Google Launches Google Drive Cloud Storage Service

Google today announced its long-awaited Google Drive cloud storage service, providing users with 5GB of free storage integrated with Google Docs and other Google services.

Today, we’re introducing Google Drive—a place where you can create, share, collaborate, and keep all of your stuff. Whether you’re working with a friend on a joint research project, planning a wedding with your fiancé or tracking a budget with roommates, you can do it in Drive. You can upload and access all of your files, including videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs and beyond.

Beyond the free 5GB level, Google offers several levels of paid storage up to 16 TB, all accessible via Google Docs or through clients for PC, Mac, Android and iOS devices -- though the iOS app has yet to be released, Google promises it is "coming soon". One of the biggest features in Drive is the ability to open more than 30 different file types directly in the browser, allowing users without programs like Illustrator and Photoshop to open up files and see what's inside. The service includes extensive sharing and collaboration features, as well.

google drive collage
The launch of Google Drive comes as several other cloud storage services have augmented their services in recent days. Microsoft's SkyDrive, which offers users 7GB of free cloud storage, yesterday updated its offering with an updated iOS app [Direct Link] and a preview client for OS X Lion, which allows users to manage their SkyDrive accounts directly from the Finder. Finally, Dropbox extended its file storage service with the ability to quickly share files stored on Dropbox with anyone, simply by creating a link.

Popular Stories

m1 chip slide

Five Years of Apple Silicon: M1 to M5 Performance Comparison

Monday November 10, 2025 1:08 pm PST by
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Apple silicon chip that replaced Intel chips in Apple's Mac lineup. The first Apple silicon chip, the M1, was unveiled on November 10, 2020. The M1 debuted in the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro. The M1 chip was impressive when it launched, featuring the "world's fastest CPU core" and industry-leading performance per watt, and it's only ...
Early Black Friday Deals 1

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals on AirPods, Apple Watch, iPad, and More

Saturday November 8, 2025 6:16 am PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

Apple to Hide Selfie Camera Under Display of 20th Anniversary iPhone

Monday November 10, 2025 1:55 am PST by
Apple will conceal the front-facing camera under the screen of its 2027 iPhone, a Chinese leaker said today, corroborating reports that Apple's 20th anniversary iPhone will have no visible cutouts in the display. Weibo-based account Digital Chat Station said Apple's development of under-screen camera technology was progressing as planned for adoption in 2027, one year after it will...
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Adjusts Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday November 6, 2025 11:12 am PST by
Apple today updated its trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website, or at an Apple Store. The charts below provide an overview of Apple's current and previous trade-in values in the U.S., according to its website. Maximum values for most devices either decreased or saw no change, but the iPad Air received a slight bump. ...
Apple fitness plus feature

Future of Apple Fitness+ 'Under Review'

Sunday November 9, 2025 5:30 am PST by
The future of Apple Fitness+ is "under review" amid a reorganization of the service, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple Fitness+ remains one of the company's "weakest digital offerings." The service apparently suffers from high churn and little revenue. Nevertheless, Fitness+ has a small, loyal fanbase that...
iphone air thinness

iPhone Air Sales Are So Bad That Apple's Delaying the Next-Generation Version

Monday November 10, 2025 11:41 am PST by
The thin, light iPhone Air sold so poorly that Apple has decided to delay the launch of the next-generation iPhone Air that was scheduled to come out alongside the iPhone 18 Pro, reports The Information. Apple initially planned to release a new iPhone Air in fall 2026, but now that's not going to happen. Since the iPhone Air launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales...
Liquid Glass General Feature

Apple Shares Liquid Glass Design Gallery

Thursday November 6, 2025 2:45 pm PST by
Apple is promoting the new Liquid Glass design in iOS 26, showing off the ways that third-party developers are embracing the aesthetic in their apps. On its developer website, Apple is featuring a visual gallery that demonstrates how "teams of all sizes" are creating Liquid Glass experiences. The gallery features examples of Liquid Glass in apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. Apple...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday November 3, 2025 5:54 am PST by
Following more than a month of beta testing, Apple released iOS 26.1 on Monday, November 3. The update includes a handful of new features and changes, including the ability to adjust the look of Liquid Glass and more. Below, we outline iOS 26.1's key new features. Liquid Glass Toggle iOS 26.1 lets you choose your preferred look for Liquid Glass. In the Settings app, under Display...
iPhone Satellite Feature

Apple Developing These 5 New Satellite Features for iPhone

Sunday November 9, 2025 6:07 am PST by
Apple is working on a series of new satellite connectivity features for the iPhone, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. In this week's "Power On" newsletter, Gurman revealed that the new features in development include: Apple Maps via satellite: Navigation in Apple Maps without cellular or Wi-Fi connectivity. Photos in Messages via satellite: Support for sending photos in the Messages...
maxresdefault

In-Depth iPhone Battery Experiment Pits Slow Charging Against Fast Charging

Friday November 7, 2025 1:19 pm PST by
HTX Studio this week shared the results from a six-month battery test that compared how fast charging and slow charging can affect battery life over time. Using six iPhone 12 models, the channel set up a system to drain the batteries from five percent and charge them to 100 percent over and over again. Three were fast charged, and three were slow charged. Another set of iPhones underwent...

Top Rated Comments

sconnor99 Avatar
177 months ago
Do you want to give Google even more of your information? If you do this is great
Score: 44 Votes (Like | Disagree)
foodog Avatar
177 months ago
Been a Dropbox user since the beginning... works great across all my products... iDevices, Mac's and Windows
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kjs862 Avatar
177 months ago
I really hope Apple comes out with a file system in the cloud. iCloud is not complete without this feature.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
skoops Avatar
177 months ago
Google also silently discontinued the old "Google Storage" plans. The $5 for 20GB/year plan is gone, it has been replaced by a 25GB option for $2.49 PER MONTH! Thats a ~6-fold increase in pricing
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macrumors12345 Avatar
177 months ago
Meh

No interest in the product itself, but if it compels Dropbox to lower their prices in the future, that can't hurt….
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
edoates Avatar
177 months ago
Dropbox still needs a "read only" share option

I use and like Dropbox: it's robust and works well, but ...

When I share an individual file by publishing it's URL (copy link) to someone, when they open a file, like a video, on Mac, it plays the video. If they don't have QT Pro, they can't download it. I often want to share videos (my own, nothing copyrighted by others), and Dropbox makes that more difficult. I supposed I could just ZIP the video first, as iDisk does, but that's yet another step. They should deal with this issue.

Second, if I share a folder, there are two issues:
1. When someone else attached to it, we BOTH pay for the storage used - Dropbox counts the same bits twice. So, if I share a folder, then one of my sharees decides to move a bunch of c**p into into it because he's not a computer nerd like me, I go above my quota and have to tell him to get that stuff away. There's no way to restrict access (see #2)

Maybe that's OK if we both have read/write/delete access to the files ... but ...

2. Often files just disappear from my shared folders. Why? Because the most common use of these shared files if for people to drag them onto their hard drives for whatever reasons. And on Mac, that's a "move" not a "copy." So the file vanishes from Dropbox.

So I spend time warning my users not to do that, etc. What Dropbox needs is folder access types: full sharing for collaboration, partial sharing (read/write/delete, but not ADD files); and read only sharing (users can copy the files if they want, but can't make any changes)

iDisk was slower, but I could accomplish those goals easily enough.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)