Newsletter 
Cloud computing company Box has announced a series of new updates to its Box Notes productivity tool, introducing a redesigned web application and announcing a stand-alone desktop app for both PC and Mac. The company also confirmed that offline access will be coming soon, and according to recent reports, Box is also working on bringing Box Notes to smartphones.
According to Box CEO, Aaron Levie, the new Box Notes will give users the ability to access all their notes in one place, as well as share data and collaborate with anybody in real time. The redesigned web interface accommodates a sidebar for quickly creating, editing, or marking notes as favorites, and the stand-alone desktop counterpart will provide the same functionality without forcing users to rely on a web browser. According to a report from ZDNet citing Box product manager Jonathan Berger, this change was implemented based on user feedback after numerous Box Notes users have pointed out that the web application is not very accessible as a personal note-taking application. This is how the desktop application came to be, but regardless, it should be convenient for both enterprise and personal uses. The CEO also added that creating security and compliance features into the desktop Box Notes application was challenging, as the system requires the ability to keep logs on who is accessing and editing documents. However, they have made it happen on both PC and Mac, with offline access apparently being in the works for a release “soon”.
According to the developer, the Box platform is currently used by roughly 40% of companies featured in the Fortune 500 rankings and accommodates around a total of 70,000 companies who rely on the service for file sharing and storage. Aaron Levie adds that hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, banks, and government agencies count among the types of organizations that rely on Box Notes for creating lists and tables, but of course, the platform is also available to consumers for personal uses free of charge. As the company moves forward into 2017, the CEO also underlined that one of the main priorities for the platform remains security. You can check the official YouTube video below for a preview of the new changes and features in Box Notes.