What Is Verizon Cloud? Do I Need It?

Verizon Cloud is a backup service for Android and iOS. Here’s how Verizon explains it:

Storage on Verizon Cloud means you can wirelessly backup and sync your contacts, photos, videos, messages* & documents*…Messages and documents are only available on Android devices.

Verizon Cloud offers three plans with different storage allotments and monthly prices:¹

600GB – $5.99 per month
2TB – $14.99 per month
Unlimited data – $19.99 per month

Verizon’s Do More Unlimited and Get More Unlimited plans both come with the 600GB version of Verizon Cloud as a perk without any extra cost.

In my view, Verizon Cloud is unnecessary for most people. Even if you are on one a plan that includes Verizon Cloud at no charge, I still don’t recommend using the service. Android and iOS both have backup options built in. My experience with the Android backup feature has been excellent. Backups take place automatically, and most of the information I care about is included in those backups:²

If you back up to Google Drive, here’s what’s backed up:

Google Contacts data
Google Calendar events and settings
Wi-Fi networks and passwords
Wallpapers
Gmail settings
Apps
Display settings (brightness and sleep)
Language and input settings
Date and time
Settings and data for apps not made by Google (varies by app)

I’ve restored Google backups on Android devices several times. It’s a super-streamlined experience.

If you want to backup photos, the Google Photo app has its own built-in backup feature. Other files can be manually backed up to Google Drive.

I don’t have as much experience with iCloud backups, but my impression is that iCloud works well. Verizon’s backup service seems unnecessary.

Footnotes

It’s interesting how large these allotments of space are. Very few people will need anything near that much space to backup their phones. While the 600GB plan is only for one device and one user, the more expensive plans allow up to 5 users and unlimited devices.
Excerpt taken from Google’s FAQ.