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File Management
From email attachments to images you want to share on Twitter, files can still be frustrating to share. There’s dozens of file sharing apps, ranging from semi-shady sites covered in ads to popular desktop tools like Cloud.app that let you upload files and share them with a stylish landing page. Either way, most require you to create an account first, and almost all take several steps to share files.
Castle.so is one of the newer web apps for sharing files, and its reduced the process to two steps: drag a file to your browser, and share the link to your new Castle.so share page. That’s it. It’s a great implementation of HTML5 file support, and takes a couple steps out of sharing files.
Cloud-based storage services have made sharing large files easier. In the past, most people had to copy files to Zip disks or burn documents to a DVD or save them to a flash drive. Alternatively, you can send your files via FTP, or attach it to an email message if it’s small enough. These solutions are great, but the average Internet users might not understand FTP and most mail servers reject large files.
Dropbox has become the most popular cloud-based storage service for a number of reasons. We use it to store all sort of files and share folders with others, but not everyone use DropBox. That’s where AirDropper comes in. It’s a simple application that lets you request files using a special link that you can send by email, or a personalized web page. The recipient then hits that link to upload their file using the AirDropper website; the file will be saved in your Dropbox account. It’s a great solution to an age-old problem of sending large files, so let’s take a look and see if this will be a fit for your team’s file sharing needs.
I am a very vocal supporter of cloud computing. However, there are few limitations to moving your life and documents entirely to the cloud. First, you get locked into one service provider and their proprietary format. Second, if the service goes bust or you violate their terms (knowingly or otherwise), consider yourself banned for life.
This has happened to a lot of people even with big brands like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft etc. So it’s always good to have a redundancy in place. If you are like me and are staunchly against storing anything locally – even for redundancy – apps like Splarchive are out there to help us. Splarchive is a web app that converts and saves all your documents in the PDF format.
We briefly covered Min.us a few months ago when it was basically a ‘single-purpose’ app: you could upload pictures to instantly create a simple gallery that you could share with anyone. Since then, the app has been under heavy development and now has a boatload of features designed to improve the image-sharing experience and allow for other kinds of files as well.
There’s a lot of new stuff under the hood, so much so that we thought we should take another look at it. Min.us now works not just as a web app, but also as an app for desktop and mobile platforms. The galleries and editing options have been streamlined and several issues have been ironed out, making for a smoother user experience. Let’s delve deeper now, shall we?
Over the past few months I’ve realized that I don’t have a go-to site or app for sharing large files online. That’s probably because most of the popular services currently available are either slow, clunky or just forgettable. Most of them don’t allow users to keep track of what happened to their files, re-send download links or check if they were downloaded.
Where do you go when you need all these features and more? Enter UploadingIt.
UploadingIt presents a no-fuss solution to getting your files online, and makes it easy to share them. There are advanced sharing options, too, and there’s no learning curve. It includes everything you need, and nothing you don’t. Let’s take a closer look and see if UploadingIt is the file-sharing app for you.
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Prior to getting my iPad, I didn’t have much use for notebook apps. After my computing life went mobile, however, I found myself needing to write things down without having a notepad within reach. And so I got Evernote, the same notebook app used by so many of the bloggers I followed. After a few days, however, I wasn’t happy. Evernote could do all the things I wanted it to, but it didn’t…feel right.
My editor suggested I take a look at Memonic, a notebook app developed by a Swiss startup named Nektoon AG. I said to him the same thing I say to everybody else: if something doesn’t feel right, then it can’t hurt to try the Swiss.
Of course not! There never is. However, by comparing them we might be able to help you make a decision better suited to your needs. I, for one, have been torn between the two for quite a long time but always stuck with Droplr. We’ll take a look at the pros and cons of each and why you might want to choose one over the other. Take a look!
We’ve written a new 2012 CloudApp versus Droplr comparison that you should check out too: CloudApp versus Droplr: Which App Should You Choose?
When it comes to putting files in the cloud, the most important aspect for me is accessibility. Here in the AppStorm network, we’ve already covered CloudApp for Mac, and DroidCloud, a third party app that brings CloudApp to Android devices. I think it’s about time we cover the web interface for CloudApp, a dead simple way to put files in the cloud.
There are tons of online storage options out there: Dropbox is my personal favorite, but there’s also Windows Skydrive, Mozy and more. Last week, Amazon entered the game with their new service, Amazon Cloud Drive. I’ll tell you why Amazon is making a strong case for file storage in the Cloud and giving other services a run for their money.
Our lives are increasingly dependent on the cloud to get things done, collaborate, communicate, share stuff with peers and much more. Internet in fast becoming an operating system by itself with all the web apps replacing the desktop counterparts. One major thing missing out of this pretty picture is the absence of a comprehensive search feature.
Am not referring to web in general – the ability to search our own data stored in the cloud, distributed across a lot of third party datacenters. Greplin is a personal search engine that allows you to search all your online data from one easy place. Curious as to how Greplin can help autocomplete your life?
