In between everything else I have to be doing I am _still_ in the process of cautiously cloning my current (Mojave) iMac to my newer (Sequoia) iMac.

I have not yet even erased the newer iMac, in prep for a second go at cloning the older one. I was about to do this this morning when I thought: "I'd just better check if my AppleID works with what I think is the password."

I have hardly ever used my AppleID (consciously!) for at least a decade --
I've no idea what it does behind my back. I certainly don't want to iCloud my Documents, and thus unwittingly get into paying Apple a monthly fee for using more than the 5GB.

SO: I find my AppleID does work, and the password is correct. I then idly (and very foolishly) decided I'd have a look in Settings at what iCloud has been doing all this time. Answer: I don't know.

But what I do know now is that my Calendar -- the hub of my life's events, since I'm now so good at forgetting stuff -- has lost at least half of the appointments. Somehow, iCloud seems to have overwritten my Calendar with a version which has many blanks where there were appointments (e.g. the severall medical ones (hospital, dentist, GP, and others).

I have always shied away from iCloud because I never understood _what_, _exactly_, it is doing. This latest episode seems to be a proof of that.

Am I _required_ to be logged into Apple / iCloud, all the time? Is what has happened Apple's way of brining me into line?

As so often (sigh): any advice appreciated. Is there some file, somewhere,
on my iMac, which actually does contain all the appointments I lost?

[Another] John

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On 20 Apr 2025 at 11:44:59 BST, "Another John" <lalaw44@hotmail.com> wrote:

Am I _required_ to be logged into Apple / iCloud, all the time? Is what has happened Apple's way of brining me into line?

No. I don't use iCloud for any purpose whatever, for just the sorts of reasons you listed.

--
Tim

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Another John wrote:


[snip]

Get a real paper diary!


--
Graham J

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On 20 Apr 2025 at 11:44:59 BST, "Another John" <lalaw44@hotmail.com>
wrote:

In between everything else I have to be doing I am _still_ in the process of cautiously cloning my current (Mojave) iMac to my newer (Sequoia) iMac.

I have not yet even erased the newer iMac, in prep for a second go at cloning the older one. I was about to do this this morning when I thought: "I'd just better check if my AppleID works with what I think is the password."

I have hardly ever used my AppleID (consciously!) for at least a decade -- I've no idea what it does behind my back. I certainly don't want to iCloud my Documents, and thus unwittingly get into paying Apple a monthly fee for using more than the 5GB.

This doesn't happen, Apple just notifies you that you're using the
limit. No charging without intentional purchase.

Also it's entirely optional to use iCloud documents. If you just use it
for syncing eg calendar and contacts between macs and iphones and ipads
then you'll never use anything approaching the free 5gig. Docs/Desktop
and Photos are the big ones.

SO: I find my AppleID does work, and the password is correct.

Which machine did you do that on? And was it by signing into iCloud in
system settings, or just logging on to eg icloud.com?

I then idly
(and very foolishly) decided I'd have a look in Settings at what iCloud has been doing all this time. Answer: I don't know.

But what I do know now is that my Calendar -- the hub of my life's events, since I'm now so good at forgetting stuff -- has lost at least half of the appointments. Somehow, iCloud seems to have overwritten my Calendar with a version which has many blanks where there were appointments (e.g. the severall
medical ones (hospital, dentist, GP, and others).

Is this on your old Mac or new Mac?

If it's on the new Mac, you'll probably find that only some entries were
in iCloud because the other entries on the old Mac were local and are
still over there.

If it's on the old Mac, check to make sure all the different calendars
you use are visible. View, Calendars. Note that this is split into
iCloud, maybe an "On My Mac" ie local (I dunno I have all mine in
iCloud), and Other for subscribed ones or info from other databases like birthdays from Contacts.

I have always shied away from iCloud because I never understood _what_, _exactly_, it is doing. This latest episode seems to be a proof of that.

iCloud is a whole bunch of things.

The primary idea is that you choose things to push up to iCloud, where
they become "The Truth" ie the canonical version of calendars, contacts, documents, photos, emails, etc. Each of your clients - macs, iphones,
ipads, AppleTVs, etc - then has a local cache whichever ones you choose
to sync from iCloud.

It's the same idea as IMAP if you're more familiar with that. Email and
folder structure lives on a server, you can access it from any number of machines and email clients.

So, getting back to the calendar - there are several possible
disconnects.
Some calendars may be automatically synced UP to iCloud from the old mac
if you logged in, others may not be.

Am I _required_ to be logged into Apple / iCloud, all the time?

No, unless you wish to use those services.

Cheers - Jaimie
--
"Hey T-Rex! This ice cream cake is delicious!"
"Thanks! You don't think it tastes like... *philosophical compromise*?"
"Only a little!
-- http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1093

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On 20/04/2025 11:44, Another John wrote:

In between everything else I have to be doing I am _still_ in the process of cautiously cloning my current (Mojave) iMac to my newer (Sequoia) iMac.

I have not yet even erased the newer iMac, in prep for a second go at cloning the older one. I was about to do this this morning when I thought: "I'd just better check if my AppleID works with what I think is the password."

I have hardly ever used my AppleID (consciously!) for at least a decade -- I've no idea what it does behind my back. I certainly don't want to iCloud my Documents, and thus unwittingly get into paying Apple a monthly fee for using more than the 5GB.

