Even if you ditched your iPhone, you can still access iCloud
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What to Know
- Access iCloud Photos: Sign into iCloud from any browser and tap Photos.
- Access iCloud Email: Open Gmail app >Menu >Settings. Tap Add account >Other > enter iCloud login info.
- Access iCloud Calendar/Contacts: You’ll need an iPhone or iPad, and a PC, to transfer data from iCloud to Android.
This article explains how to access iCloud photos, email, calendars, and contacts from an Android.
Accessing iCloud Photos on an Android
You can easily access your iCloud photos on Android by signing into your account from a mobile browser. Tap Photos, and you’ll see every image you’ve saved to iCloud.
You can also create iCloud links for sharing photos and videos, view albums, and see account settings.
Another option, if you still have your iPhone is to download Google Photos (there’s an iOS app) and sync all your photos there. Then they’ll be on your Android automatically.
If you opt to move your photos to the Google Photos using the app for iOS, keep in mind the upload might take a while (depending on the number of photos you have, of course).
Accessing iCloud Email
If you have an Apple email address, such as @mac, @me, or @icloud, you can access your messages in the iCloud inbox. On an Android smartphone, you can set this up using the Gmail app.
Open Gmail and tap the Menu button at the top-left.
Tap Settings.
Tap Add account > Other.
Enter your iCloud email address and tap Next.
Then input your password and tap Next.
Gmail then finishes the process, and then you can access your iCloud inbox.
Accessing iCloud Calendars and Contacts on an Android
Unfortunately, there’s no straightforward way to access your iCloud calendar or contacts on an Android. You’ll need an iPhone or iPad and computer to transfer the data.
On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings.
Tap your name.
Tap iCloud.
Toggle on Contacts and Calendars.
You might need to sign in to your iCloud account first if you’re not already.
On your computer, open a web browser, go to and log into your account.
Click the Calendar icon.
On the left pane, click the Share Calendar button next to the calendar that you want to export. In the popup window, select Public Calendar. Click Copy Link, then OK.
Open a new browser tab or window and paste the copied URL.
Change webcal at the beginning of the URL to http and press Enter. Doing so opens a Save File dialog box. Save the file in a folder of your choice. You can rename it too as long as you don’t edit the .ics extension.
Open and login to Google Calendar on your Web browser.
On the left pane of the Google Calendar interface, click the menu arrow at the right of Other Calendars. Click Import Calendar.
Select the exported calendar file that you downloaded from iCloud. You can also choose the destination Google calendar (if you have more than one) in the same dialog.
Click the Import button to upload the file.
Once importing is finished, you should be able to see the imported entries in the Google Calendar web interface and on your Android device.
You can follow a similar process to transfer your contacts from an iPhone to an Android smartphone.
Do you know that you most definitely can use iCloud services on your Android phone? Don’t worry if you use a mac or had iPhone in the past, with a few simple steps you can access your iCloud services on Android in no time. Just stick through with us till the end!
You can access iCloud services on Android, but the only demerit is that you won’t be able to transfer/sync the files. But wait, we have a solution for that too.
If you want to transfer your iCloud files, you can do the same if you still have your old iPhone. Simply download the Google Photos app available for Apple, transfer the files on there and you are good to go.
Mainly, we’ll talk about three iCloud services which you can access on Android – Photos, Email, Calendar and Contacts.
How to access iCloud Photos on Android
The trick is quite simple and very efficient. All you need to do is visit ‘iCloud.com‘ from your mobile browser, for example, Google Chrome.
- Go to iCloud.com on your phone browser.
- Enter your email ID and sign-in.
- Click on the photos icon to view all your photos instantly.
You can very well access all your photos now, share links and can also view the account settings. You can also view your notes or use the ‘Find my Phone’ feature by the same trick. Just visit iCloud.com on your browser.
P.S. While signed-in on the iCloud site on your browser, you can click on the menu bar on the top right and select ‘Desktop site’ view. This will expand the page, will also make the icons smaller to read but will display all the other range of iCloud services like Calendar, Mail, Reminder etc. Keep in mind, there is a high chance that some services might work properly and pose difficulties because they are not developed for Android users.
