iCloud Drive

macOS Sierra preview: Universal Clipboard + Desktop & Documents sync

Our ongoing macOS Sierra previews continue unabated as Andrew and I take a closer look at two new useful features in Sierra: Universal Clipboard and shared Desktop. You're definitely going to use Universal Clipboard quite a bit: in addition to being a great time-saver, it “just works”.

Universal Clipboard lets you copy and paste items across your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch devices and Mac computers like a boss. Sierra also puts your iCloud storage to good use by keeping any Desktop items along with the files within the Documents folder synchronized across your other devices.

iOS 9 includes a standalone iCloud Drive app

Since Apple's WWDC keynote ended a few hours ago, we've installed the iOS 9 beta and begun digging for new stuff. Apple previewed a handful of the software's features at the event, but as usual, there are a number of additions and improvements it didn't talk about.

One of those features is a standalone iCloud Drive app. It's not immediately apparent, but while launching an app we received a pop-up asking us if we wanted to install it. We were also able to access it via the Settings app iCloud > iCloud Drive > Show on Home Screen.

Second Yosemite update looms: Wi-Fi fixes, iCloud Drive in Time Machine and more

Despite all the talk of a problematic decline in software quality, Apple is feeling your pain and isn't standing still.

Currently in testing, a second update to OS X Yosemite is due later this week. First of all, Mac OS X 10.10.2 apparently squashes that annoying bug which manifests itself annoyingly as intermittent Wi-Fi issues.

Another one resolves a bug preventing your Mac from reconnecting to a Wi-Fi network after waking from sleep, causing you to manually disable and re-enable Wi-Fi, which gets old fast.

Next, iCloud Drive should be now accessible directly in Time Machine, including the ability to track changes to files and documents.

Moreover, 10.10.2 prevents the so-called ‘Thunderstrike’ hardware exploit which targets Macs equipped with high-bandwidth Thunderbolt ports and also includes other important fixes.

New in OS X Yosemite: iCloud Drive

iCloud Drive is a new integrated cloud storage solution for Apple devices. It’s available on both iOS devices running iOS 8, and Macs with OS X Yosemite installed.

iCloud Drive taps into your existing iCloud Storage to act as a central hub for all of the files stored in iCloud. Watch our video walkthrough after the jump for additional insight...