iCloud Drive and iCloud Photos Setup

iCloud is two stores under one Apple ID: iCloud Drive holds files and folders, iCloud Photos holds the photo library. Blober connects to both through Apple's own login page.

• ✅ Browse and download iCloud Drive files and folders
• ✅ Upload, rename, move, and delete in iCloud Drive
• ✅ Browse the Photos timeline and download originals
• ✅ Upload images and videos into Photos, keeping capture dates
• ✅ Delete photos and videos from the library
• ❌ Albums, favorites, or any folder view in Photos
• ❌ Empty the Trash: iCloud has no permanent delete, space frees after 30 days

• An Apple ID with iCloud enabled
• With Advanced Data Protection on, enable Access iCloud Data on the Web in your Apple account settings

1. Workflows → New Workflow
2. Pick iCloud as source or destination
3. Click Open iCloud Login and sign in on Apple's page (two-factor included)
4. Tick Keep me signed in, then finish the login
5. On the follow-up screen, click Trust so the session is long-lived
6. Wait for iCloud to finish loading; Blober captures the session and closes the window

Blober never sees your Apple ID password. If a session expires, blober will asks you to sign in again with one click.

Root	What is behind it	Writable
iCloud Drive	Your folders, plus anything shared with you	✅ Yes
iCloud Photos	One timeline, newest first	✅ Yes

Drive paths mirror Finder, for example /Documents/report.pdf. Photos has no folders, so files are listed by date and cannot live in albums. A photo can be renamed in place, and it can move between the two libraries: Blober copies the file across and deletes the original.

Apple lists other people's items inside Drive, so they appear in the ordinary listing with a shared label. Blober reads your permission on each share from Apple's detail endpoint: a writable share accepts uploads, renames, moves, and deletes, and each request carries the share's handle. A read-only share refuses writes, reported as skipped rather than failed.

• Images keep the capture date; videos keep the creation date stored inside the file
• Camera raw files such as dng, cr2, arw, nef, orf and raf are skipped because iCloud photos does not accept them
• A new photo appears in the timeline in seconds; Apple publishes a video on its own schedule, usually a minute or two

• The account is full: Apple refuses the upload and Blober reports it as an iCloud storage problem, naming the plan or the space to free. Nothing is asked of Apple up front, and nothing is left behind: no partial file, no stranded copy.
• The name is already taken: the workflow's deduplication choice decides - skip that file (reported as skipped, never as failed) or replace the one already there.

• Drive: moves to Trash, recoverable for 30 days, space frees after that
• Inside a shared folder: removed from the owner's storage, since Trash cannot reach it
• Photos: flagged deleted and expunged at once, so the item is gone immediately

• "Session expired": click Open iCloud Login and sign in again; transfers resume
• Sign-in window closes too early: wait for iCloud to finish loading, then start the login again
• Upload to Photos is skipped: the file is not an image or video, or Apple's transcoder refused it; a corrupt file fails loudly instead
• Every request fails after sign-in: accept pending terms at appleid.apple.com
• Advanced Data Protection is on: enable Access iCloud Data on the Web, then sign in again

• iCloud Drive and iCloud Photos: How to Transfer Files In and Out - the full guide, including the rclone comparison
• Blober vs rclone - where a desktop app fits next to a command line tool

• iCloud
• Apple: Advanced Data Protection