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Dropbox to let Google reach inside it and rummage about

Create and store GDocs in Dropbox, with admin policies preserved

Dropbox and Google have announced they will integrate some of their services.

As explained by Dropbox, the plan means its users "will be able to create, open, edit, save, and share Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides directly from Dropbox. And when you're working in Dropbox, you'll be able to save Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides to your Dropbox account."

The partnership will then extend to Gmail and Hangouts Chat, so that Dropbox users can " select files from your Dropbox account and send links directly from Gmail."

"In addition, the Gmail add-on will allow you to display creation, modification, and last-accessed dates for linked files, while the Hangouts integration will add previews for linked files directly to your chats."

Google likes this plan because it will mean mutual customers get the best of both companies' services. Dropbox is all in favour because it needs to avoid becoming a silo that irritates users and admins alike. Hence its promise that "Dropbox Business admins will be able to manage Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides just like any other content that lives in Dropbox."

Neither company has explained exactly how this will work, which would be nice to know given Dropbox and Google users will likely have discrete accounts with each service and authentication hygiene will be important. Nor has Dropbox said when this will happen, other than to say the integrations "will begin launching later this year." ®

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