Apple Storing iCloud Data On Google Servers

News has emerged from several different sources that Apple has struck a deal with what some might see as its arch rival, Google, to store some users iCloud data on Google’s own cloud storage servers.

The deal is being reported as a real coup for Google, which is seen to significantly lag behind both Amazon and Microsoft for providing 3^rd party cloud storage to others.

According to the BBC, Apple sealed the new deal with Google’s Cloud Platform division in the final quarter last year. The BBC has also stated that it has been able to “independently confirm the arrangement.”

The arrangement might come as a surprise to those who think of Apple and Google as rivals. It is not the first time however that these 2 titans of the technological world have worked together.

Court transcripts leaked to the web at the beginning of 2016 have revealed that Google allegedly paid Apple $1 billion to become the default search engine of choice for the mobile version of Apple’s Safari browser, back in 2014

But if a week is a long time in politics, then 2 years is almost geological when it comes to technology.  Since then, Apple has markedly been reducing its dependence upon Google for search queries in recent times.  Microsoft’s Bing is now the default search engine for Siri alongside Spotlight search.  With the last iOS.9 software updates, Safari has also started accumulating search results from Spotlight as well

The new deal between Google and Amazon is thought to be worth between $400-$600 million.  Previously, Apple had used Amazon’s cloud storage solution as its preferred online platform.

The news has apparently caused some concern for Amazon investors, since the new deal also follows recent announcements that Spotify and Dropbox had also moved to different platforms.

The latest move by Apple may itself be only temporary.  Apple has been investing heavily in its own data centers, and may soon move its “i” data there in an effort to reduce costs.