Dropbox was born as a cloud storage because Drew Houston, one of its founders, kept forgetting his USB flash drive while he was a student at MIT.
Fast forward, Dropbox started providing more features that what it originally intended, but without derailing from its primary cloud storage offerings.
This time, amid the 'COVID-19' coronavirus pandemic, Dropbox has unveiled even more features designed to help users get more organized at home and at work.
First, is Dropbox in introducing a password manager.
Simply called Dropbox Passwords', the password manager is born from Dropbox's acquisition of Valt in 2019.
By integrating Valt's technology, Dropbox created this password manager where users can store passwords, and also log into websites and apps by storing passwords and syncing them across devices with zero-knowledge encryption.
What this means, a user's' password is protected and only accessible to that user and no one else.
In a blog post, Dropbox said that:
"The Passwords app saves your passwords in one safe place and autofills them so you can instantly sign in to websites and apps."
Dropbox Passwords provides password security by storing all of users' passwords in one secure place, then fills in usernames and passwords so they can instantly sign in to websites and apps from Windows, Mac, iOS and Android devices.
With it, users can also easily create and store unique and strong passwords, as the sign in for new accounts.
Initially, Dropbox Passwords is made available to only selected Dropbox Plus users in private beta.
The second most notable, is Dropbox in launching a private beta for its Vault product.
Vault secures and organizes users' most important documents while also giving them the ability to grant emergency access to select friends or family. The service offers an additional layer of security in the form of a 6-digit PIN on top of Dropbox's existing security features.
"Using a PIN for secure access, Vault provides an extra layer of security for all your important personal files like insurance cards, passports, and housing documents," wrote Dropbox on the blog post.
"Files are organized in the cloud and accessible from any device. Enjoy peace of mind knowing that you can designate trusted friends or family members who can access your files in an emergency."
Others on its list of update, include:
- Users being able to automatically backup folders on their PC or Mac, directly into a Dropbox folder. Files and folders are continuously synced between the cloud and users' hard drive and accessible from anywhere. Computer backup has been made available in beta on Dropbox Basic, Plus, and Professional plans.
- Dropbox Family, where users can allow six members of their family to share a 2TB storage, but with each member having his/her own individual account views. All of that is made under one plan and under one bill. The feature is introduced initially as a beta.
- Dropbox in enabling paperless signing. With what its HelloSign company, Dropbox users can easily send, securely sign, and safely store their important agreements in one seamless workflow without having to leave Dropbox. The company is planning to introduce this functionality as a beta, before launching it all users in July.
- Users having the ability to customize their Dropbox experience with App Center, which integrates Dropbox with third-party tools. The Dropbox App Center is one centralized place to find those tools from partners including Zoom, Slack, and Google. Initially, the feature is launched in beta.