Dropbox Adds Cloud Syncing For Apps

This is huge:

Dropbox moves beyond files, looks to offer seamless cloud syncing for third party apps | The Verge: “Dropbox wants to provide the cloud backbone for all types of mobile apps and websites. At its first ever developer conference today, the company revealed a new service that takes Dropbox away from just files and folders. With a new API called Datastores, the company is offering developers of mobile apps a platform that can sync real data — like contacts, to-dos, game saves, and more — with the cloud and across devices.”

I love Dropbox and use it religiously. It’s a dead-simple way to keep things in sync even if you only have 2 devices. Whenever I’m looking at a new app, I try and avoid apps that use Apple’s good-in-theory-but-shaky iCloud service and go for those that use old-fashioned Dropbox sync. I guess you could say I’m superstitious but if you’ve ever lost a big document because of iCloud, you understand me.

The great thing about this change is that Dropbox’s app data syncing will be universal. Sure, devs have been hacking together syncing solutions for years using Dropbox, but this opens the service’s API up to more than just text editors and things like 1Password.

A good example is OmniFocus. I love OmniFocus on Mac and iOS and use it as a sort of catch-all for my GTD system. However, I also like the Android platform and have been wanting to experiment with it for some time. One of the main reasons I haven’t given into the urge to give up my beloved 4S for an Android device is the fact that I’d be losing a lot of apps (like OF) that I’ve come to love and rely on.

In 2013, having a decent cloud service to keep things up-to-date and backed up is a must.

That’s why I love Dropbox 🙂

Dropbox – News: “Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere, and share them easily. Any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, your phone or iPad, and the Dropbox website. Dropbox also makes it easy to share with others. And if your computer melts down, you can restore all your files from the Dropbox website with a couple clicks.”

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