It is getting easier by the day to upload date into an online storage account. With SimpleShare from Box.net this procedure reaches the utmost simplicity level as dragging and dropping the data into its interface is all it takes to get them into your upload folder of your Box account.
The application is not exactly a desktop client for the online service, but rather an upload manager, designed to facilitate uploading data to your account to the maximum.
SimpleShare is a 10.2MB download and it does not take great computer skills to put on your system. Installation procedure is actually a click-through process, which can be handled by beginner users as well, with no effort at all.
The freebie obviously addresses Box.net users, but if you want to benefit from its advantages creating an account takes less than a minute. If you opt for the free, personal plan you get 5GB of web storage, easy sharing of data and access to your account from a mobile device. On the downside, you cannot upload files larger than 25MB.
There isn’t much investment in the looks of the application as these are plain and simple, with the application window composed of two tabs: one is for viewing the basic details of your Box.net account and access the online upload folder while the other offers the configuration options.
As far as details about your account are concerned, you will be provided only with the current quota state of the web storage. This is presented in percent but you also have the cold numbers.
All the data you upload in your online account is stored in a specific folder which is created the moment your account becomes active. With SimpleShare you can easily access the contents of this directory, but, more importantly you can upload files there by simply dragging and dropping the items in its interface.
On the downside, there is no obvious hint to betray the fact that an upload job is in progress. Only if you look closely at the system tray icon you will notice it filling up; also, when the task completes a message pops up informing you that the file has been uploaded. But apart from this, which is quite difficult to spot, there isn’t any other indication.
A progress bar in the interface of the program would have been a neat solution, or at least display the progress in percentage upon moving the mouse over the icon.
Uploading items when dropping them in the interface is not the only trick SimpleShare has been conferred. The app also gives you the possibility to take screenshots of specific areas of your desktop or the entire screen and automatically upload them.
A more important screen recording solution, though, is capturing video of your work on the computer. Video recording job is triggered by a keyboard shortcut, Shift+Alt+5, which you can change to something more convenient. Just select the region you want to capture and everything will be caught on “tape”. The “stop” button is present in the lower right corner of the captured region. Once you click it, SimpleShare automatically starts uploading the newly created FLV file.
The configuration screen of the application is nothing complicated and all the options are shown in a clear manner, with no room for confusion. The list of settings includes the possibility to delete data once it is uploaded, disable automatic uploads or enable SimpleShare to start with Windows.
A very useful option is copying the URL of the uploaded when it is online. Since Box.net can be used for sharing data and collaborative tasks, this feature comes in very handy as it allows you to securely send the link to anyone you want.
“Preferences” screen is also the place to change the default shortcuts for taking a snapshot of the desktop, a specific area or defining the section for the screencast.
The same options available in the application window of SimpleShare are also available in the context menu of the app’s tray icon. Here you can even see a list of the data that has already been uploaded and access it online.
The Good Getting data from your desktop to your Box.net account was already an easy job, but SimpleShare made it even easier. You just have to drop it in the interface and the upload process begins in an instant.
At the end of the transfer the link to the file is automatically placed in Windows Clipboard, so you can share it with others. You can take screenshots of your desktop and even video clips and get them online.
The Bad Though the application is simple, it still lacks several features that would make its usage more comfortable. Making the transfer progress more visible and displaying the details of the job would be most welcomed in a future version of the product. A warning in the case of files exceeding the supported limit of a free account before starting the upload would also work well.
The Truth All the problems
SimpleShare seems to have are related to the lack of the proper features. It is the easiest upload managers we’ve seen. Further development should include at least minor adjustments to view the transfer progress.
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