Ahead of Google Drive launch, Dropbox makes sharing incredibly easy with links

Just ahead of Google’s upcoming Drive launch, cloud storage powerhouse Dropbox has released a powerful new tool that lets you share files and folders using links, the company announced today.

The cloud storage landscape is about to take a sharp turn with Google about to enter the space, so it makes sense for Dropbox to up its feature set before Drive’s launch. Dropbox recently redesigned its website and main interface. But with the new sharing feature, it’s now drastically simpler to share files and folders. Instead of having to share an entire folder with someone from them to access your content, you can simply share a link so friends and family can see your content with less hassle.

“Anyone with the link gets access to a snazzy page where they can view (but not edit) your stuff,” Jon Ying, Dropbox designer and community manager, wrote on the company blog. “Our gallery pages give your photos, videos, and even docs the gorgeous, full-browser view they deserve. This means that people who follow your link can see pictures, look at presentations, and watch home videos without having to download and open them separately. But just in case a friend wants to save that picture or PDF for later, they can choose to either download it or save it straight to their Dropbox.”

Some of the most obvious use cases for the new feature will be the ability to share photos with family and friends or share your small business’ non-sensitive files with clients.

San Francisco-based Dropbox has raised around $257 million in funding to date, with the majority of that coming from its massive $250 million round last October. Investors include Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, Benchmark Capital, Goldman Sachs, Greylock Partners, Institutional Venture Partners, RIT Capital Partners, Valiant Capital Partners, and Hadi and Ali Partovi. It also counts Bono and The Edge from U2 as investors.