SO: I find my AppleID does work, and the password is correct. I then idly (and very foolishly) decided I'd have a look in Settings at what iCloud has been doing all this time. Answer: I don't know.

But what I do know now is that my Calendar -- the hub of my life's events, since I'm now so good at forgetting stuff -- has lost at least half of the appointments. Somehow, iCloud seems to have overwritten my Calendar with a version which has many blanks where there were appointments (e.g. the severall
medical ones (hospital, dentist, GP, and others).

I have always shied away from iCloud because I never understood _what_, _exactly_, it is doing. This latest episode seems to be a proof of that.

Am I _required_ to be logged into Apple / iCloud, all the time? Is what has happened Apple's way of brining me into line?

As so often (sigh): any advice appreciated. Is there some file, somewhere, on my iMac, which actually does contain all the appointments I lost?

[Another] John

To review what's in your Apple iCloud, simply visit here in ANY browser:-

www.icloud.com

Use your Apple ID (Apple has rebranded "Apple ID" to "Apple Account")
and password to enter the site - then explore away to our heart's content!

Happy Easter! 🙂

--
David

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On 2025-04-20, Another John <lalaw44@hotmail.com> wrote:

In between everything else I have to be doing I am _still_ in the process of cautiously cloning my current (Mojave) iMac to my newer (Sequoia) iMac.

I have not yet even erased the newer iMac, in prep for a second go at cloning the older one. I was about to do this this morning when I thought: "I'd just better check if my AppleID works with what I think is the password."

I have hardly ever used my AppleID (consciously!) for at least a decade -- I've no idea what it does behind my back. I certainly don't want to iCloud my Documents, and thus unwittingly get into paying Apple a monthly fee for using more than the 5GB.

SO: I find my AppleID does work, and the password is correct. I then idly (and very foolishly) decided I'd have a look in Settings at what iCloud has been doing all this time. Answer: I don't know.

But what I do know now is that my Calendar -- the hub of my life's events, since I'm now so good at forgetting stuff -- has lost at least half of the appointments. Somehow, iCloud seems to have overwritten my Calendar with a version which has many blanks where there were appointments (e.g. the severall
medical ones (hospital, dentist, GP, and others).

I have always shied away from iCloud because I never understood _what_, _exactly_, it is doing. This latest episode seems to be a proof of that.

Am I _required_ to be logged into Apple / iCloud, all the time? Is what has happened Apple's way of brining me into line?

As so often (sigh): any advice appreciated. Is there some file, somewhere, on my iMac, which actually does contain all the appointments I lost?

Yes I've had similar incidents in the past. If you can recreate your lost items,
you can then create regular archives of them all just in case of further disasters.

File -> Export -> Calendar Archive

The filename will be something like: Calendars 20.04.2025, 15.15.icbu

You can then import them if needed via the File menu.

--
Cheers, Alan

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On 2025-04-21, John Hill <watcombeman@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

On 20 Apr 2025 at 12:47:43 BST, "TimS" <tim@streater.me.uk> wrote:

On 20 Apr 2025 at 11:44:59 BST, "Another John" <lalaw44@hotmail.com> wrote: >>

Am I _required_ to be logged into Apple / iCloud, all the time? Is what has
happened Apple's way of brining me into line?

No. I don't use iCloud for any purpose whatever, for just the sorts of reasons
you listed.

I was confused and yes a bit frightened by iCloud. But apart from being careful not to put my Documents folder there by accident, I use it as memory that's accessible from my iMac, iPad and iPhone. So, for example, any photos I
take with the iPad or iPhone are, after a few minutes, available in Photos on all three.

I'd never use iCloud Drive for my Docs & Desktop folders as the transfer rate is
pitifully slow when syncing despite having a reasonably speedy ISP service. Like
you though I'm happy to use iCloud for other features including, dare I say it, Calendars! I also pay 99p/month for additional storage and the other features that
offers.

--
Cheers, Alan

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On 20 Apr 2025 at 12:47:43 BST, "TimS" <tim@streater.me.uk> wrote:

On 20 Apr 2025 at 11:44:59 BST, "Another John" <lalaw44@hotmail.com> wrote:

Am I _required_ to be logged into Apple / iCloud, all the time? Is what has >> happened Apple's way of brining me into line?

No. I don't use iCloud for any purpose whatever, for just the sorts of reasons
you listed.

I was confused and yes a bit frightened by iCloud. But apart from being
careful not to put my Documents folder there by accident, I use it as memory that's accessible from my iMac, iPad and iPhone. So, for example, any photos I take with the iPad or iPhone are, after a few minutes, available in Photos on all three.

Another example. I have a GPS tracker on my iPhone. t's not very sophisticated and rather fragile, but it does the job. But I have a much more sophistated
app on the iMac. So if I save a track to a folder on iCloud on the iPhone, I can pick it up on the iMac and examine it properly.

You can choose to share specific items - a folder, for example - with other Apple users. I am collaborating with one of my sons on a project and we share
a dedicated folder that contains the relevant files.

You can pick and choose what you allow to access it on each platform you have
Personally, I find it suits me to give access to everything. And I choose to pay Apple the colossal sum of 99p month - £11.88 a year - for extra space. I can afford that!

Do not be alarmed. It will not harm you,

Old John.
--
God makes power, Man makes engines.

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