16 BEST cloud apps you should be using right now
Why install software when you can do it all in the cloud? We show you the best cloud apps you need to start using right now
Apple, Google and Amazon have all jumped on this particular bandwagon, but we believe that Amazon may just have the edge on account of the fact that it’s already digitised the vast majority of your CD purchases, past and present, so they’re ready to be streamed right away.
It works through a browser or dedicated apps, and you can also download tracks to play locally or copy to a media app on your smartphone or tablet. Free accounts give you access to MP3s for every eligible track you’ve bought from Amazon either digitally or on CD since 1999, plus space to import a further 250. If you need more than this, sign up for an annually-renewable premium account, which lets you store up to 250,000 tracks online at a time.
CrashPlan
If ever there was a time when you could get away with saying ‘no-brainer’ it would relate to online backup. Keeping your PC connected to an external drive for backups is fine until you have a fire or flood, at which point you’re likely to lose both your original files and your keepsafe copies. Switching to an online model means your digital assets are stored on servers that are themselves backed up, thousands of miles away.
CrashPlan has free backup clients for Windows and OS X, which work even if you don’t want to pay a subscription by allowing you to back up to another machine on your network. Online storage starts at $3.96 (£2.45) a month for unlimited space with passive continuous backups, which means if disaster strikes you should only lose the most recent few minutes’-worth of work. Data is stored using 448-bit encryption once it reaches the server, and sent using 128-bit AES.
When it comes to restoring your files you can either download them through a browser or navigate server-based directories through the CrashPlan client. If you like to do things the old fashioned way or you simply have too much data to retrieve you can optionally have it couriered to your door on a hard drive, for $164.99 (£102.21).
Backup is boring, and if it’s not done right it’s both tedious and a potential waste of time. Fortunately, shifting it all into the cloud involves a one-time setup and, unless disaster strikes, is a true set-and-forget operation.
WeVideo
This online movie maker has 20 built in themes to get you started, and a choice of three different interfaces that you can switch between as your confidence grows. Your videos are stored online so you can easily collaborate with other users, and it has companion apps for iPhone, iPad and Android devices that let you quickly capture footage and upload it to your account so it’s ready and waiting when you next log on.
