Understanding the AppleID and iCloud accounts

- [Instructor] Before we get into learning how to work with macOS, there's an important conversation we should have about online accounts. Specifically, the Apple ID account and the iCloud account. As you use Mac OS or an iPhone or an iPad or an Apple watch, there will be many times where you may be prompted to login with either an Apple ID or an iCloud account in order to enable certain functionality. If you are already familiar with these accounts, you might want to skip this movie. Also, I want to note that you are not required to sign in with an Apple ID or iCloud account to use macS.

But you do need those accounts in order to use some of the applications and some optional services. So, if you do not want to set up these accounts, you always have the option to skip it when you're prompted to login. But that will mean that there are some features in macOS that you will not be able to use. For everybody else, let's talk about the Apple ID account and the iCloud account, what they do for you and how you set them up. So, let's start with Apple ID. The Apple ID is a simple registration for one individual person.

It's a way of getting you and your information into Apple's database so that you can identify yourself on your computer and online services . An Apple ID is information about a person in Apple's system. When you set up an Apple ID, you'll have a simple email address and password which you can use to login to store and update information about yourself with Apple. The information stored in your Apple ID account includes your name, contact information, any computers and devices you've registered with Apple, and most importantly payment information.

That's because the Apple ID is the account that you use in any application that involves paying for something. Like buying music in iTunes or apps in the app store. So, that's one thing the Apple ID does for you. It also allows you to access the app store and the iTunes store and your payment information is stored there. You do not have to pay for an Apple ID account, it's free to set it up. But if you use any of Apple's online stores, you will need to provide credit card information in your Apple ID account. But Apple ID is also used to sign you in to free services.

For example, if you're using the messages app, you may want to have an Apple ID. We'll talk more about this in the movie dedicated specifically to the messages app. Now you could use an AOL instant messenger account, Google Chat account or some other chat accounts with the messages application. But Apple ID is a great free account that you can use. And if you use FaceTime, you will need an Apple ID account for that, as well. So, that's the Apple ID. Then, there's the iCloud account.

iCloud is an account that you setup which gives you access to a collection of tools built around synchronizing and accessing your data on multiple devices. iCloud gives you a tool called iCloud Photo Library which will keep your photo collection synchronized on multiple computers, iPhones and iPads. iCloud lets you keep your address book, calendars, reminders, and notes synchronized on multiple devices so the information on your computer is always the same as the information on your iPhone, for example.

iCloud gives you an email account, a cloud storage tool, and a backup solution for an iPad or an iPhone. If it involves storing your data on Apple's cloud-based servers or synchronizing data across multiple devices, you're probably dealing with iCloud. An iCloud account is also free, but there are optional services that cost money. So, that's the general idea of what iCloud does. You should check out my course called iCloud Essential Training for more information on iCloud.

So, here's the one confusing thing that I want to address before you run into it. In some scenarios, an Apple ID account and an iCloud account can be considered the same account. You might have an iCloud account that is completely separate from your Apple ID account. Or they might be the same account. Apple ID and iCloud started as two very different services. But over the years, they've changed and become more closely linked. Now, when you login to iCloud, the email address and password that you're using to sign in are considered to be an Apple ID.

You can think of iCloud as an extra service added on top of an Apple ID login. Because they are so tightly linked and they can be considered the same account, you can have one Apple ID account that you use to sign into both iCloud and services that simply require an Apple ID. If you do not have either account and you plan to set one up, I highly recommend that you set up one account that is used for both services. One email address and password that you'll use whenever you're prompted to sign in to either Apple ID or iCloud.

So, I hope you're starting to understand what the Apple ID and iCloud accounts are and what they're used for. The usefulness of these accounts will become more clear as we go through the rest of this course. At this point, you might want to decide whether you plan to use these accounts. Or you can continue watching this course and decide later. Either way, I'll show you how you can set up one or both of these accounts if you choose to do that, in another movie in this chapter.