MobileMe
MobileMe (branded iTools between 2000 and 2002; .Mac until 2008) is a discontinued subscription-based collection of online services and software offered by Apple Inc. All services were gradually transitioned to and eventually replaced by the free iCloud, and MobileMe ceased on June 30, 2012, with transfers to iCloud being available until July 31, 2012, or data being available for download until that date, when the site finally closed completely. On that date all data was deleted, and email addresses of accounts not transferred to iCloud were marked as unused.
Developer(s)
Originally launched on January 5, 2000, as iTools, a free collection of Internet-based services for Mac OS 9 users, Apple relaunched it as .Mac on July 17, 2002, when it became a paid subscription service primarily designed for Mac OS X users. Apple relaunched the service again as MobileMe on July 9, 2008, now targeting Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, iPhone, and iPod Touch users.
On February 24, 2011, Apple discontinued offering MobileMe at its retail stores, and later from resellers.[2] New subscriptions were also stopped. On October 12, 2011, Apple launched iCloud to replace MobileMe for new users, with current users having access until June 30, 2012, when the service was to cease.
Integration[edit]
Mac OS X[edit]
MobileMe, like .Mac and iTools before it, was closely integrated with Mac OS X. Having a MobileMe account extended the functions of many programs, mostly within the iLife suite. Most notably, any iDisk could be mounted as any other volume on the Mac OS X desktop. Furthermore, it was possible to mount the public portion of another user's iDisk. This mechanism was one of the early ways to receive free software as part of .Mac. It was possible to queue files for upload to an offline iDisk, though they were only uploaded when the iDisk was mounted. iDisk commands were located in the "Go" menu of the Finder.
Additionally, any Address Book entries, iCal events and to-do entries, Safari bookmarks and keychains, mail accounts, mail rules, mail signatures, and smart mailboxes could be synced with the iDisk, allowing easy synchronization between multiple computers. iWeb allowed users to create web pages that could be uploaded to iDisk and published. iPhoto could be used for one-click web-publishing of photo albums.[17] iCal could be used to publish calendars to the web.[18] Also, Backup software could be used to make backups to iDisk or local media.[19]
With the prior .Mac service, the iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand and iTunes libraries could easily be uploaded to any iDisk (subject to various licensing agreements).
iOS[edit]
MobileMe integrated with various applications on iOS devices. This included iCal syncing with Calendar, Address Book syncing with Contacts, Mail syncing across devices, Safari Bookmarks syncing across devices. Apple later introduced the MobileMe iDisk app on July 29, 2009,[20] the MobileMe Gallery app on January 14, 2010,[21] and the Find My iPhone app on June 18, 2010, that allowed mobile access to the Find My iPhone feature (initially only available for MobileMe users, later made free to all iOS device users).[22] While initially only iPhone and iPod Touch apps, following updates, they were made universal app (compatible for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad). In August 2010, Apple introduced a feature that allowed users to stream music that's stored on their iDisk in the background from their device.[23]
There were subdirectory (private) and subdomain (public) access points to each MobileMe user's individual account functions. These provided direct web access to each MobileMe user's account, via links to each function directly. See list:
Private:
Public: