Dropbox is an Internet file sharing service, that allows you to share files across multiple devices. Dropbox is not a social network. Rather, it is a private remote file service. While it is useful as a backup file service, its primary purpose is to act as a hub for sharing files across multiple devices. Although there is a degree of overlap, Dropbox and Evernote serve different purposes.

Just as Evernote was used to share notes between multiple devices, Dropbox shares files. Dropbox is ideal for sharing a large number of files, while Evernote is not. Evernote is great for adding notes about a file, which cannot be done in Dropbox. For example, the photo directory on my netbook contains over 5,000 photographs. I could create Evernote notebooks (photo albums) of some of these photographs, but it would be impractical to store all of them in Evernote. Although these photos are stored on my netbook, I want to access them on my mobile devices.

You could use AirDroid to transfer these files to your mobile devices, but this means you have to be on the same local network as the tablet, and you would have to store the files on your mobile devices. The first problem is how do you get access to a file, when you are not on the same local network. The second problem is the limited storage on mobile devices. This is where Dropbox offers a solution.

First, you create an account at Dropbox. You then install the Dropbox application on your PC. Dropbox has applications for Mac OS, Windows, and Linux. For openSUSE, you can download the application from openSUSE Build Service. The application creates a Dropbox directory, which it uses to automatically synchronize files with its server. Rather than copying all the files that you want to share to the Dropbox directory, you can create a shortcut from the Dropbox directory to the actual directory. For example, I created shortcut from the photo directory under the Dropbox directory to my main photo directory. Once any changes are made in the Dropbox directory, Dropbox immediately starts synchronizing the files with your account on its server. How long it takes to synchronize files depends on the upload bandwidth of the Internet connection. The upload bandwidth is usually slower than the download bandwidth. It is like having a one-lane highway in one direction and a five-lane highway in the other direction.

You then install the Dropbox application on your mobile devices. There are Dropbox mobile applications for Android, iPhone, iPad, and Blackberry. These apps behave differently than the PC applications. Instead of synchronizing files, the mobile apps treat the Dropbox server as a remote file system. Tapping the file name opens a pop-up window of apps that can open the file. The file, itself, is stored in a cache, which can be cleared. Tapping an arrow on the right-side of the file opens the file management pop-up window. The export option provides a menu for storing the file on the SD card, sending it Evernote, including it as an attachment to an email, or sending it to another device via Bluetooth.

Android normally provides apps for playing music, or viewing photos. Dropbox provides an editor for text files. Other file types require additional apps to display the files. I use the qPDF Viewer for PDF files, Kingsoft Office for editing and viewing Microsoft Office files, and the OpenOffice Document Reader for viewing OpenOffice and LibreOffice documents. For other file formats, you will need to search the Google Play Store for the appropriate viewer.

To upload files from a mobile device to Dropbox, you need to touch the Upload tab. You then have an option to upload photos and videos, or other files. The Dropbox settings include an option for automatically uploading photos or videos taken on the mobile device’s camera. There are other apps that interfaced directly to Dropbox. The Kingsoft Office app treats Dropbox as part of the “cloud.” The Financisto app mentioned in the money management article provides Dropbox as an option for storing backups of financial data. The article on protecting your personnel data pointed out the need to encrypt credit card, passwords, and other sensitive information. The Android Pocket app provides this protection, and has an option to save the data in Dropbox as an encrypted file. Should you lose your mobile device, Dropbox helps you restore the information to your replacement device.