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Technology Advice for Small Businesses

Sharing with Dropbox just got easier

Web_Feb27_BIf you’re using the Cloud to collaborate with your teams, you’ll know that its powerful technology speeds up the way we work. Documents can be shared across locations and timezones, which can prove to be a real productivity boost. Dropbox is one such solution, alongside other popular options like Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive, but until recently its downfall was the relative complexity of sharing files through Dropbox to mobile devices. No longer, though: the Dropbox app’s latest update means it’s now a breeze to collaborate on documents from Android and iOS devices – as easy as it is from your desktop, in fact.

The change, which is now available by updating your existing Dropbox app, relates to the way your phone handles shared file links you receive from others. Essentially, the app now equips your phone to properly support those links, in a way that it hasn’t done before.

When a colleague shares a file with you via Dropbox, you receive a notification that includes a link to allow you to open the shared file. Until now, if you attempted to open this link through your Android or iOS Dropbox app, your phone would unhelpfully navigate out of the app and instead attempt to open the link in your default web browser. That’s hardly helpful when you want to seamlessly access your files all from within the Dropbox app’s own navigation – which is why the changes brought about by this update are so welcome.

Now when you click that shared link, the file or folder will open before your very eyes – right within the app. You can see a preview of the document or photo, and with a tap you can save it to your Dropbox account and then choose to move or rename it, or add it to your list of favorites for speedier opening and even offline access. If it’s a Microsoft Office file and you have the Office apps installed on your device, you can even go right ahead and edit the contents of the document on your phone.

The key here is that this seemingly simple update makes it even more straightforward for you to receive and handle documents from your colleagues, even if you’re not sitting in front of your desktop or laptop. Dropbox is making strides in increasing the ease with which its platform works across mobile devices, and part of that is reducing the number of buttons you need to tap to achieve your goals. All of which is great news for busy business owners and your staff. After all, it further enhances one of the Cloud’s biggest selling points – to literally be able to do anything you could ordinarily do from your office, no matter where in the world you are.

To find out more about implementing Cloud technologies to boost your company’s productivity, drop us a line today.