Box 3.0 for Android With Revamped UI and More Now Available for Download

Box, a popular Cloud storage service, has updated its Android app with new user interface design and image gallery improvements, apart from an improved storage option for select LG handsets.

"Available for download today, Box for Android v3.0 sports an overhauled interface that puts your content front and center. Built for speed and simplicity, we believe the new Box for Android provides the best mobile productivity experience on any Android device," stated Simon Tan on the Box official blog post.

The updated Box app for Android (version 3.0) can be downloaded from Google Play. The Box 3.0 for Android includes a redesigned UI for the users. The new design for Box now comes with a new overhauled swipe-style menu along with a tour and information header for each folder.

The update also improves the gallery viewing section by introducing a new "lightning-fast" document previewer, which has a support for more than 100 file types. This new feature on Box 3.0 for Android would eliminate the users to wait for the whole document to load and then open. Some additional features added in the document previewer are page thumbnails, grid views, and full text search inside files. The updated app also includes support for two new languages - Polish and Turkish.

If users have OneCloud apps installed, they can now sign contracts, go through reports and can e-fax spread sheets from the Box 3.0 for Android app. A native OneCloud app gallery has been also added and can "easily see which apps are compatible with that file type." Some of the recommended OneCloud apps that are said to work best with Box are Hall and Documents to Go. Both these apps let users easily edit and share files from their Box accounts.

Box has also joined hands with LG, a popular smartphone manufacturer, and will come pre-loaded with the LG's range of G-series handsets. Additionally it has been announced that existing and new LG G-series customers would be receiving extra 50GB of free storage for one year once logged in to their Box accounts from the LG G device. Currently, the 50GB free storage option is limited to the US, South Korea, and Western Europe regions.

"Mobility and the cloud are revolutionizing the way businesses and individuals connect, collaborate and stay productive," said Ramchan Woo, Director of Product Planning at LG Mobile of LG. "We're incredibly excited to partner with Box and offer our customers a simple, yet powerful solution for sharing and accessing content from LG smartphones and tablets wherever work may take them."

Box has furthermore extended its MobileIron AppContent support for Android users. It is noted that the IT heads can install the Box app on their employee's smartphones with certain policy controls along with passcodes and file sharing restrictions.

Box's rival, Google Drive was recently updated to prompt users to install the standalone apps for Docs and Sheets when users try to edit the relevant documents. Other features that the new Google Drive app for Android update (v1.3) brings include re-arranged slide-out navigation panel with settings link; automatically uses Docs and Sheets apps in Drive (once standalone apps installed), and new file button and refresh button in overflow menu.

In addition, the Mountain View giant has updated its Google Drive for iOS with an optional passcode lock. It's worth noting that the new passcode feature is yet to be released for Google Drive app for Android.