Washington: Dropbox has released a new feature that will allow people without an account of their own to share files with Dropbox users.
According to the TechCrunch.com, the new feature is called the 'File Requests,' gives anyone the user ask the ability to upload files into your Dropbox account, into a folder of their choosing. Using a simple interface on Dropbox.com/requests, user can specify what file or files they are looking for and they are then provided a link they can distribute or can select the option to have Dropbox send a request email on their behalf.
Most people continue to share files with one another as email attachments, which can be cumbersome to sort through. This continues to be the case because not everyone uses the same cloud service for file sharing.
Dropbox's File Requests feature is meant to offer an alternative to email-based file sharing, as it puts those in need of the files in more control. The company suggests the feature can be used for a range of sharing scenarios, whether it's collecting bids from contractors, asking for files from clients, or even asking family members to share vacation photos.
ChenLi Wang, Dropbox product head was quoted as saying that they have had it internally built and in testing for quite a while. One of the most interesting examples internally was when they were working on document previews. The previews team used file requests, asked people around the company for documents that were hard to render in order to challenge their rendering pipeline. They were asking for really complex PowerPoint decks.
The feature also works with larger files, like video. Dropbox says that, unlike with email attachments, people can send files as large as 2 GB in size using File Requests.
When asking for files, users can also indicate which folder should host the files as part of the request process. Then they can either copy the link Dropbox, or they can enter in the email addresses and message they want to send.
Other than making it easier for current Dropbox users to ask for files from others, the new option may also serve to introduce Dropbox to others who had yet to try the service.
The feature also lets you ask for files from those who are already on Dropbox, it just simplifies the collection process by centralizing all the upload into a single folder available across their devices.
The company says File Requests is currently available for Dropbox Basic and Pro users, and will arrive for Business customers in the next few weeks.
