# iCloud Drive

8 Hacker News commenters recommended iCloud Drive and 23 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend iCloud Drive for keeping files and notes in sync across Apple devices. Critics report sync hangs, file loss, and weak Windows support.

## Why people recommend it

- Syncs across Apple devices (2 comments): "I had issues with notes going missing or just being empty shortly after saving, and this setting fixed that." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47765892)) "they sync up on all my (Apple) devices and I can see the notes on my Macbook, iPad and iPhone at any time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47759319))

## What people warn about

- Sync hangs and conflicts (4 comments): "iCloud absolutely destroyed my vault’s file layout and scattered copies of my files all over my iCloud Drive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47202520)) "icloud sync spinning over and over and hanging any app that tries to read your Documents folder" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46933951)) "I had this happen a bunch when I was using iCloud sync on multiple devices" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47198178))
- Deleted files cannot be recovered (3 comments): "iCloud Drive does not allow you to recover files if you put them into the trash and empty it by accident." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49775305)) "there was no file history, which basically meant it's useless to me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49774770)) "I lost data this way. It wasn't worth it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47203019))
- Desktop sync on by default (2 comments): "It's a terrible default and Apple doesn't provide any way for developers to detect if it's off." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47764812)) "No, I do not want files on my desktop to be synced to iCloud." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47716323))
- Metadata and hashes leak unencrypted (2 comments): "it sends identifying hashes of plaintext file content to the server without e2ee" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48828688)) "The E2EE is useless with such unencrypted metadata leaks." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48566178))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Apple iCloud](https://hackerapproved.com/p/icloud.md): 144 recommend
- [Dropbox](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dropbox.md): 140 recommend
- [OneDrive](https://hackerapproved.com/p/onedrive.md): 86 recommend
- [Google Drive](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-drive.md): 66 recommend
- [rsync.net](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rsync-net.md): 34 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.apple.com/icloud/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "iCloud Drive", https://hackerapproved.com/p/icloud-drive/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).