New Delhi: Google has announced a drive for the desktop app which will replace the Sync and Backup for individuals.
According to Google’s introduction, users of the older Backup and Sync app will start getting in-app prompts to transition to Drive for desktop, which it recommends users complete by September of this year.
Backup and Sync users will support a guided workflow for transitioning from the old app to the new on July 19, and Google Workspace domains (both Rapid and Scheduled release tracks) will see in-app notifications prompting transition beginning on August 18. The deprecated Backup and Sync app will cease functioning entirely on October 1.
Features
- Frankly, there doesn’t appear to be much new in the upgraded app—the update looks like more of a clean-up and unification effort than anything else. Major features include:
- Uploading and syncing photos to Google cloud storage—including automatic compression and resizing, for those choosing “Storage saver” rather than original image quality
- Syncing external storage devices (thumb drives, USB hard drives, and SSDs) to Google Drive
- (Optional) two-way file and folder synchronization—automatically download files to local folders and vice versa
- Locally mounted Drive folders in either Stream or Mirror mode—automatically downloading files on-demand or automatically prefetching all files from the cloud
- In-app support for shared Google drives (new feature, was not present in Backup and Sync)
- Integration with Microsoft Outlook and Google Meet scheduling.
