Google Drive for Android Update Brings Several UI Tweaks and Bug Fixes

Google on Wednesday updated its Google Drive app for Android users to version 1.3.222.29, bringing numerous bug fixes, performance improvements, and UI tweaks.

Although the updated app page notes 'bug fixes and performance improvements' only, there are some changes that have been rolled out secretly in the Google Drive app. It has added a new floating shortcut bar at the bottom of the screen with Upload, Create and Scan options. Notably it's the only change that has been rolled out in India at present.

Other than that, the cloud storage app gets Google-coloured refresh animation (it was plain blue before), notes Android Police, which also has the signed apk handy. Google Drive's multi-user switcher now expands in-line instead of opening a drop-down menu, and the Settings menu now includes Program Policies below 'Open source licenses'. Although all these changes are not yet rolled out to India, users can download the Google-signed apk to update early.

Last month, Google had announced standalone offline document editing apps - Docs, Sheets, and Slides - for both Android and iOS platforms.

As the company had mentioned at the announcement of the Docs, Sheets, and Slides apps, the Google Drive app has done away with the ability to edit documents and sheets within the app itself.

Earlier in March, Google had slashed the prices of paid plans of its Drive cloud storage service. Users will have to just pay $1.99 (Rs. 120 approximately) per month for 100GB storage (previously $4.99 per month), $9.99 (Rs. 600 approximately) per month for 1TB storage (previously $49.99), and $99.99 (Rs. 6,000 approximately) for 10TB storage.

Notably, the new Google Drive storage prices are way below what OneDrive and Dropbox charge. Microsoft's recently rebranded OneDrive costs $25 (Rs. 1,500 approximately) per year for only 50GB storage, while 100GB OneDrive storage space costs about $50 (Rs. 3,000 approximately) per year. Dropbox charges $9.99 (Rs. 600 approximately) a month - or $99 (Rs. 6,000 approximately) a year if paid annually - for 100GB of storage.