iCloud

After announcing that an iCloud security breach was not to blame for hackers posting nude photos of celebrities to the internet, Apple CEO Tim Cook sat down with The Wall Street Journal for his first interview since the leak. Cook claims that the hackers either correctly guessed security questions to gain access to celebrity accounts, or that the celebrities themselves fell for a phishing scam.

Apple plans to give iCloud users a better sense of security by sending a notification every time someone attempts to access an iCloud account for the first time on a new device or alter any information like passwords. The new notifications will begin rolling out in two weeks when iOS 8 is expected to be released to the public.

Photo Stream can be a convenient way to automatically back up photos from the iPhone to iCloud. It can also mean that private photos are floating around on Apple servers. Just ask the multitude of celebrities who found their Photo Stream had been raided for nude images which were then published online. Remarkably, the intrusion was performed without compromising Apple systems or security procedures.

For iPhone users who are worried about iCloud syncing photos to Photo Stream, the service is entirely optional. Photos are normally protected by a strong password and security questions, but those who don't want copies of private photos on a remote server can follow these steps to turn off the service. Once Photo Stream is disabled and photos are removed from My Photo Stream, they will no longer be stored on iCloud.

Organizing contacts into groups can help to locate specific contacts faster with iOS. Unfortunately, the stock iOS Contacts app does not have built-in support for creating new contact groups. While existing groups can be accessed directly from iOS, new groups must be created and populated with contacts by using iCloud.

This process will only work if iCloud is enabled to sync with the iPhone under Settings -> iCloud -> Contacts. To begin, access the iCloud website at iCloud.com and sign in using the same Apple ID and password that is connected to your iOS device. Once logged in follow these steps: