Untangling Mavericks from iCloud

Question

I recently updated our Macs from Snow Leopard (10.6.8) to Mavericks (10.9.x). We had skipped Lion and Mountain Lion due to their heavy iCloud entanglement. iCloud syncing is a handy tool for on-the-go metropolitans with high bandwidth, symmetrical internet access and/or abundant free WiFi locations. But for those of us who live in the country, with our only choice being low bandwidth asymmetrical (often capped) internet access, iCloud syncing of photo streams and data is a cruel, have-vs-have-not, joke. Besides, I’ve never thought it was all that clever to share/sync files, calendars, contacts, notes between two Macs attached to the same private WiFi network by pushing the data to/from the cloud.
So as soon as I did the clean install of Mavericks, I began looking for how to untangle Mavericks (and iOS 7) from iCloud. The following tables summarize what I did. If anyone is interested in the details, just ask.
Minimize iCloud Entanglement in OS X
iMac & MacBook Pro
Internet Accounts
Turn off iCloud sharing (except Mail)
  Sync Mail
Use IMAP Mail servers (iCloud & gmail)
Sharing/Syncing (local network only)
Install OS X server and set up...
  Files
File Sharing
  Calendar
CalDav
  Contacts
CardDav
  Notes
Mail server (used only for Notes)
Sharing/Syncing (via iCloud)
  Photos
Limited use of small Shared Photo Streams*
Apple’s “iCloud” Applications:
(e.g. TextEdit, Preview,…)
  Open/save dialogs
Turn off iCloud saving in iCloud sys pref
  Missing menu item for “Save As…”
Add keyboard shortcut (shift-command-s)
Minimize iCloud Entanglement in iOS
iPad Mini & iPhone 5s
Sync Mail
Use IMAP Mail servers (as above)
Sharing/Syncing (local network only)
  Calendars, Contacts, Notes
Use local OSX server (as above)
Sharing/Syncing (via iCloud)
  Photos
Limited use of small Shared Photo Streams*
Backups
Manually backup to Macs
*Apple’s existing iOS tools (Photos and iPhoto) for organizing photos into albums and then syncing them with Macs are pitifully inadequate. For us, the simplest method is to build an album on a Mac in iPhoto and share it with our other Mac and iOS devices via a Shared Photo Stream. Even this limited use of the iCloud has drawbacks. Like when we brought the new iPhone 5s home and it brought our internet connection to it’s knees for several hours while downloading the Shared Photo Streams in the background.
—GetRealBro

Answer 1

The reasons to untangle Mavericks from the clouds fall into two main categories:
Practical - reduced use of iCloud services which can use considerable bandwidth (e.g. Photo Streams) and/or use bandwidth at inconvenient  times (e.g. App Store update downloads in the background).
Several items are quick and easy settings within Mavericks/iOS 7 which address the more “practical” aspects.
Photo Streams - If you take a lot of photos and have several iOS and OS X devices, My Photo Streams can be a serious bandwidth hog. You can turn them off in OSX - iPhoto>Preferences>iCloud and iOS Settings>iCloud.>Photos
App store background updates - You can’t reduce the bandwidth required to download the updates. But you can control WHEN that bandwidth is used by setting the App Store preferences which are found in….  System Preferences.
iOS Backups - You can reduce the bandwidth required to backup your iOS devices to the iCloud by adjusting which items are backed up to iCloud - Settings>iCloud>Storage & Backup>Manage Storage>[pick your iOS device]. Then periodically backup your iOS devices manually in iTunes.
Apple’s “iCloud Apps” (e.g. Textedit, Preview, iMovie, iWorks apps etc) - in OSX you can turn off storing/syncing via iCloud by adjusting the settings in…. System Preferences>iCloud>Documents & Data. In iOS you adjust these in Settings>[scroll to the application name]>Use iCloud
Philosophical - replacing iCloud services (e.g. syncing/sharing of Contacts, Calendars, Notes, etc.) with local services to enhance privacy and possibly improve performance, depending on internet bandwidth / caps.
Here are some things to consider before replacing iCloud services with local ones provided by OSXServer.
Setting up an OSXserver to share/sync Calendars, Contacts, Notes, etc. will not dramatically reduce your internet bandwidth.
The key component OSXserver costs $20 and requires a Mac that is running 24/7/365 (e.g. a headless Mac Mini). OSxserver does NOT require a dedicated Mac. It can run on a “users” Mac (e.g. an iMac). But that user has to be mindful to not disrupt services with frequent/unannounced Restarts (e.g. as required by some software updates).
The local shared services (syncing contacts/calendar, file sharing, etc.) only work when you are connected to your local WiFi network. For example, if you add a Contact, make a Note or add a Calendar item on your iPhone while at the dentist, they will not get synced to your Mac/iPad until you get back home.
Setting up an OSXServer for syncing sharing, Contacts, Calendars, Notes, and Files is not difficult. But it requires a bit of planning to configure user accounts etc., so that it is easy to configure/administer the iOS and OSX devices. And of course you become the systems administrator for the OSXserver. Sharing/syncing Contacts, Calendars, Notes via OSXserver rather than iCloud will not reduce significant internet traffic/bandwidth. The main reason to switch to OSXserver is philosophical.
Apple’s iWork apps (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) are difficult to untangle from iCloud. OSX server does support Webdav for “sharing” iWork app files between users/devices. But this is not the same a live syncing via iCloud.
Finally, the actual untangling takes some planning to extract the contacts and calendar info from iCloud and transfer it to calDAV and cardDAV on OSXserver.
Are you after the “practical” or “philosophical” or both?
— GetRealBro