Cloud services are very popular these days and since they were created they have offered the advantage of making the files stored within them, accessible from various devices and across several platforms. Also, it made sharing large files easier without the size limitations of e-mails. Microsoft launched their solution 8 years ago and it was finally renamed as OneDrive last year. It is a good solution as the free plan offers 15 GB of storage and users can get another 15 GB if they activate the camera roll backup. The company has been updating this service and it has even integrated their Office productivity suite as free online apps. This made it possible to create documents in collaboration with other users and edit them in real-time.
Now, Microsoft is updating some important aspects regarding this shared documents. First of all, they have added an “Add to my OneDrive” button to their web platform, so that shared folders from the desktop platforms could be accessed and edited with the mobile app. Newer versions of Office also have OneDrive integration so multiple people could work on a document at the same time even if multiple copies of the document are created every time it gets edited. The update will bring new ways of knowing when a user makes changes to the document, on mobile devices, users will get notified in real time when someone starts editing it as well as the name of the user. Also, they will get emails with a daily summary in case a group project is edited constantly so they can now about the most recent changes. Those changes will still be saved, so users can go back if they don’t like the most recent changes.
The company has also been optimizing the search capabilities in OneDrive, so users can search for text within Office documents or even PDFs. Now, those capabilities will be available in shared documents, so it will be easier to find them in folders that other users created without having to remember their exact location. The update is being rolled out now, but it might take a few weeks before every user gets these new features.
