UPDATE October 2011
SugarSync now rules…
SugarSync is now, by a far my favourite for online cloud storage and syncing files. Great new features on iPhone App, and excellent support and updates. They also give you 5Gb free to start with. I’ve also just installed and used their Outlook add-in which makes emailing big files a sinch.
Zumodrive unfortunately has had no updates in a long time; It has crashed on my iPhone several times when accessing files; I’ve encountered blank files in linked shared folders updated by others.
(Old Article updated 28th October ’10)
I’ve tried and tested 4 different apps for online file storage / syncing across computers and accessible by iPhone:
- Dropbox
- SugarSync
- Zumodrive
- Live Mesh [UPDATE - MS has discontinued this service - replacing it with Windows Live Mesh - which requires Windows 7 or Vista]
Each one can be used to sync files between Mac / PC and the Cloud – i.e. are stored on a remote server accessible via a web browser. All work very well, are secure and sync no problem, and all except Mesh have a dedicated free iPhone App. You can share files or folders with anyone else people (privately or publicly) and most main features are similar.
Please note I’m not comparing any priced plans here, criteria is free storage and free iPhone app, so if 2Gb is not enough for you (5Gb with Mesh) then you’ll need to review current priced plans by these guys to see what’s suitable, or count on getting several referrals.
And the Winner is (still)…. Zumodrive
Having tried them all for a while now – all syncing similar folders across my home Mac and work PC, the clear winner as of today’s app features is ZumoDrive – it has a couple of key features that set it apart from the others.
Key features for me:
- Caching files on iPhone for offline viewing
- Syncing any folder
- Don’t have to sync same files on different computers
- Works on Mac and Windows
- Back-up / file revision management (keeps old copies)
Caching files on the iPhone – that is saving them directly on your phone for offline viewing; rather than having to download them every time you want to look at it and using up your data plan, or costing a fortune if international roaming. Saving them on the iPhone also makes accessing the files much faster.
Review
Live Mesh Beta soon to be discontinued in favor of Windows Live Mesh looses as it has no useful iPhone app yet – the website has been saying “coming soon” for mobile for ever – though you can access via your mobile browser and it does give you 5Gb free storage. Any folder anywhere can be specified as a Mesh synced folder and they don’t have to match on each computer.
Dropbox is one of the older apps and therefore popular because it’s been around longer. Disadvantage is you create a single Dropbox directory to sync, so can’t simply sync random directories on your computers. You can do some very fiddly things (for most people) to make it sync other folders – but it’s not easy. iPhone file caching is was done by setting files as favourites [Update: New iPhone app allows file caching, allowing local storage of up to 1Gb (setting a single memory limit for all files) so you have to pick which files you want to keep on your iPhone to view offline. 2Gb free + 250Mb for each referral (now up to 8Gb).
SugarSync has a couple a lot of good features and the best “looking” iPhone app – well the front page at least. You can sync any folders on different computers and also has the “Magic Briefcase” – a dedicated folder like Dropbox. 2Gb Free + 500Mb more for referrals. Doesn’t store files on your iPhone as far as I can tell after the app is closed, so will always download each time you access them – slow and uses up your data.
Zumodrive appears as an extra drive on your Mac or PC, which is a useful representation. You can add files to this drive, or you can set “Linked folders” anywhere on your computer including network folders – these are linked/synced and also appear in the Zumodrive under “linked folders” directory, then a subdirectory for each machine. iPhone App update: All files downloaded to the iPhone are stored locally (cached) for easy access anytime. You can see the full list of downloaded files, how much memory they are taking up and remove any of them from the iPhone. You can download several files in one hit and view the transfer queue. The settings in the iPhone app – the killer app feature for me - you set the amount of iPhone space to use for files/photos/music (each limit set separately), so whenever you download a file it immediately stored into the iPhone memory until you reach this cache limit. I use 500Mb for Files for example… It will download the file again if it has been changed elsewhere, and the file’s icon indicates whether it is stored on your iPhone already. You start with 1Gb – but a few quick simple steps in the Dojo soon gets you up to 2Gb. Zumodrive also give an extra 256Mb for each referral for up to 5Gb extra.
Another great feature of Zumodrive is its back up or Revision Management – you can set it to keep ALL past revisions of files as they change. This enables you to revert to an old version of a file at any time. It is limited to “All revisions” or none, and old revision copies go against your storage limit, which if you have a big file you change regularly, it could soon add up. I’d like to be able to set it to keep X number of revision of files, rather than all or nothing, but it’s a great extra feature to have.
Zumodrive also has virtual folders on the iPhone where it pulls (indexes) all your music or all your photos from any synced folder, presenting them like a play-list, or photo albums. So you can play your music or slideshow your photo folders right in the app.
Though Zumodrive has won today, so please note the date of this entry and its updates. I keep all these apps running in parallel for and monitor updates and improvements to the iPhone apps etc, as these can change quite quickly.
