New Dropbox build touts screenshot auto saves and 'Move to Dropbox' feature
Popular cloud storage and file synchrnoization service Dropbox on Wednesday released a preview build of its upcoming 2.3.x desktop client, showing off four new features including screenshot saving, file moving and iPhoto imports.
Dropbox's experimental build 2.3.12, first spotted by MacStories, not only gives users a sneak peek at the forthcoming update, but also lets Dropbox test out the new features in the wild.
The first addition is a tool that automatically saves a screenshot to a user's Dropbox. In the Mac version, when users take a screenshot, it is automatically uploaded to a special folder in their Dropbox. For quick sharing, the public link to the created file is automatically copied to the OS X clipboard, which can then be pasted in any number of apps to send off to collaborators.
With the latest experimental build, Dropbox has also implemented "Move to Dropbox," a feature that ties in with contextual menus in OS X. When users command-click, or right click, on a file or folder, a new "Move to Dropbox" option will appear that links to their main Dropbox folder. The feature works with almost any file type and location in Finder.
The "Import from iPhoto" feature uses iPhoto albums to create Dropbox albums for sharing and viewing online. Macs must be running iPhoto 7.0 or higher to take advantage of the functionality.
Finally, the company promises "much faster" upload and download speeds for larger files, which should be a boon for collaborators using the service to constantly edit and sync documents remotely.
Dropbox experimental build 2.3.12 for Mac can be downloaded from the Dropbox forums, or through this direct link.
Dropbox's experimental build 2.3.12, first spotted by MacStories, not only gives users a sneak peek at the forthcoming update, but also lets Dropbox test out the new features in the wild.
The first addition is a tool that automatically saves a screenshot to a user's Dropbox. In the Mac version, when users take a screenshot, it is automatically uploaded to a special folder in their Dropbox. For quick sharing, the public link to the created file is automatically copied to the OS X clipboard, which can then be pasted in any number of apps to send off to collaborators.
With the latest experimental build, Dropbox has also implemented "Move to Dropbox," a feature that ties in with contextual menus in OS X. When users command-click, or right click, on a file or folder, a new "Move to Dropbox" option will appear that links to their main Dropbox folder. The feature works with almost any file type and location in Finder.
The "Import from iPhoto" feature uses iPhoto albums to create Dropbox albums for sharing and viewing online. Macs must be running iPhoto 7.0 or higher to take advantage of the functionality.
Finally, the company promises "much faster" upload and download speeds for larger files, which should be a boon for collaborators using the service to constantly edit and sync documents remotely.
Dropbox experimental build 2.3.12 for Mac can be downloaded from the Dropbox forums, or through this direct link.
Comments
License the IP from DB, for God's sake, if that's what's needed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
Granted Dropbox rebuffed Apple's attempt to buy them, but why can't iCloud come up to speed on offering the kind of features that these guys have!?
License the IP from DB, for God's sake, if that's what's needed.
DB works great cross platform too....
I'm not sure what IP they really have that Apple couldn't simply implement on their own. I really hope we see something major next week. There is simply no excuse for not having a modern file sharing system built into iCloud.
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
Granted Dropbox rebuffed Apple's attempt to buy them, but why can't iCloud come up to speed on offering the kind of features that these guys have!?
License the IP from DB, for God's sake, if that's what's needed.
Who said iCloud is designed to meet its objectives? If you think Apple isn't going to extend their cloud services starting with iOS 7 and OS X 10.9, think again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
The screenshot saving thing is something you can do on your own with Automator easily but it's still a nicety that shows Dropbox is thinking about the user.
I'm not sure what IP they really have that Apple couldn't simply implement on their own. I really hope we see something major next week. There is simply no excuse for not having a modern file sharing system built into iCloud.
Try none and if one reads Apple IP listings you'll notice all the functionality DropBox has or plans to have is already patented implementations specific to Apple's intended goals.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Splash-reverse
Why do you need Apple to do everything? If a third party can do it better and let them be. Free up Apple resources as well not to have to do everything. Remember iCloud is just an enhancement to the OS and not a standalone feature.
This is what I don't understand. When Microsoft started implementing features that their partners already covered, the interweb went nuts.
1. Indeed, they don't need to integrate everything. But when they do, it's usually done very well, has the same aesthetics and can be integrated better because they have access to any and all (low level) resources.
2. iCloud is also a pure standalone feature for iDevice owners, with backups et cetera without any need for OSX.
Dropbox's support for mobile devices is pathetic and frustrating. They need to pay some attention to this area pronto, as there's plenty of other options out there today.
I know several (non-tech) people telling how easy it is to drag your music and photos to an Android phone. On iOS it%u2019s a complete mess. Wifi sync, iTunes sync, iCloud sync, %u2026 and all without having a file system on iOS.
The concept to have the files in the apps is flawed. It%u2019s as simple as that. I want my files in a folder, not in an app. Now I have to remember in which app I last edited my file and look there.
The main reason why the iOS versions of Pages and Keynote are almost unusable in a professional context is because of the lack of Dropbox integration.
Hopefully, Apple will admit in iOS 7 that they were wrong and drastically change direction. But I think the best we can hope for is iOS Airdrop that will force the user to immediately decide which app to dump the file in.
