Google has launched the new Google Drive desktop application, both for Windows and Mac computers. It is a long-awaited launch for those who use the Google cloud to store their files.
It is also a program that will simplify things a lot. Until now, Google offered two different apps for cloud storage, with different names despite being based on the same service, Drive; in reality, Drive for desktop was only for professional users and teams, while Backup and Sync was for home users.
Quite a mess that has finally been solved: Google Drive is now the same for everyone, with a new app that allows us to access our files in the cloud, in addition to synchronizing them with those we have in the system.
According to Google, this new app combines the best of the two it had, and adds some much-desired features. The best, without a doubt, is that we can finally access our photos from Google Photos directly from the app; until now, they were separate and in fact, even if you enter the Drive website you cannot see what you have in Google Photos. That ends and we can finally synchronize and download photos on the computer that we have taken with the mobile, for example.
The new Drive desktop app
We can also sync local folders, such as the desktop or the Documents folder, directly with Google Drive. This will allow us to always have those folders accessible, regardless of the computer we are using.
Interestingly, Google has implemented integration with Microsoft apps, such as Outlook meetings or Office documents, so we can see who is editing in real time.
The new Google Drive for desktop is now available for and for . If you use the Google Backup app, you don’t have to do anything, just wait for it to update; Google promises that it will receive all the features in the coming months, and users will receive a popup encouraging them to upgrade. As of October 1, the old apps will stop working, and will no longer sync with our files, so we’ll have to update before then.