How to Access your iCloud Email on Android
Its quite easy to access your iCloud emails on Android when you have an email address ending with @mac, @me, or @icloud.
- Open your Gmail app
- On the top- left menu button, scroll down to Settings
- Click on Add Account and select ‘Other’ from the given account options
- Enter your iCloud email address and click Next
- Type in your password in the next step and again click Next
- Gmail will automatically insert your iCloud account in the phone’s android system and that’s all.
You can now browse through your iCloud inbox easily
How to Access your iCloud Calendar on Android
This part is quite tricky, unfortunately, there is no direct way to sync or transfer your contacts or calendar on Android. For it to work, you will need an iPhone or an iPad. Let’s see how to work it around –
- Open your iPhone or the iPad
- Go to your Name/Name ID
- Select iCloud
- Make sure that the contacts toggle is switched ‘on’ in the list
- Now on your computer, open icloud.com on a web browser.
- Login to your account and click on the Calendar icon.
- On the left pane, go to the Share calendar option next to the calendar you want to export to your Android device.
- Select Public Calendar from the pop-up menu, copy the link and click OK.
- Open a new tab on the browser, paste the URL and make sure to change the beginning to ‘http’. Click Enter.
- By doing so, a Save Files Dialog box appears, proceed by saving the file in your computer in any folder you like.
- Now, Open Google Calendar on your Windows browser.
- Go to the left pane menu bar, select Import Calendar.
- Upload the saved file, the iCloud exported file which you downloaded and there you have it, your entire calendar will merge and open in Google Calendar.
There is a similar process to export your contacts as well. Do try that out as well.
So yes, we come to the end of all the methods on How to access iCloud services on Android. Any more suggestions are welcome!
By admin
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Question
I am a long time iOS user. Now, I wish to move over to Android. At the moment, I heavily rely on Apple’s services such as Apple iCloud. I have all my contacts, calendars, email and photos stored on my iCloud drive. Would I be able to access them from Android?
Answer
Ever since Android was introduced by Google, this question has always been asked time-and-time again. Users of iOS who rely on Apple’s iCloud services would be reluctant to move to Android due to the fact that Apple does not support iCloud services natively on Android.
While to this date, it is not possible to sync your iCloud photos to Android, it is possible to keep all of your contacts, calendars and emails on iCloud while using Android. This can be done by installing three great apps on your Android device: Sync for iCloud, Sync for iCloud Contacts and Sync for iCloud Mail. These three Android applications make it very easy to log in with your iCloud username and password, and synchronise your contacts, calendars and emails.
Sync for iCloud
This Android application allows you to log in with your iCloud username and password and get all of your calendar events synchronised in your Android’s default calendar application. When you add a new event on your iCloud account, this will be shown on your Android’s calendar. When you add a new event on your Android’s calendar, it will be shown in your iCloud account. You are also able to download events from shared calendars you have with your friends, family or work colleagues.
Sync for iCloud Contacts
Just like Sync for iCloud, Sync for iCloud Contacts allows you to log in with your iCloud username and password and get all of your contacts synchronised in your Android’s default contacts application. When you add a new contact in your Android’s contacts application, that contact will be copied over to your iCloud account. Likewise, any new contact created in iCloud will be copied over to your Android’s contacts application.
Sync for iCloud Mail
You can send, receive and manage all of your iCloud emails with Sync for iCloud Mail. Setup is very easy to do and only takes a few steps. Just enter your iCloud username and password, and your email account will be downloaded to your Android device. When sending emails, you can also attach files such as images, PDF documents and any other type of file.
All of these applications work in the background. Any changes are automatically detected and copied over between your iCloud account and your Android device. This is all done through very secure connections directly between Apple’s iCloud servers and your Android device. This means that no one will be able to get hold of your connection details.
This high level of security makes these applications the ideal solution for your business, with very reliable synchronisation, secure connection and ease of use. The applications are all FREE to download with no limitations. Thus, if you have a small or medium sized business, you can scale the use of these applications with no cost at all for your company.
Even if you ditched your iPhone, you can still access iCloud
- Tweet
- Share
What to Know
- Access iCloud Photos: Sign into iCloud from any browser and tap Photos.
