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.

Apple relaunched the service again as MobileMe on July 9, 2008, now targeting Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, iPhone, and iPod Touch users.

All members of iTools and .Mac received a @mac.com email address, showing the services tied to the Mac hardware.

Backup can be used in connection with either a user's online MobileMe iDisk or the Macintosh's CD-RW or DVD-R drive to make safe, archival copies of critical files and folders.

However, on November 5, 2003 Apple released Backup 2.0, which added new features and offered greater reliability than its predecessors.

An app was also released by Apple which allowed users to locate their iPhone from another device running iOS 4.

[5] Find My iPhone was made free of charge with the release of iOS 4.2.1 software update on November 22, 2010 for devices introduced in 2010.

All uploads by viewers of the Gallery (either by the iPhone or iPod Touch, me.com, or sent by the dedicated email address), were synced back to iPhoto or Aperture.

MobileMe featured iDisk, an online storage repository accessible via a web browser at me.com, Finder on OS X, various apps for iOS devices, or as a remote disk in Microsoft Windows.

MobileMe used Ajax and Dynamic HTML to simulate the look and feel of desktop applications within the user's web browser.

Applications on me.com included Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Gallery, Find My iPhone, and iDisk access, plus an Account section.

After installation, the user signed into the control panel using their username and password, and could control sync settings for contacts, calendars, bookmarks, and iDisk settings such as public folder access, in a similar manner to the MobileMe preference panel built into Mac OS X.

[citation needed] The capability to publish iCal calendars as publicly viewable web pages was removed.

[citation needed] The table below illustrates the pricing structure previous to Apple discontinuing purchases on June 6, 2011 as part of the move to iCloud.

Current users were encouraged to use MobileMe services inside iCloud (account migration happening automatically anyway), but could continue to use their MobileMe services and access the me.com website until it was shut down on June 30, 2012 (although limited access beyond that date was available to download content).

[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).

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.

See list: Private: Public: The original collection of Internet software and services now known as iCloud was first called iTools, released on January 5, 2000, and made available free of charge for Mac users.

Services offered by iTools included the first availability of @mac.com email addresses, which could only be accessed through an email client (e.g. the Mail app); iCards, a free greeting card service; iReview, a collection of reviews of popular web sites; HomePage, a free web page publishing service; the first version of iDisk, an online data storage system; and KidSafe, a directory of family-friendly web sites.

Additionally, although the original version of iDisk used AppleShare IP for transport and required Mac OS 9, it was eventually updated to use WebDAV technology and therefore opened up access to non-Mac operating systems, including Windows XP.

The new functionality was built on top of Ajax and provided drag-and-drop, a live-updating three-way split view, and the ability to resize panels.

An account preference allowed the user to decide how much storage space to allocate to either service as they see fit.

Users who wanted additional storage capacity could buy up to a total of 30 GB for a higher annual fee.

The storage space for both email and an iDisk could be used in any way the user wanted, subject to the terms of the .Mac license agreement.

Initial speculation about a new service to replace .Mac came in early June 2008, when Apple bought the me.com domain name.

After asking them "what MobileMe is supposed to do", when someone answered, Jobs reportedly shot back, "So why the fuck doesn't it do that?

Because of MobileMe's perceived public failings, Steve Jobs anticipated skepticism to his claim that iCloud "just works", and asked rhetorically, "Why should I believe them?

In addition to MobileMe's email and calendar services, iCloud syncs files across multiple devices.

As promised at WWDC 2011, Apple began the service during fall 2011, giving every user of either or both iOS 5 or Mac OS X Lion 5 GB of cloud data storage for the basic service free at the point of usage, with additional paid-for tiers for more data storage also being available.