1d ago

iCloud for Linux

I’m wondering if anyone has any experience with this?

I’m working on transitioning to Linux from Mac pretty casually and I’ll still be using this iPhone til it’s dead. So I’m figuring out solutions to my current computer-usage before I switch my main machine. I’d like to maintain some interoperability between my phone and desktop computer so this has me intrigued.

Is it well-maintained? Trustworthy? Easy to use?

I have an old Thinkpad T420 I’m testing stuff on before I take the plunge but I figured I’d ask before giving it my credentials.

Edit: thanks so much for all the advice. I’m going to try a couple different ways to do it and see what I like :)

22 comments

Why use linux if you want to use iCloud? Its a crime.
- The difficult reality is many people, no matter how interested and technically skilled, aren’t going to have the time, money (yes, money, due to hardware), and energy to immediately go with fully self-hosted OSS paired with a LineageOS (or similar) phone.
  For one, you have to either acquire the hardware to run a server for self-hosting or get a VPS (admittedly not a huge financial hurdle, but still effort required). Additionally, you then have to take the time to migrate from iCloud to the alternatives. There’s also the fact that it’s a moderately expensive proposition to purchase a new phone capable of running something more libre like LineageOS. Until you switch operating systems, Apple makes using at least a little bit of iCloud difficult; for instance, you’ll probably need to use Find My at least once.
  These reasons largely explain why I’m still on iPhone for now. I usually don’t use iCloud for the storage, but I frequently have to use Photos, Mail, and Find My.
  I certainly plan to jump ship, but being stuck for now due to personal circumstances, I can’t blame OP.
  
  You pretty much said what I would’ve said, but probably better :)
  I have 3 Macs I want to switch to Linux, so I’m approaching this conversion piece by piece, using my thinkpads as placeholders. Figuring out new cloud software can wait until they’re all switched.
This just seems to be the web app in weird packaging, and you would get very little benefit installing it.
Personally, I use an iPhone, and I just resort to the web app, and I can live with it. Not as fancy as on the Mac, but I manage. I'm able to access my Apple e-mails and photos just fine. I eventually just plan to jump the Apple ship, but like you, that's not possible for me at the moment.
As others have said, rclone might work for you, but I personally don't use iCloud Drive, so I don't know enough to speak about it.
- A web app for the calendar could be handy… but I could just use another calendar app…
  
  iCloud web app has a calendar web app, along with others I haven’t listed.
rclone is supposed to be a good alternative… unless you’ve enabled Advanced Data Protection
This package is essentially comprised of web apps which open in their own windows. It will not have the deep system integration that you may be used to on native MacOS. You could use this, or you could use iCloud in your browser like one might do with GSuite
- Ah ok, thanks
  I suppose the biggest thing I’m looking for a solution for is photos.
  I have my phone to set up to sync to iCloud, which then automatically download to my desktop, which is then automatically backs up via Time Machine.
  How could I transition this behaviour to Linux keeping in mind I’ll be using an iPhone for at least another 3 years?
  
  You could also restructure your workflow slightly. Instead of downloading from iCloud, there are good options to sync directly from your phone to your PC. I use an app called PhotoSync. It allows you wirelessly offload photos from phone to PC at the touch of a button, or even automatically, I believe. It's a one-time purchase too, not subscription. It also supports Linux targets via open protocols.
  
  I have a Synology NAS (from 3 years ago). My photos are synced from my iPhone via the Synology photos application and can be accessed from my Linux desktop via nfs.
  I found alternatives for almost everything except Apple Music. I just connect my phone via Bluetooth nowadays to play music at a higher bitrate than what Apple allows via browser. Wish they would build an official client.
  
  Use Ente photos
  
  You could replicate this workflow by replacing iCloud with Nextcloud and Time Machine with Timeshift.
  The iOS app for Nextcloud allows the automatic upload of photos, you just need an account with a Nextcloud provider (or just host your own instance).
  Timeshift is preinstalled on a bunch of distros, including Linux Mint, and can be installed on all other major ones. See https://github.com/linuxmint/timeshift for details.
  
  If you're comfortable with scripting CLI tools then rclone seems to support icloud, you can use it to sync everything to a local directory which you can then backup however you like
I prefer not to use any 'cloud' computing. Even the idea of having your private info sitting on someone else's server, gives me the willies. Use Syncthing, available on all devices, uses your own lan/wifi to connect and sync all your info. You can choose whatever storage option or redundancy you like. Keep your info in-house.
- This sounds like a good solution. Can I set it to sync when I’m off my home network?
  
  You can by enabling global discovery and relaying in Syncthing. I am not that versed in this, as I only sync when I connect to my home wifi, which works so well for me. Do a search on it, lots of people have it setup for outside network as well.
- I use Cryptomator so I don't have to trust my cloud storage providers not to read my data
Use Nextcloud and KDEConnect (or similar) and forget about iCloud.
Seafile is a good option

22 comments