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Nuances and Known Issues

iCloud Authentication

MFA

If your Apple account has two-factor authentication (multi-factor authentication, MFA) enabled, you will be prompted for a code when you run the script. Two-factor authentication will expire after an interval set by Apple, at which point you will have to re-authenticate. This interval is currently two months. Apple requires MFA for all new accounts.

You can receive an email notification when two-factor authentication expires by passing the --smtp-username and --smtp-password options. Emails will be sent to --smtp-username by default, or you can send to a different email address with --notification-email.

If you want to send notification emails using your Gmail account, and you have enabled two-factor authentication, you will need to generate an App Password at https://myaccount.google.com/apppasswords

FIDO

Authentication to iCloud with hardware keys (FIDO) is not supported.

ADP

Advanced Data Protection (ADP) for iCloud accounts is not supported because iCloudPD simulates web access, which is disabled with ADP.

System Keyring

You can store your password in the system keyring using the icloud command-line tool:

$ icloud --username jappleseed@apple.com
ICloud Password for jappleseed@apple.com:
Save password in keyring? (y/N)

If you have stored a password in the keyring, you will not be required to provide a password when running the script.

If you would like to delete a password stored in your system keyring, you can clear a stored password using the --delete-from-keyring command-line option:

icloud --username jappleseed@apple.com --delete-from-keyring

Error on the First Run

When you run the script for the first time, you might see an error message like this:

Bad Request (400)

This error often happens because your account hasn't used the iCloud API before, so Apple's servers need to prepare some information about your photos. This process can take around 5-10 minutes, so please wait a few minutes and try again.

If you are still seeing this message after 30 minutes, then please open an issue on GitHub and post the script output.

Access from Mainland China

Access to iCloud.com is blocked from mainland China. icloudpd can be used with --domain cn parameter to support downloading iCloud phtotos from mainland China, however, people reported mixed results with that parameter.

MacOS binary

icloudpd is available as Intel 64bit binary for MacOS, but works on ARM macs too (M1, M2).

Here are the steps to make it working:

  • download binary from Github Releases into desired local folder
  • add executable flag by running chmod +x icloudpd-1.17.5-macos-amd64
  • start it from the terminal: icloudpd-1.17.5-macos-amd64
  • Apple will tell you that it cannot check for malicous software and refuse to run the app; click "Ok"
  • Open "System Settings"/"Privacy & Security" and find icloudpd-1.17.5-macos-amd64 as blocked app; Click "Allow"
  • Start icloudpd-1.17.5-macos-amd64 from the terminal again
  • Apple will show another warning; click "Open"
  • After that you can run icloudpd-1.17.5-macos-amd64 --help or any other supported command/option