How to use Apple iCloud on your Android device
Apple is known for actively keeping Android users out of its “walled garden.” The company only has a handful of official apps in the Google Play store: Beats, Apple TV, Apple Music, Tracker Detect, and Move to iOS. However, Android users can still take advantage of several iCloud services with nothing more than a mobile browser. It isn’t a flawless experience, but here’s how you can use iCloud for Android smartphones.
First: How to switch from iPhone to Android
Editor’s note: Steps in this article were put together using a Google Pixel 7 Pro running Android 13. We also used Chrome version 110.0.5481.153. Remember that some steps might differ if you use other hardware or software.
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How to use iCloud for Android
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
Using iCloud on your Android device is pretty straightforward. All you need to do is navigate to iCloud.com, either put in your existing Apple ID credentials or create a new account, and voila, you can now access iCloud on your Android smartphone.
From here, you should see shortcuts to the available iCloud web apps, including Mail, Photos, iCloud Drive, Notes, and Find iPhone. You can also manage your iCloud account by going into Account Settings. Here, you can also see how much storage you have available in one easy-to-navigate website.
How to add iCloud shortcuts to your Android home screen
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
If you want something that gets closer to a native experience, it’s effortless to create browser shortcuts to iCloud web apps and access them from your home screen. Just follow the steps below!
How to add iCloud apps to your Android home screen:
- Open the Chrome browser on your Android device.
- Go to iCloud.com.
- Hit Sign in and log into your Apple account.
- Open one of the available web apps.
- Tap on the three-dot menu button on the top-right.
- Select Add to Home screen.
- Type in a shortcut title and hit Add.
- Select Add to Home screen.
What can and can’t you do?
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
In my testing, iCloud functionality on Android was a little shoddy. Theoretically, you should be able to access all of the aforementioned web apps just as you would from any desktop browser. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for me.
The keyboard would immediately disappear in the Notes app after it popped up, so I couldn’t type anything, and Reminders wouldn’t even appear as an option.
On the other hand, I could view, upload, download, and share photos from iCloud just fine. Grouping photos into albums also worked seamlessly, and I could easily hide and unhide photos. Find iPhone also works perfectly.
All in all, there is still plenty of ground to cover, but it’s a good start. If you use an Android device alongside your Mac, iPad, or iPhone and want to take advantage of Apple’s iCloud services, this is your best shot for the foreseeable future. We don’t see Apple developing a native Android app. Still, hopefully, it will expand on this iCloud mobile web experience to create a more well-rounded — and less buggy — user experience.
FAQs
No. Apple hasn’t created an iCloud app for Android.
Nothing has been announced regarding this matter. That said, we believe it’s unlikely.
Yes. Finding your Apple devices works flawlessly when using iCloud from an Android device’s browser.
Yes. Just navigate to Photos and hit Select. Tap on the images you want to download and select the three-dot menu button. Then select Download.
Without paying for an upgrade, you’ll be limited to just 5 GB of cloud storage on iCloud. To maximize that 5 GB, you can read our guide on how to free up iCloud space.
Are you still deciding whether you want to stick with an iPhone or move to an Android? Let’s help you make the decision. We’ve put together a couple of guides telling you what Android does better than iOS and how iOS is better than Android in some ways. Give them a read.
