Drive Forward

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A few people have asked me about the news that Google is getting rid of their “Drive” app, so I thought it might be worth a moment to explain what is going on.

Head in the Cloud(s)

Drive is Google’s cloud storage solution and their answer to the likes of DropBox, OneDrive & Box.

Essentially, all these cloud storage solutions are online areas where you can store copies of your files. (You can think about them as USB Flash Drives that exist on the internet.) Some services offer things like automatic syncing from your phone, laptop, Mac or iPad. Most have a “free tier” (typically between 2 – 5GB) and then you can pay for additional storage beyond that.

What’s happening?

Google are changing things, as they often do. In short, the app that people currently use on their PC & Mac to sync their files to and from their Drive is going to be replaced with a set of new apps. The important thing to note is: The online storage isn’t going anywhere, you’ll still be able to access all your files – just with a different app (or through a web browser).

When is this happening?

Support for the “old” app is still in place until 11th December 2017, and it will be formerly shut off on 12th March 2018. The new apps “File Stream” and “Backup and Sync” will be generally available at the end of September and have slightly different features and target audiences.

What’s the difference?

In short, “File Stream”, is aimed at the G Suite users, which are typically the Business users (read: paid subscribers) and adds in features that allow a lot more flexibility than the “old” app does today. One such feature is allowing users to pick and choose which files sync to their local drives to help them save space on their machine.

“Backup and Sync” is aimed at the consumer users (read: free users) and offers features such as syncing other folders on your computer (such as your Desktop) that aren’t in your Google Drive. In essence, it’s going to replace the functionality of the existing app.

Why bring out this change?

Only the teams at Google truly know why the changes have been brought around, but my guess would be a big part of it is making cloud storage more flexible & user-friendly while separating out some of the more advanced features to be included in their paid-for-services (such as the selective sync in File Stream).