Apple Working to Boost iCloud Integration with Preview and TextEdit Document Viewer Apps for iOS 8 - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Working to Boost iCloud Integration with Preview and TextEdit Document Viewer Apps for iOS 8

by

icloud_iconApple may be expanding iCloud in iOS 8 by releasing iOS versions of Preview and TextEdit that use iCloud for document retrieval and storage. It also is developing tools that will make it easier for developers to create iCloud-based applications. These improvements are expected to arrive later this year, reports 9to5Mac.

Apple is developing versions of the Mac operating system’s Preview and TextEdit applications that are optimized for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The applications are said to not be designed to actually edit PDFs, images, or text documents. Instead, the apps are built to serve as tools to view Preview and TextEdit files stored in iCloud by OS X. Apple added iCloud synchronization for Preview and TextEdit with OS X Mountain Lion, but has not yet released iOS counterparts to actually view the synchronized content.

These new Preview and TextEdit apps will be document viewers only and won't include editing functionality. iPhone and iPad owners will be encouraged to use iWork applications to edit common document types and iBooks to manipulate PDFs.

These changes reflect a new development strategy championed by Apple Senior VP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi. Instead of two separate teams with one focusing on iOS and the other dedicated to OS X, Federighi has merged the teams so the same group of developers work on both the iOS and OS X versions.

Apple also is exploring ways to make iCloud app development easier for developers. Details are sparse, but Apple may provide new iCloud storage tools that allow developers to use iCloud as a file system for sharing data across iOS and OS X platforms.

Related Forum: iOS 8

Popular Stories

iphone 17 pro dark blue 1

Apple Preparing 'Most Significant Overhaul in the iPhone's History'

Sunday March 29, 2026 8:18 am PDT by
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has high expectations for Apple's first foldable iPhone. In his Power On newsletter today, he said the foldable iPhone will be "the most significant overhaul in the iPhone's history." "iPhone 4, iPhone 6 and iPhone X were clearly a big deal, but this is a whole new design," he said. Like Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7, the foldable iPhone will reportedly open up like ...
Read Full Article • 170 comments
Apple Event Logo

Apple to Launch These 15+ New Products Later This Year

Friday March 27, 2026 2:03 pm PDT by
March has been an incredibly busy month for Apple, with the company unveiling more than 10 new products and accessories. We said hello to the MacBook Neo at the start of the month, and we bid farewell to the Mac Pro at the end of it. Nevertheless, there is still a lot more to come this year. Beyond the usual annual updates to iPhones and Apple Watches, Apple's all-new smart home hub is...
Read Full Article • 64 comments
Apple Apps Grid

Apple Releasing Two New iPhone Apps This Year

Saturday March 28, 2026 8:00 am PDT by
Apple is expected to release two new iPhone apps this year, including an Apple Business app and a Siri app with chatbot-like functionality. With the Apple Business app, employees at businesses using the new Apple Business platform will be able to install apps for work, view contact information for colleagues, and request support. Apple Business is launching on April 14, and it replaces Apple ...
Read Full Article • 10 comments

Top Rated Comments

T
The Phazer
157 months ago
Seriously, just shoot whatever idiot thought Textedit that can't edit would be an acceptable thing to ship.

I mean, seriously.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
redscull Avatar
redscull
157 months ago
An app is supposed to do one job really well. iBooks is a reader. Giving it PDF editing functionality makes it an application. You know, those large, confusing programs that Apple fixed when they invented iOS. You're not supposed to have to deal with menu navigation and feature overload in an app.. I wish someone there still remembered that.

Also, sharing files between iOS and OSX via iCloud? How about just make AirDrop work? It's ridiculous that I have to use DropBox just to share a file between two devices sitting on the same desk. The data travels thousands of miles to go 1 foot. But Apple's solution is to send my data thousands of miles to their servers instead of someone else's.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AngerDanger Avatar
AngerDanger
157 months ago
I sincerely hate how iCloud file saving has been handled on the Mac so far. It defaults all of the standard applications' saving locations to iCloud, and then I have to drop the full dialog down with the arrow to search for the location I actually want (admittedly, it sometimes shows up in the recents just under the iCloud option).

On a semi-related note, the dialog the pops up when you first launch Textedit sucks! It increases the amount of time the application takes to open, and it adds steps between launching the app from spotlight and entering text. I've switched to Sublime but will be looking for fixes.

</rant></firstworldproblems>

EDIT: If anybody else hates this, read this reply to my post! (https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=18878320)
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
William Gates Avatar
William Gates
157 months ago
Hope to see a big bump in free storage space and the inclusion of home videos into photo stream to go along with this

No joke. 5 free GB of storage for 2 macs, an iPhone, and an iPad is not conducive to a good user experience. I bought 10 extra GB, but I'm pushing the limits on that storage space. And the absolute most you can get is 55 GB? Is this 2005? Where is my unlimited option?
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
scrod Avatar
scrod
157 months ago
Client-side encryption?

Until iCloud uses client-side encryption with client-side keys, I'm not touching it with a ten-foot pole. They can add all the features an integration they want, but it's worthless to me until I have control over my own data.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
William Gates Avatar
William Gates
157 months ago
Finally


iBooks to manipulate PDFs
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Why would you do this. PDF management in iBooks is horrible. Unless it's a PDF of a book I don't want it in iBooks.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments