WDC's My Cloud Home Duo is a natty piece of kit but beware iContent

Apple fans will be disappointed by its inability to sync iTunes files

Dropbox

I use Dropbox to sync data between my Macs and the My Cloud Home product can sync my Dropbox folder, but I found the procedure clunky.

If I want to sync a desktop Mac folder than I right-click it and select "Sync to My Cloud" from the menu box that appears. If I want to sync my Dropbox contents on a Mac I have to do this:

1. Access mycloud.com and sign in to my My Cloud account
2. On the left menu, click the SERVICES option
3. Under the Services section, click the Enable button for the Social and Cloud Import option. Then click the I AGREE button for the Terms of Service
4. Click the Configure button for Social and Cloud Import. This will redirect to further service option
5. Click the slider button to the right of the corresponding service to synchronise. This redirects you to the login page for the service you have chosen
6. After you login to the service you have chosen Click Allow to continue
7. Once the sync has completed, under the Files section of your My Cloud account, a folder will appear with the name of the service selected, such as Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive. This folder will contain a copy of the files and folders from the selected service

This seems nonsensical. Why can't the My Cloud Home Duo software treat a Dropbox folder on a Mac like any desktop folder and simply sync it? The procedure above is awkward and inconvenient.

WDC said: "The advantage of setting up the Cloud Import on the device is that the device is designed to be a Stay-on device while your Mac may not be on/functioning at all times. This gives us an advantage to continually import files from your Dropbox account and other services that we currently provide on the My Cloud Home."

Desktop search

The User Manual says: "Through the My Cloud Home mobile app and MyCloud.com web app, content can be accessed through the search feature."

Why can't I do this through the desktop app? Enterprise software is often sold with a single pane of glass management feature. Here I have, if I am on my Mac notebook or an iMac and using the desktop app, an inability to see all the content on the My Cloud Home Duo device.

I have to move out of the desktop app and either use my iPhone and its MyCloud App or point a desktop browser at the MyCloud Home Duo and then I can see the content. But I can't drag and drop items from the desktop browser window onto the Mac's desktop to use them on my Mac.

WDC replied: "Spotlight search is available for the My Cloud Home Duo device. You can simply search using spotlight in the finder window and select the 'My Cloud Home' device as your destination for searching. This should help you find files that are stored on our device quickly.

"If you're referring to the network share named 'MyCloud-XXXXX' this is a share that is mounted automatically for users to save their TimeMachine Backups to. This is a network share accessible by users only on your home network to safely backup their TimeMachine backups.

"Content moved into this share is not accessible by any of our applications since it is mainly used for TimeMachine Backups. We're working on educating the user the purpose of this location in an upcoming release."

TL;DR

The My Cloud Home Duo is a solidly built and attractive piece of equipment. To users conditioned to silent Apple hybrid or flash-based equipment its disk activity sounds can be intrusive. The desire for it to be a central repository for all a user's digital content is frustrated by music and video content providers' restrictions. Life with photos is easier.

For users less focused on content creation with desktop and notebook PCs than I am and needing to protect and share their content with others across the internet then this Wi-Fi router-connected box is a valuable piece of kit. ®