Knowledgebase

Calendars:
iCloud calendars are served using the CalDav protocol, so they can be accessed by any program that supports this protocol, including older versions of iCal.

1. Log in to iCloud.com and click the Share symbol next to one of your calendars
2. Click Public and then click Share.
3. Make note of the number after the first "p" character in the shared calendar's URL (i.e., p02, p03, p04, etc.). You can unshare the calendar once you have this number.
4. Go to iCal and create a new CalDav account using your iCloud username (the full e-mail address) and password.
5. Use "pXX-caldav.icloud.com" as the CalDav server URL, replacing "pXX" with the number found previously.
6. Enter port 443 and check the option to Use SSL.

Contacts:
The Contacts feature in iCal uses a service-specific standard called CardDav, which means it can be accessed by other programs that use this protocol. Do keep in mind that for this procedure you will be storing your iCloud password in plain text, which for the most part should not be an issue but might be an undesired setup for some people.

1. First open iCal, go to its Accounts preferences, and select your iCloud CalDav account that you made there (create it using the above instructions if you have not already done so). Then copy the contents of the Server Path field, which should look like the following:
   

   /18347668/principal/

2. In Address Book, create a new CardDav account in the Accounts section of Address Book's preferences, and use the following for the username (replace username with your username, and password with your password, and replace "mac.com" with the corresponding component for your iCloud account, which might be mac.com, me.com, or icloud.com):
   

   username%40mac.com:password

   please note that %40 is the substitute for @ sign so if you are using a gmail account and your user name was test@gmail.com the first part of the user name would be test%40gmail.com:password

3. Enter a single space in the password field, which will appear hidden as a single bullet (other password entries may work as well, but you need at least something in this field for it to work).
4. Now enter the following for the server URL, changing "pXX" to the number of the CalDav server you used in iCal. For the "/18347668/principal/" component of the address, ensure it matches that which you copied from the Server Path settings in iCal in step one:
   

   https://pXX-contacts.icloud.com:443/18347668/principal/

5. Click Create account. You will get a 404 error, but ignore this and click the Create button again to make the account.
6. In the account preferences, set a description for the new account (i.e., iCloud Contacts).
7. Quit and relaunch Address Book, and your iCloud contacts should now be displayed.

E-mail:
iCloud's e-mail services use the standard IMAP e-mail protocol, and can therefore be accessed from most e-mail clients.

1. In Mail's preferences, select the Accounts tab and create a new account.
2. Supply your standard iCloud username and password, and click Continue.
3. Change the account type to IMAP.
4. Use "imap.mail.me.com" as your e-mail server, and "smtp.mail.me.com" as your outgoing server.