- Access iCloud Email: Open Gmail app >Menu >Settings. Tap Add account >Other > enter iCloud login info.
- Access iCloud Calendar/Contacts: You’ll need an iPhone or iPad, and a PC, to transfer data from iCloud to Android.
This article explains how to access iCloud photos, email, calendars, and contacts from an Android.
Accessing iCloud Photos on an Android
You can easily access your iCloud photos on Android by signing into your account from a mobile browser. Tap Photos, and you’ll see every image you’ve saved to iCloud.
You can also create iCloud links for sharing photos and videos, view albums, and see account settings.
Another option, if you still have your iPhone is to download Google Photos (there’s an iOS app) and sync all your photos there. Then they’ll be on your Android automatically.
If you opt to move your photos to the Google Photos using the app for iOS, keep in mind the upload might take a while (depending on the number of photos you have, of course).
Accessing iCloud Email
If you have an Apple email address, such as @mac, @me, or @icloud, you can access your messages in the iCloud inbox. On an Android smartphone, you can set this up using the Gmail app.
Open Gmail and tap the Menu button at the top-left.
Tap Settings.
Tap Add account > Other.
Enter your iCloud email address and tap Next.
Then input your password and tap Next.
Gmail then finishes the process, and then you can access your iCloud inbox.
Accessing iCloud Calendars and Contacts on an Android
Unfortunately, there’s no straightforward way to access your iCloud calendar or contacts on an Android. You’ll need an iPhone or iPad and computer to transfer the data.
On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings.
Tap your name.
Tap iCloud.
Toggle on Contacts and Calendars.
You might need to sign in to your iCloud account first if you’re not already.
On your computer, open a web browser, go to and log into your account.
Click the Calendar icon.
On the left pane, click the Share Calendar button next to the calendar that you want to export. In the popup window, select Public Calendar. Click Copy Link, then OK.
Open a new browser tab or window and paste the copied URL.
Change webcal at the beginning of the URL to http and press Enter. Doing so opens a Save File dialog box. Save the file in a folder of your choice. You can rename it too as long as you don’t edit the .ics extension.
Open and login to Google Calendar on your Web browser.
On the left pane of the Google Calendar interface, click the menu arrow at the right of Other Calendars. Click Import Calendar.
Select the exported calendar file that you downloaded from iCloud. You can also choose the destination Google calendar (if you have more than one) in the same dialog.
Click the Import button to upload the file.
Once importing is finished, you should be able to see the imported entries in the Google Calendar web interface and on your Android device.
You can follow a similar process to transfer your contacts from an iPhone to an Android smartphone.
Source: iMore
Apple’s iCloud Drive is like a little puff of magic that stores and syncs your data across all your devices. Your important files are safely tucked away if something should happen to your iPhone or iPad. Your journal entries are available to continue working on whether you’re on your iMac or MacBook. It’s convenient and easy to use. But the more apps you allow to use iCloud to store your data, the more data you’ll use up. Not every app needs to be backed up and synced in iCloud. You can give and revoke permission to apps that want to store content in your iCloud account with just the flick of a switch. Here’s how.
How to give iCloud access to apps
If you use an app that you like being able to access the data across multiple devices, it’s a good idea to let it do its syncing thing in iCloud.
How to give iCloud access to apps on iPhone and iPad
- Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
Tap your iCloud Banner.
Scroll down the list and toggle the switch on for any app you want to give access to iCloud. It’s green when it’s on.
How to give iCloud access to apps on Mac
- Click on the Apple menu icon in the upper left corner of your Mac’s screen.
Click on System Preferences.
Source: iMore
Click on iCloud in the sidebar.
Source: iMore
Tick the box for any app you want to give access to iCloud.
Source: iMore
Any app that supports iCloud syncing will be able to send data to your iPhone, iPad, and Mac (depending on which devices they support).
How to revoke iCloud access from third-party apps
Just as awesome as it is to be able to sync your data across devices, there are some apps that just don’t need to do that. For me, that’s calculator apps. Storing data you won’t ever need to have saved or synced on other devices just eats into your iCloud data, which might be limited, depending on your plan.
How to revoke iCloud access from apps on iPhone and iPad
- Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
Tap your iCloud Banner.
