Google Drive vs iCloud

2022. Google is adding new Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Keep optimizations for tablets



Google introduced Android 12L earlier this year to make tablets easier to use, and at I/O, the company announced plans to update more than 20 Google apps on tablets to optimize them for larger screens. Today, Google said it’s adding several new features for Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Keep to get started on this promise. The most notable feature announced today is the ability to drag text or images between two Workspace apps when you have them open side-by-side. Google notes that you can now drag text or images from apps, such as Chrome or Sheets, and drop that content right into an existing document or spreadsheet cell. In Google Drive, you’ll be able to quickly upload files by dragging and dropping them into the app. You can also add links to Drive files by dragging the file into an open app like Keep.


2018. Google Drive added comments to Microsoft Office files



Google Drive makes it easier for teams and agencies to use a mix of G Suite and Microsoft Office while working with their colleagues and customers. From now Google Drive users can easily comment on Office files, PDFs and images in the Drive preview pane without having to use (and potentially pay for) tools like Microsoft Office or Acrobat Reader — or having to convert them to Google Docs, Sheets or Slides files. That’s not quite the real-time commenting feature you get from G Suite or Office 365, but it’s still better than having to constantly convert documents back and forth between Office and G Suite.


2017. Google launches Drive File Stream to replace the Google Drive desktop app for G Suite users



Google launched a new desktop application for Google Drive users, called Drive File Stream, which is now available to G Suite customers. The app will serve as a replacement for the Google Drive desktop app that will be shut down next year. A key difference between the consumer application and the enterprise version is the option for administrative control. Company I.T. departments starting today will see the settings for Drive File Stream appear in the Admin Console for their version of G Suite, says Google. This will allow them to configure and distribute the solution for their domain, including turning sync on, specifying how the software is installed, disabling Google Update if the company prefers manual updates, and managing other settings.


2017. Google Drive gets a new Backup & Sync desktop app



Google launched its new Backup and Sync app for both Mac and PC, which aims to help users more easily back up the files and photos on their computer. The utility is meant to replace the older Google Photos desktop app, as well as the Google Drive client applications. The new tool offers a simple user interface, where you’ll first sign into your Google account, then select the folders you want Google to continually back up to Google Drive. In addition to backing up files on your desktop computer, the new software also can be used to back up photos from USB-connected devices, like cameras, as well as SD cards. For business users Google is planning to release a new enterprise-focused solution called Drive File Stream, which will roll out to all G Suite users later this year.


2017. Google updated Drive with a focus on its business users



Google introduced several updates to its online file storage service Google Drive, which all aim to make it more useful for the company’s business and enterprise users. To better support the enterprise, though, Google is mostly focusing on making Drive a better service for teams. That means Team Drives, Google’s solution for enterprise file sharing that launched in preview last year, is now generally available, for example. During the preview, which lasted about six months, the team identified a number of issues, especially around permissions, that it needed to fix ahead of a general launch, and it’s now ready to open the project up to all businesses. Also generally available now is Google Vault for Drive, which offers tools to support the archiving and data retention needs of large enterprises, especially in regulated industries.


2016. Google Drive gets intelligent search



Google Drive is getting a new search that understands natural language and can autocorrect your search query by suggesting corrections to misspelled search terms. For example, you can search your documents by saying things like “find my budget spreadsheet from last December” or “show me presentations from Anissa”. The feature will improve over time, too, so the results will become more accurate with more frequent use. The new feature probably means that soon Google also will add voice interface to Google Drive.


2014. Google Drive adds OpenDocument support, sending files as attachments



Google is rolling out a series of updates for its cloud-based storage service Google Drive. Gmail users will now be able to share Drive documents as attachments that are sent as part of email files. That’s useful in case the person receiving the document doesn’t have permission to view the file in Google Drive or if you delete the file from Drive at a later time. Google also added support for importing all three major ODF (Open) file formats: .odt files for documents, .ods for spreadsheets, and .odp for presentations. That change will make it easier for users to work with files from other open source productivity suites such as LibreOffice. On Android, Drive users will also be able to search for files using voice commands within the Google search app. A user could say, “OK, Google — search for holiday letter on Drive,” for instance.


2014. Google Drive for desktop now allows to launch files in preferred applications



File storage service Google Drive now allows users to more easily launch the files they have saved in the cloud using their preferred desktop applications. The feature is available as an optional Chrome extension. Once installed, users will be able to right-click on applications stored in Google Drive and open them using a compatible application on their computer. Users must also have the latest version of the Drive app for Mac or PC installed and their files synced to the computer in order for the extension to work. Google says the new extension is rolling out over the next several days.


2014. Google launched Drive for Work with unlimited storage


On Monday Microsoft tried to surprise the public having doubled the free and paid cloud storage limits in OneDrive. But Google made it more effective. Google released the enterprise version of its file storage and sync tool Google Drive for Work, which for $10/month provides UNLIMITED cloud storage. And to make a little more fun of the competitors, Google increased the maximum file size to 5 TERABITES (of course, if you find such a file somewhere). In addition, the business version of Drive meets the enterprise security requirements and provides every file encryption, logging every file access, 99.9% availability. Also it added  Office Compatibility mode which allows you to edit MS Office documents in their native format. Google Drive for Work is included in the Google Apps suite, so if you pay for it - you get the other apps (GMail, Hangouts, Sites ...) for free.


2014. Apple iCloud to get folders with files, Windows app



Cloud file storage and sync service iCloud is not loved even by Apple fanboys. Because first, it can only sync the internal app files so that user can't access them outside these apps. Second, it's expensive ($20 for 20GB) - this price that only Dropbox can afford. Third, it only works on Apple devices (and yes, even Apple fanboys are tied of this closed garden). So Apple has introduced the service update, which is now called iCloud Drive, which works more like Dropbox - it allows you to sync any folders with any files. Moreover, additionally to Mac and iOS apps it will provide client for Windows. And the pricing will be reduced - from $0.99/month for 20 GB. The free volume won't charge - 5 GB. All this will become available this fall with the release of new iOS 8 and OSX Yosemite.