iPad File Managers

Recently, I investigated file managers/document viewers for the iPad. This came about because I use numerous cloud based storage services (Dropbox, Google Docs, MobileMe and SugarSync). Although I primarily use Dropbox, it has become quite a headache to keep track of where I have different files stored. Due to different client responsibilities, I manage multiple Dropbox accounts, multiple Google Docs accounts, etc. Needless to say, I was motivated to find if a solution existed to solve my issues. In other words – "Is there an app for that?"

Fundamentally, my goal was to determine if I could manage all of my cloud services directly from the iPad. So the following was particularly important to me:

1. Integration of multiple cloud services and the ability to do two-way syncing between the iPad and the Cloud service.
   
2. A variety of viewing options – can I view most documents and file types within the File Manager app without having to open a separate app?
   
3. Search capabilities – I wanted to search the cloud services within the app (and across cloud services, if possible)
   
4. Ease of use and sharing/transferring among other iPad app capabilities
   

Frankly, I was overwhelmed with the options of what was available. After some research and review reading, I settled on looking at iFiles, ReaddleDocs, and iSMEStorage. Effectively, each of these apps serves as an "umbrella" over all of your cloud accounts, once you have set them up. Although I haven't eliminated the separate Dropbox app from my iPad, I see no reason to have a separate application now that I have a File Manager app.

Which one you prefer, will come down to user preference. Some brief comments (and I do mean brief), based on my order of priority (at this point) for each app is summarized below:

iFiles

For a cheap price ($3.99 on 5/22/11), this app is remarkable. The breadth of cloud services that it covers is comprehensive (including images from FaceBook, Flickr, and Picasa – which is unique in the apps I looked at). Search capabilities are available on the local files (stored on the iPad) only (this was my only disappointment). The app provides unlimited set up and syncing to cloud accounts that you have previously established.

A link to the app store description is located here.

iSMEStorage

This app is a little more expensive ($4.99 on 5/22/11), and comes with a few limitations. I didn't find it as intuitive to manage and learn as iFiles, but that process continues. Additionally, it will only allow you to sync TWO cloud services with the "minimal" version. If you pay a one-time "Lifetime Cloud" fee of $39.90 (Home) or $59.99 (Business), you can set up to a limit of 10 cloud services AND have the capability to manage all your cloud storage through a "Virtual Cloud File System" right from your desktop. That is pretty compelling if managing all your cloud services from your desktop is important to you.

HOWEVER, and this is big, iSMEStorage is the only app that provides searching capabilities across your cloud storage providers. For me, this is a game changer. The flexibility to immediately drill down to a file, across multiple cloud storage services, is almost a priceless feature to me. As more of my information moves to cloud storage, this creates tremendous capability.

A link to the app store description is located here and here for the SMEStorage website.

ReaddleDocs

This app is $4.99 (5/22/11) and is designed to be a document viewer which can access your cloud storage services. As far as look and feel, I think this app wins. But in capabilities, I much prefer the other two apps.

Click here for a review of the app and here for the iTunes app store description.

A summary of the various cloud services supported by each app is summarized below (again, as of 5/22/2011):

Cloud Service	iSMEStorage	iFiles	ReaddleDocs
Amazon S3	●	●
Box.net	●	●	●
CloudMe	●	●	●
DropBox	●	●	●
Email-as-a-Cloud	●		●
Facebook		●
filesanywhere			●
Flickr		●
FTP-as-a-Cloud	●	●	●
Gmail-as-a-Cloud	●		●
Google Storage	●
GoogleDocs	●	●	●
iCloud (CloudMe)			●
iDisk (MobileMe)		●	●
iDisk (Public)			●
Mezeo	●
Microsoft Azure	●
Microsoft Live Mesh	●
Microsoft SkyDrive	●
MyDisk.se			●
Picasa		●
RackSpace Cloud Files	●	●
SafeSync	●
SFTP-as-a-Cloud		●	●
Storegate - Internet HD			●
SugarSync		●	●
WebDav enabled Cloud.	●	●	●