Scroll down the list and toggle the switch off for any app you want to revoke access to iCloud. It’s white when it’s off.
How to revoke iCloud access from apps on Mac
- Click on the Apple menu icon in the upper left corner of your Mac’s screen.
Click on System Preferences.
Source: iMore
Click on iCloud in the sidebar.
Source: iMore
Untick the box for any app you want to revoke access to iCloud.
Source: iMore
Those apps will no longer have access to iCloud and won’t sync across your devices, but you’ll have a few more megabytes of data in your iCloud storage.
Any questions?
Do you have any questions about giving or revoking access for third-party apps to iCloud? Put them in the comments and we’ll help you out.
Updated October 2020: Updated steps and Mac screenshots for MacOS Catalina.
Companies like Apple tie you into their products by locking their services on their own devices. That means sharing services between your Android and iOS devices isn’t easy, but not impossible either.
There are some loopholes to help you access your Apple iCloud services on your Android device or to help you transfer your content from one service to the other if you’d prefer to stay platform-independent.
Syncing Your iCloud Emails
If you want to start syncing your iCloud emails, you don’t need any additional apps on your Android device. All you need is an Android device with Google services installed, as you’ll need to use the Gmail app.
Open your Gmail app and click the accounts button in the top-right corner. Click “Add another account” at the bottom, then select “Other.”
Type in your iCloud email address and your password at the next two stages. Once your email account is logged in, your iCloud emails will begin to sync, and you’ll be able to see them and any future emails you receive, too.
Accessing Your iCloud Calendar
Your iCloud calendar is a little harder to access on Android. You can’t access your specific calendar, but you can transfer all of the events on your calendar from your iCloud account to your Google calendar.
To start, you won’t need your iPad or iPhone nearby, but you will need a web browser. Go to the iCloud website and log in with your Apple email address and password, then select “Calendar.”
On the left you’ll find your list of calendars. Click “share calendar” next to your calendar name and select “public calendar,” then “copy link.” The link you’ll have is a webcal:// link. Paste it into your browser’s address bar and replace webcal:// with http:// before hitting Enter.
The .ics file that then downloads can be imported into your Google Calendar. Open Google Calendar on your browser and click the menu button under “other calendars” on the left side.
Click “Import,” then upload the .ics file before clicking the “Import” button underneath. You should then see your iCloud calendar events transferred to your Google account, which you can then access on your Android device using the Google Calendar app.
Syncing Your iCloud Contacts
Like your iCloud calendar, you’ll need to download your contacts from iCloud and import them to your Google account separately. This is assuming your iPhone contacts are backed up to your iCloud account.
You can enable this in your iPhone or iPad iCloud settings.
Go to your iCloud contacts on your browser, then select all of your contacts, holding Shift to select them all from top to bottom. Hit the Settings icon in the bottom left, then click “Export vCard.”
A .vcf file will then download, which you can then import directly into your Google Account by visiting Google Contacts. In the menu on the left of the Google Contacts website, click “More,” then “Import.”
Select the .vcf contacts file you downloaded, then click “Import” to complete the process.
Making Your iPhone Redundant
With all of your iCloud services accessible or transferable to Android, you don’t need to keep your iPhone. You can switch to Android without losing any of your emails, contacts, or calendar events.
If you want to switch to Android but enjoy the style of iOS devices, you should make your Android look like an iPhone next.
Ben is a UK based tech writer with a passion for gadgets, gaming, and general geekiness.
Companies like Apple tie you into their products by locking their services on their own devices. That means sharing services between your Android and iOS devices isn’t easy, but not impossible either.
There are some loopholes to help you access your Apple iCloud services on your Android device or to help you transfer your content from one service to the other if you’d prefer to stay platform-independent.
Syncing Your iCloud Emails
If you want to start syncing your iCloud emails, you don’t need any additional apps on your Android device. All you need is an Android device with Google services installed, as you’ll need to use the Gmail app.
Open your Gmail app and click the accounts button in the top-right corner. Click “Add another account” at the bottom, then select “Other.”
Type in your iCloud email address and your password at the next two stages. Once your email account is logged in, your iCloud emails will begin to sync, and you’ll be able to see them and any future emails you receive, too.
