Cloud storage utility Dropbox updated its iPhone app with automatic uploads of photos and videos from the iPhone’s camera roll. The feature works over Wi-Fi and 3G and uploads your photos to the cloud, where you stand up to 3GB of free storage.
Android users will already be aware of the feature, which was available from Dropbox for your time. Now iPhone users may also use the PhotoStream-like service, with the added bonus that they are able to also share the photos publicly.
To start, you will need the most recent version of Dropbox, 1.5, that’s now available within the App Store. The primary time you open the app after the update you can be prompted to enable automatic uploads. You furthermore mght get to select whether it’s essential to upload your previous pics, or only shots any more.
Note that the photos may not be uploaded within the background from the Camera app, like it is the case with Apple’s PhotoStream. Dropbox will upload the photos to a folder of your choosing if you bring the app within the foreground, which isn’t as seamless as background uploading, but nevertheless a limitation of third-party apps on iOS.
The good part about automatic photo upload with Dropbox is that you just get free extra storage, as much as 3GB, in 500MB increments on your photo and video uploads only. You need to be weary of using this option over 3G though, because it could easily eat up your data allowance, so using Wi-Fi is suggested. In case you have photos for your PC and Mac, Dropbox has an automated upload utility for that too.
With the most recent update, Dropbox added just a few other improvements too, including moving and deleting sets of files without delay, a brand new Gallery view for uploaded media and removed any file size limitations for uploads.
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