Visual Tour: Microsoft SkyDrive For Android

Microsoft's long-awaited SkyDrive for Android lets users of Android devices tap into Microsoft's cloud storage service. This 1.0 release, despite a few minor weaknesses, provides a fairly good cloud storage alternative to services like Dropbox, especially if you use Microsoft Office every day.

Microsoft took SkyDrive from an also-ran cloud storage service to a must-consider contender in the past year. Now Microsoft has filled the last big hole in its cloud strategy by introducing an Android version of the SkyDrive app. The SkyDrive for Android app gives Android phone and tablet users access to SkyDrive's 7GB of free cloud storage--25GB if you had an account prior to April 2012.

Microsoft now offers SkyDrive for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Windows Phone, iOS, and Android--in short, all the platforms most people use on both desktop and mobile devices.

One of SkyDrive's best features is its integration with Office Web Apps. Web Apps lets you create and edit Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote documents using just a Web browser. Now, you can create a Word document, for example, on any desktop or iPad using just a browser, and then download the document to your Android device.

SkyDrive for Android directly uploads only photos and videos--no other file types. That's annoying, especially considering the Android operating system, unlike iOS and Windows Phone, provides direct access to all of its storage areas. This fault aside, SkyDrive for Android is a very welcome addition to my collection of Android and cloud apps.

Name: SkyDrive for Android
Price: Free

The SkyDrive for Android app fills the last big hole in Microsoft's cloud storage offering. The 1.0 release, despite a few minor weaknesses, provides a good cloud storage alternative, especially if you use Microsoft Office every day.

Pro:

• 7GB of free storage (25GB free for users who signed up for SkyDrive before April 2012).
• Versions also available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Windows Phone, and iOS.
• Easy access to Microsoft Office Web Apps documents.
• Recent Documents list conveniently shows SkyDrive documents accessed on multiple devices and platforms.
• Easily upload photos and videos from SkyDrive app.

Con:

• No direct uploading of files other than photos and videos.
• I couldn't get a Documents To Go File to upload to SkyDrive using To Go's integrated file-sending function. Dropbox handled the same file without a problem.