Cloud Storage Apps for Android: A Roundup of Options Tested

How the comparison worked

The author compiled a spreadsheet of basic comparisons and ranked each service on cost per year per gigabyte to compare fairly. The notes below are short impressions and not full reviews.

Services tried

Asus Webstorage

It came built into the author’s Transformer tablet. It is basic, with 1 GB of space, and not much was missed by skipping it.

Box

The author just missed a free 50 GB offer for Sony Xperia users, and LG had announced a similar one. The interface was pleasant and smooth, with decent space, but more space has to be bought.

Dropbox

The most popular option. Its desktop software is the key: drag a file into the folder and it appears everywhere, and on Android a file can be shared to it. The author uses it to move files from computer to phone. Free space starts modest and can grow through referral programs.

Google Docs

One of the author’s favourite apps. Files in Docs format take no space, while other files count toward a 1 GB limit, and a list showing which files use space would help. Extra space was the cheapest in the group at $5 a year for 20 GB. Editing on the phone was weak unless a third-party app such as Quickoffice was used.

Minus

Ten gigabytes for free was the draw. Folders work as albums with no subfolders, and the folder takes the name of the first file uploaded, renamable only on the desktop. Files cannot be moved between folders. Support responded quickly. The author liked the drag-and-drop web app, public gallery viewing, in-app previews, a Chrome extension that uploads screenshots, and Aviary photo editing. Auto-upload did not work for the author. The service stays free, but space beyond 10 GB could only be earned through referrals.

Pogoplug

Mostly a media server. It had no way to upload from the phone, so the author removed it quickly.

SkyDrive

It offered 25 GB for non-photo, non-Office documents. There was no native Android app, so the author used a third-party app called SoRaMi.

SpiderOak

It only backed up files from a PC, and the author found the app confusing.

SugarSync

Probably the second most popular, perhaps tied with Dropbox. It starts with more free space than Dropbox, and referrals add half a gigabyte each, double Dropbox’s amount, but only if the invited person installs the software. Setting a folder to auto-sync is easy, which suited the author’s phone screenshots and photos.

ZeroPC

It gives 1 GB and lets other storage accounts be plugged in, but charges for bandwidth to reach any of them. The author steered clear.

Quickoffice

Included because it linked well with storage services.