The folks at Dropbox have been busy lately, and tonight they're letting loose the results. A clever Android client is out of beta, a BlackBerry interface is on the way, and an API launch opens up an interesting app-storage-mashup future.


That's not to mention the native iPad version that went live last night—though that ties into Dropbox's larger announcement, too. Having launched an API that allows other applications to use Dropbox's storage space, the inconvenience of passing files to and from iPhones, the iPad, Android devices, and other devices starts to disappear.


The first apps to hook into the Dropbox API, "Dropbox Anywhere," are the local area sharing client Air Sharing (which this editor considers a must-install iPhone/iPod touch app), the QuickOffice mini-office suite, Sprite Mobile backup, the Dictamus dictation app, and document viewer GoodReader. Dropbox serves as the easy transfer and storage means for the apps, and ideally makes them available everywhere you want to work on them. On the iPad, in particular, this fills out some of the "actually work on the thing" functionality you've heard about, but probably haven't seen a real test case for.

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On to what's actually out right now—the Android app. It does not, as you might think, instantly sync all your Dropbox files to space on your phone or microSD card. Instead, it's a convenient place to download individual files, view documents in both Dropbox's own basic viewer and your installed apps, and, most helpfully, quickly create and share documents. Press and hold on any file, and you can copy, email, or use Android's Share function to pass around a link for select access.




What's really neat about the Android app is being able to create new photos, videos, and audio recordings directly from the Dropbox app, to be instantly stored away and available on other devices. You can also easily drop photos, videos, text files, and stored audio on your microSD card onto Dropbox. These kinds of features are fairly unique to Android, given its access to stored files, and it makes for a pretty nice feeling of always having access to a backup service.




Dropbox's press release suggests a BlackBerry app will arrive "this summer," though a Dropbox executive suggested the timing was closer to later this month. Update: Dropbox confirms "this summer" as a target release date. In the meantime, it seems like Dropbox is making plans to stick around and create even more clever uses—just with more official support.


Dropbox Anywhere