Today is the day Apple is making iOS 8 available to the public. The latest version of iOS has several new features like widgets and third-party keyboards that make it a must-have upgrade for most iPhone owners. If you are upgrading to iOS 8, there is one "gotcha" during the upgrade process that you must avoid and that is iCloud Drive. We can't stress enough how important this is -- if you make a mistake with this iCloud Drive option, you will lose access to all your files stored in iCloud.
Background on iCloud Drive
iCloud Drive is Apple's new and improved iCloud syncing and file storage feature that allows you to share documents between your iOS 8 devices and your Mac running OS X 10 Yosemite. It may be a wonderful addition to Apple's ecosystem, but it is NOT COMPATIBLE with older versions of iOS (iOS 7 or earlier) or older versions of OS X (OS X 10.9 Mavericks or earlier). This presents a major problem for iPhone owners with an older iOS device that can't run iOS 8 or those with a Mac as OS X Yosemite is not available publicly yet.
Most Mac owners are still on OS X Mavericks as it is the most current public release. OS X Yosemite is available only to Mac developers and to users who are participating in Apple's Yosemite Beta program. If you are unsure which version of OS X you are using, then click on the icon in the upper left corner of your menu bar and select "About This Mac." A dialog box will appear that shows the basic details about your Mac, including the version of OS X that you are running.
Do not upgrade to iCloud Drive
If any of your devices are running iOS 7 or earlier or your Mac is on OS X 10.9 Mavericks or earlier, then do NOT UPGRADE to iCloud Drive as you will lose access to all your documents that are currently installed in iCloud. If you are not sure, then play it safe by refusing the iCloud Drive upgrade. If you accidentally upgrade, there is no going back and you will lose access to all your iCloud documents until OS X Yosemite debuts later this fall.
What to do during the iOS 8 upgrade
During the upgrade process for iOS 8, you will see an option for iCloud Drive as shown below, please select "Not Now." Once you select, "Not Now" all your iCloud data will remain accessible and all your iCloud-enabled apps will continue to sync data between all your iOS and OS X machines.
When OS X Yosemite is released later this fall, you then can safely start using iCloud Drive. Until then, avoid it like the plague.
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