iCloud to have web apps for mail, calendar, more

Apple has posted an iCloud transition guide both to outline what was changing and to assuage worries that web apps might go away. The Q&A promises that the calendar, contacts, e-mail, and Find My iPhone will all still have web interfaces. The only services going away will be iWeb hosting, the Gallery pages, and iDisk, although iDisk is partly replaced by iCloud.

Most of the disappearing features will keep working until the previously mentioned June 30 cutoff, although Apple warned that syncing for Dashboard widgets, Dock items, keychains, and System Preferences would go away as soon as a user switched over to iCloud. Anyone depending on the services going away was told to back it up separately before phasing it out.

More questions were also touched on in the Q&A. Those who need more than 5GB of space will, like with MobileMe, have the option of paying for extra space whose prices will be outlined nearer to the launch. Existing users can't upgrade to a Family Pack, but they can move individual MobileMe sub-accounts into distinct iCloud accounts.

Refunds will be available both for those who haven't activated and those that have. Active subscribers, however, will only be prorated for service not included in a free extension. Cancellation will stop any services and isn't recommended for those who need MobileMe before iCloud is fully ready.

Web apps were expected by many to stay as competition to Google's Gmail and other web services. Apple conspicuously omitted mention of the feature in its WWDC keynote and had sparked fears that it would be limited to native clients.

By Electronista Staff