The future of Dropbox is bright.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Splash-reverse
Why do you need Apple to do everything? If a third party can do it better and let them be. Free up Apple resources as well not to have to do everything. Remember iCloud is just an enhancement to the OS and not a standalone feature.
It's not a question of wanting Apple to do "everything" but rather the expectaion that they should do "certain things" that could be considered central to a modern operating system. And cloud file management/sharing certainly seems to fit this description.
Quote:
Originally Posted by asdasd
Dropbox is a different beast to iCloud. It is a user visible folder which syncs anything dragged into the folder across all clients on which dropbox is installed. iCloud is an API for developers, including Apple, to store per app items , documents etc to ensure that moving between Apple devices is seamless for that app.
Dropbox does sooooo much more. I can take a picture and it will automatically upload my pictures to Dropbox. I can store videos, files you name it to DB then I can email anyone a link and give just them access to the data. It works just like Photostream does in a sense.So i can be on vacation and take a ton of pictures and email grandma a link and she can see pics of her grand-kids at Knottsberry Farm. Where on iCloud does it store data from app APIs? I just checked my iCloud and did not see anything?
How to attract a thriving third party developer community to your platform.
Don't do everything yourself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by geekdad
Dropbox does sooooo much more. I can take a picture and it will automatically upload my pictures to Dropbox. I can store videos, files you name it to DB then I can email anyone a link and give just them access to the data. It works just like Photostream does in a sense.So i can be on vacation and take a ton of pictures and email grandma a link and she can see pics of her grand-kids at Knottsberry Farm. Where on iCloud does it store data from app APIs? I just checked my iCloud and did not see anything?
You still need enough space on your hard drive to hold a Dropbox folder.
It don't work so good when due to constraints on space you put your Dropbox folder on an external hard drive.
Apart from that it don't work too bad.
Logging into your Dropbox account from a demo Galaxy S III or 4 in a store will also get you 48 free GB for two years (unless someone else beat you to it on that particular phone).
Quote:
Originally Posted by hill60
You still need enough space on your hard drive to hold a Dropbox folder.
It don't work so good when due to constraints on space you put your Dropbox folder on an external hard drive.
Apart from that it don't work too bad.
Logging into your Dropbox account from a demo Galaxy S III or 4 in a store will also get you 48 free GB for two years (unless someone else beat you to it on that particular phone).
My DB folder on my rMBP is 1GB. You limit the amount of pics files and so forth my moving them out of the folder. I got the extra space when space when i signed in with my S4...I have 51 GBs on DB now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hagar
Let%u2019s be honest here: the whole file sharing approach of iTunes / iCloud / iOS is completely broken. I remember Steve Jobs explaining that (new) users find the file system too complex so they%u2019re trying to hide it. But failed miserably because the solution is worse than the problem.
I know several (non-tech) people telling how easy it is to drag your music and photos to an Android phone. On iOS it%u2019s a complete mess. Wifi sync, iTunes sync, iCloud sync, %u2026 and all without having a file system on iOS.
The concept to have the files in the apps is flawed. It%u2019s as simple as that. I want my files in a folder, not in an app. Now I have to remember in which app I last edited my file and look there.
The main reason why the iOS versions of Pages and Keynote are almost unusable in a professional context is because of the lack of Dropbox integration.
Hopefully, Apple will admit in iOS 7 that they were wrong and drastically change direction. But I think the best we can hope for is iOS Airdrop that will force the user to immediately decide which app to dump the file in.
The future of Dropbox is bright.
I sync a lot of Android phones with other phones to transfer data between various models.
It's a headache.
Contacts and SMS sync when USB debug is enabled in developer mode, pictures and other stuff need mass storage mode, switching between these is hit and miss at best depending on model and manufacturer.
Samsung went so far as to hide developer options in the S4, you have to go into settings, across to the more tab, down to about phone and tap on Build number seven times, back out of that, go back a tab and then you can find it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by geekdad
My DB folder on my rMBP is 1GB. You limit the amount of pics files and so forth my moving them out of the folder. I got the extra space when space when i signed in with my S4...I have 51 GBs on DB now.
Yeah well I've got 55GB and my Dropbox folder is 30GB, over 18,000 photo's plus other stuff, it's a ticking time bomb which will expire in a year unless I start paying for the 48GB I got from Samsung.
I have a 250GB hard drive and Dropbox duplicates my back ups, I can access it via the browser but to use the folder I have to plug in my external drive, which is also partitioned to work as Time Machine.
I'm moving ANOTHER backup of my photo's to Flickr.
Along with the shared folders I have in photo stream.
Then there are photo's backed up to Facebook.
What this means is that if any of these fail I can access any of the others, the more the merrier I always say.
I'm not sure how need comes into play, but I certainly want Apple to make a better cloud-based file sharing system for users. Despite all that Dropbox does to make it simple for users it's still a 3rd-party solution that requires separate downloads for each device with separate logins, and there seems to be a complexity to it that even people in the tech field still don't fully grasp years later. It also incurs a lot of limitations on iOS since it's unable to integrate with the OS.