The first ever DBX developer conference is currently underway in San Francisco, and it has already seen the launch of a new Dropbox Platform which has been aimed by its developers at making it easier for apps to sync data, apart from files and folders, across devices and operating systems. Described as the ‘best foundation to connect the world’s apps, devices, and services,’ this Dropbox addition is an extension to the company’s Sync API which had come out in February this year.
One of the main features that form part of the new addition is the Datastore API. This component allows users to sync data like contacts, to-do items as well as game progress across different devices. This means ticking off a particular task on to-do lists from one gadget will immediately result in the same thing happening on other connected devices. Moreover, games will be able to keep progress synced across two gadgets, letting users pick up from where they left off, notwithstanding what the device is.
Developers will be able to make use of new ‘Drop-in’ tool for cross-platform compatibility. ‘Chooser’ and ‘Saver’ are two such drop-ins from the new Dropbox Platform which were indeed available before on the web version, but will now be added to the iOS and Android apps. Another new development is regarding a feature which has been added to Mailbox, the email app which is owned by the cloud storage giant. An update to it allows it to send attachments directly from within the app.
The new development platform from the company has been thrown open to developers, and it remains to be seen now, how they build their tools around it.