Google has begun rolling out a slew of small but welcome improvements to its Google Drive app for Android and iOS, potentially making work life and collaboration easier for the millions of people who use Drive every day.
In a blog post, Google Drive Group Product Manager Alex Vogenthaler details three new features, some of which are already available for the Android and iOS apps and others still to roll out "in the coming week or so."
The most remarkable of these features is the addition of sharing notifications for both Android and iOS apps. Whenever users share a file or folder with other people, the recipient will get a notification on mobile informing them of the new file or folder. Tapping on the notification will also lead them to the newly shared content, which makes it more convenient for users instead of digging through their email for the link to the shared file or folder.
"Checking your email may not be the fastest way to find out when something's been shared with you," says Vogenthaler. "So starting today, you'll receive mobile notifications to alert you immediately when files or folders are shared with you and a single tap can take you right to them."
Users on Android will also be able to request access to a file or folder with a single tap. There's no information on when this feature will be available for iOS users, but both Android and iOS versions of the app will push notifications to file and folder owners whenever someone requests access to them. This will make it easier for users to share with other users more quickly straight from the Drive app instead of logging in to Drive on the web.
Finally, Google has added the ability for users to preview a shared file without needing to open a Google account. For most Android users, this isn't actually much of a big deal, since Google requires users to link their accounts with their Android phones when setting up their devices right after purchase. However, for the handful of users who do not want to get trapped in Google's buggy Android ecosystem, and if Drive rolls this out for iOS users in the future, file previews could become pretty useful.
The updated Google Drive for Android and iOS are now available from the Play Store and App Store.
