Droidbox – Dropbox on Android

Dropbox have already released a mobile app for iPhone but Android users are still waiting… Dropbox does provide a mobile web interface which allows you to download files to your phone but it doesn’t provide any kind of sync functionality.

Mobile phone users generate content (photos and video) and make changes to their contacts, calendars and todo lists. There’s a real need to ensure that these changes are both backed up and available on the other devices (computers) in our lives. Users of both Android and Dropbox will understand the need for a Dropbox sync client on Android.

For some reason, Dropbox seem to be dragging their feet on producing a client. However an enterprising developer, Berdon Magnus has stepped up to the mark and produced an app called Droidbox.

It appears that Droidbox is only available for Android 1.6 upwards which means that I can’t install it on my HTC Hero to try it out, although I hope to be test it on the emulator. I’m guessing that it works by making HTTP/AJAX requests from the phone to the Dropbox service over the wire simulating a user with a browser – although I haven’t been able to confirm this one way or the other.

Anyway, until Dropbox releases their own Android client, this is probably the best option for accessing your files on Dropbox with Android.

The other interesting fact is that the Droidbox app is available in two flavours; free and paid for at US$1.99 – this means that Dropbox may struggle to convince users to pay a whole lot more for their own brand app if a cheaper alternative is available and it works. Then again, people may prefer to pay for a Dropbox app on the basis that they know who created it and that their login credentials and files are safe from third parties.

Keeping things in sync with Dropbox

If you haven’t heard of Dropbox, then you’ve probably been living under a shell for the past year. Dropbox is a cloud-based service that syncs folders on your computer(s) via its servers in the cloud.

You can use it to:

1. backup your important files
2. see the same view of your files on different computers
3. shares files and folders (privately or publicly)
4. see and edit previous versions of saved documents

Once you start using Dropbox, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it. I know that this is a pretty bold claim but I’ll explain how it works for me.

I use a laptop when working at clients but need the same view of my documents and files when back at the office. Dropbox allows me to do this and keep my files in sync in real-time. As I create and edit a document on my laptop, the same document with the latest changes is (immediately) available on my office computer. When I make changes in the office, those changes are also available on my laptop when I next fire it up.

How this achieved?

On each computer where you install Dropbox, you create a Dropbox folder. This is a normal folder which is just like any other on your computer. What’s magical about it is that the Dropbox client software keeps this folder in sync with the Dropbox service in the cloud whenever you’re connected to the internet… and it does the same for all your other computers linked to the same account.

Unlike a networked or shared volume which is no longer available when you’re not connected to the network or internet, the files and folders in your Dropbox folder still exist when you’re not connected. The next time you connect, they re-sync again automagically! Dropbox also keeps versions of your document changes for the past 30 days. Wonderful if you need to see or restore a previous version.

All you need to do is go Dropbox and sign up for a free account. Then you install the software on each of your computers – they have versions available for Windows, Mac and Linux… oh and iPhone.

When you sign up for Dropbox you get 2Gb of free storage. If you refer friends and colleagues you can get up to another 3Gb free (250Mb for each referral). They also offer a paid for service which gives you lots more storage if you intend backing up your photos, music or video files.

What’s amazing about Dropbox is that it just works. Try it, you’ll never look back.

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Dropbox. There are two alternate services that I know of which may also be of interest to you; Sugarsync and SpiderOak.

Wavesecure… for when your phone is gone!

I’ve been fortunate enough to only have had one mobile phone of mine lost or stolen in the past few years.

But if someone got my phone, they would have access to my calendar, email accounts, photos and whatever documents I have on my SD card.

While searching for something online, I came across an Android app called WaveSecure. It promised to track your phone, lock it on demand or when the SIM card was changed. It also allows you to backup certain things like your photos or contacts to their service.

You can install it from Google Market. At the moment WaveSecure is free (until end of Jan 2010) but I believe that it will be chargeable soon.

The service is pretty clever. After installing the software on your phone, you create an account on their service. All you need to give is your phone number and a pin code (of your own choosing). The WaveSecure service sends you a text message which is intercepted by the WaveSecure app on your phone and confirms that you gave the correct details and enables itself.

WaveSecure appears to embed itself at quite a low level in the software / operating system stack. But I doubt that it would survive a factory reset – although I can’t confirm this one way or other as I haven’t actually tried it.

Now is when the fun begins…

If you log into the WaveSecure service online using the same credentials that you gave when registering, you’ll be able to do a number of things including:

• Back up your phone
• Restoring your contacts, SMS messages and media
• Find out the location of your phone
• Lock your phone
• Wipe your phone

WaveSecure communicates with your phone via SMS. The SMS messages are intercepted by the WaveSecure app (usually before you have a chance to even see them). The SMS messages contain specific commands to make your phone do the actions above.

If you’re unfortunate to lose your phone, the tracking function should be able to help you locate it again. If it gets lost, then you have the option of locking it, or even wiping it clean if you’re not certain that you’re going to get it back.

Presumably if your phone is lost and you replace it, reinstating the data is just a matter of restoring using the Restore option from WaveSecure. As I still have my phone, I can’t yet tell you how well this bit works!

However, the remote lock function works really well. As does the lock function when you change SIM cards. To unlock the phone, you can either enter your pin card on the handset, or send an unlock code from WaveSecure’s site.

While it’s worth noting that this isn’t a comprehensive backup/restore utility. It should protect your data in the event that you end up losing your phone.

All in all, I’d say that this was a pretty essential piece of software to have installed.