Box spruces up iOS apps with photo and search functions

Cloud storage company Box updated its iPhone and iPad apps today, realizing that the world outside the office is no longer an oyster, but a giant second office.

Box has seen people using mobile devices to access the company’s file storage grow 30 times in the last year, and they blame that increase on the mobile workforce. Our whole culture around communication has changed. Once upon a time, we called house and work landlines and happily left voice messages if the person was unavailable. Now we’re smash-guitars-against-the-wall-mad when someone doesn’t pick up their cell phone. Don’t even get me started if you’ve tried them twice with no success. It’s a game of convenience, which businesspeople of all kinds are taking advantage of, be it while traveling or simply to check that presentation before they’ve tossed back the comforter.

“More businesses are helping their employees work effectively from the road and across the globe, especially considering nearly 60% of all corporate employees access content outside the office with their mobile phones or tablets,” the company said in a statement.

Over a million people have already downloaded Box’s apps, so the company is adding new tricks to the bag. Users are going to be able to upload photos and videos to Box and create folders for them on the go. Sure, you could use this to snap some cool photos of the conference floor at Le Web, or share a pretty sunset from your remote meeting, but there are very functional purposes to this feature. Box uses the example of a construction site that needs to send pictures of its progress back to headquarters. It could also come in handy for the small business looking for its second office and wanting to share pictures of the search.

Being able to create folders on the go keeps your photos organized and not floating around your Box storage without purpose. Also included in the app updates is a search function, so you can find the folders or individual files you just organized.

Lastly, you will be able to favorite folders on the go. To favorite a folder or file is to save its contents directly to your phone, so you can access it without internet connectivity. This comes in handy for businesspeople who want to review an announcement on the go, or prepare for a talk when they know they’re going to be stuck in some long tunnels.

The iPhone and iPad apps can be found here. They’re free, though you will need a Box account to use them.