Apple publishes guide on how to set up iCloud

Apple's online guide tries to help you set up your 
iCloud account. (Credit: Screenshot by Lance 
Whitney/CNET)

Those of you trying to figure out to how to tap into Apple’s iCloud now that the service is officially up and running can turn to the company’s setup guide.

The newly released guide explains how to get the online service working on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, as well as on a Mac or PC, a process that apparently can be confusing.

To start off, you’ll need to upgrade iTunes to version 10.5 and then upgrade your Apple gadget to iOS 5. The iOS 5 install may itself be the first challenge since some users have bumped into technical problems trying to install Apple’s updated mobile OS. An attempt this morning to upgrade my iPod Touch to iOS 5 turned the device into a brick. I had to run a Restore to get all my data back and to update the OS.

Assuming you can get iOS 5 working without any hiccups, the next step is simply to follow a series of onscreen directions that will pop up on your device to set up your iCloud access. After opting in to iCloud, you can choose to back up your device on a daily basis via Wi-Fi.

You can then customize your iCloud settings by selecting which services you want and choose the specific content you wish to back up to the cloud. You can also enable automatic downloads, which means that any music, apps, or books you buy via iTunes are automatically sent to and synced among all of your iOS devices and computers.               More