Dropbox's new desktop app is a radical overhaul

Dropbox is just a cloud storage app, like OneDrive and iCloud. But the firm doesn’t want to see itself as such. With the launch of a new desktop app, Dropbox wants to reposition itself as the centre of your workplace. It has the pieces too. It’s bringing integration with modern tools like Slack and Google docs, staples in the modern collaborative workshop. Not a fan of docs, that’s fine too. You’ll have access to Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Office Online, as well as have the ability to create shortcuts to websites which you can quickly navigate to from inside the Dropbox desktop app.

The firm has also upgraded its search experience so a search run through Dropbox searches through all your content. The firm says you’ll see “traditional files, cloud content, shortcuts, and files you’ve chosen not to download through our selective sync feature—all in one place.”

Of course, you can just ignore all these changes and use Dropbox like iCloud and OneDrive on Windows. It is an interesting concept, though it is clearly Dropbox trying to make itself more foreground than background to users.

Dropbox’s new desktop app will be rolling out over the coming weeks, and users can opt-in for early access here.