Dropbox the cloud sharing and file storage service has announced Smart Sync feature for its business customers. Smart Sync is formally called Project Infinite and it is available now for business customers with early access program. The feature allows users to access their Dropbox files on local system with out taking the physical storage. The feature works similar to OneDrive placeholders in Windows 8.1, where some files are stored locally and some are online but they will show up in Windows Explorer. This saves from users from shuffling between browser and local storage.
The files and folders are available locally for editing with just a double click. The feature will work both on the Windows and Mac platform and it will work even if you are not on the latest version of the operating system. The Smart Sync feature is currently available for Business customers through an early access program and in future it will also be available individual customers as well according to Dropbox.
Dropbox Paper Files
Another important announcement today is taking Dropbox Paper out of beta. The Paper app was first announced in 2015 and last August it went in to beta phase. Dropbox is taking paper app out of beta starting today and is available for all users in 21 languages. The app is similar to a word processor, it competes with Google Apps suite and Microsoft 365 suite. The app is in early stage and not in a position to challenge either Google apps or Microsoft apps. But it will still be useful for users who just want to create and do a quick review of the Dropbox stored files. The Paper app allows teams to work on the documents, take notes, add pictures and prepare task lists with due dates for teams. The app will be available on mobile also for iOS and Android along with the desktop version already available. The Paper is not just a word processor but in the presentation mode you can turn the pages into slides for presentations. Excel or spreadsheet type functionality is not available at the moment though. You can try Paper here.