Accessing Your iCloud Calendar
Your iCloud calendar is a little harder to access on Android. You can’t access your specific calendar, but you can transfer all of the events on your calendar from your iCloud account to your Google calendar.
To start, you won’t need your iPad or iPhone nearby, but you will need a web browser. Go to the iCloud website and log in with your Apple email address and password, then select “Calendar.”
On the left you’ll find your list of calendars. Click “share calendar” next to your calendar name and select “public calendar,” then “copy link.” The link you’ll have is a webcal:// link. Paste it into your browser’s address bar and replace webcal:// with http:// before hitting Enter.
The .ics file that then downloads can be imported into your Google Calendar. Open Google Calendar on your browser and click the menu button under “other calendars” on the left side.
Click “Import,” then upload the .ics file before clicking the “Import” button underneath. You should then see your iCloud calendar events transferred to your Google account, which you can then access on your Android device using the Google Calendar app.
Syncing Your iCloud Contacts
Like your iCloud calendar, you’ll need to download your contacts from iCloud and import them to your Google account separately. This is assuming your iPhone contacts are backed up to your iCloud account.
You can enable this in your iPhone or iPad iCloud settings.
Go to your iCloud contacts on your browser, then select all of your contacts, holding Shift to select them all from top to bottom. Hit the Settings icon in the bottom left, then click “Export vCard.”
A .vcf file will then download, which you can then import directly into your Google Account by visiting Google Contacts. In the menu on the left of the Google Contacts website, click “More,” then “Import.”
Select the .vcf contacts file you downloaded, then click “Import” to complete the process.
Making Your iPhone Redundant
With all of your iCloud services accessible or transferable to Android, you don’t need to keep your iPhone. You can switch to Android without losing any of your emails, contacts, or calendar events.
If you want to switch to Android but enjoy the style of iOS devices, you should make your Android look like an iPhone next.
Ben is a UK based tech writer with a passion for gadgets, gaming, and general geekiness.
If you’re one of the few people who uses both Android and Apple, it can be confusing to figure out how to get the competing products to work together.
With the ubiquity of cloud storage, there may come a time when you want to access iCloud-stored photos from an Android phone — but is it possible?
The answer: absolutely — although cross-platform access does require a few extra steps on your part.
Here’s how a user of Apple’s iCloud can access their photos from any Android device by using its internet browser.
How to access iCloud photos on Android
1. Open Chrome for Android, or any other internet browser app you have downloaded.
2. Navigate to the iCloud website in the web browser.
3. Enter your Apple ID username and password to sign in to iCloud.
4. If you’re signing into iCloud from a new Android device, you will need to click “Allow” when prompted from your Apple ID-linked device.
5. Enter the two-factor authentication code sent to the Apple ID-linked device.
If you’ve lost your Apple device and need to sign in to an Android device for Find My iPhone in iCloud, you can bypass the two-factor authentication step.
6. From your iCloud homepage, click “Photos.” Any and all photos in your iCloud will be accessible. If, however, your cloud storage is full, you may not see all photos stored on your Apple devices.
Learn how to set up iCloud on all of your devices. The rest is automatic.
For the best iCloud experience, make sure that your device meets the minimum system requirements.
Download iCloud for Windows
iCloud for Windows lets you access your files, photos, contacts, calendars, and more on your Apple devices and your Windows PC.
Want to access iCloud’s latest features? See the recommended system requirements. If you’re not sure which Windows system you use, find out. iCloud requires an Internet connection. iCloud might not be available in all areas and features vary. If you use a Managed Apple ID, iCloud for Windows isn’t supported.
Sign in to iCloud
After you download iCloud for Windows, sign in using the Apple ID that you use on your Apple devices.
Have questions about Apple ID?
Choose the iCloud services that you want to use
After you turn on iCloud, select the services that you want to use and click Apply.
For example, if you turn on iCloud Photos and iCloud Drive, iCloud for Windows creates new folders for those files in File Explorer. Now, the files that you add to the iCloud folders automatically appear on your Apple devices.
If you have photos on your PC that you want to see on your iPhone or iPad, upload photos from your PC to iCloud.
Find the storage plan that’s right for you
One safe place for all your photos, files, and more
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