If you use Google Drive to keep your files safely backed up in the Google cloud, pay attention as the Internet giant has just pushed an interesting little update making its iOS client a whole lot more useful for collaborative work than before.
Google Drive for the iPhone and iPad has been bumped up to version 1.4, adding swipeable images while viewing them in full screen, in addition to comments for your Google Docs files.
The first feature lets you swipe through the images stored in your Drive as you would in Apple’s stock iOS Photos app. The latter capability supports viewing, creating, replying to and resolving comments in Google Docs files.
Commenting was previously available via the web interface, but not on mobile devices. The free application is now live on the App Store so go ahead and update it if you haven’t already…
Adding a comment couldn’t be easier: simply tap and hold to position the cursor where you want to leave a comment and then release. Alternatively, you can also drag a portion of the text you want to comment on.
I’m not a big fan of Google’s cloud storage solution – I prefer Dropbox for its excellent cross-platform features and integration with my favorite web sites and mobile apps that support the handy Dropbox file picker.
On the other hand, there’s no denying that Drive just keeps getting better.
The software now supports landscape editing on iPhones, is integrated with Google-owned Quickoffice iOS productivity suite and supports the full editing functionality for documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
In my mind, there’s something magical in being able to pull an iPhone out of my pocket and collaborate on cloud documents with people across the globe, in real time.
And with 15GB of free storage shared across Gmail, Drive and Google+ Photos, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t give Drive a try.
In addition to the iOS platform, Google Drive is also available on Android and via the web. For those wondering, the Android edition recently received a major update which added the ability to scan printed documents and turn them into digital files using a smartphone’s camera.
Are you a Drive fan or do you instead prefer Dropbox, SkyDive or another cloud storage platform?