Browse & Manage iCloud Files From Your Mac With Plain Cloud

In Mountain Lion, Apple introduced deeper integration of iCloud throughout the OS, giving apps like Preview and TextEdit the ability to save files directly to iCloud. Saving files to iCloud and opening them via an app is easy enough, but there isn’t any official way as of yet to browse your files on iCloud itself. Plain Cloud is a free Mac app that lets you do just that, with the files neatly grouped based on the app they were created in. The files can be accessed on your hard drive if you know where to look or how to find the iCloud folder. While finding the iCloud folder on your Mac isn't hard, navigating to it can be a pain, and that's what Plain Cloud does for you. It basically provides you with shortcuts for opening the respective folder locations for these files. Read More

Dropbox Integrates With Facebook Groups; Lets You Share Cloud Files

Facebook may have had an impressive IPO and perhaps its vale in the market had decreased since then, but that doesn’t mean the Palo Alto giant is going to hang up its gloves. For many users out there, Facebook is still how they connect with friends, and other tech companies still seem to think it's still got potential. A leading such venture, Dropbox, is positive Facebook is still at the top of its game, and has recently announced integration with the social network which will allow users to upload files to groups from their Dropbox folder. The feature is being rolled out slowly and should be available worldwide soon. Read More

Factura: Organize Files On Mac By Copying/Moving Them To Subfolders

Of the many things people procrastinate about and like to put off until there’s no choice left but to do it, organizing files is probably somewhere in the top ten. For the most part, files are moved to a folder that isn’t in the way and gives you a hint of what kind of files might be in it. Over time, it is filled with just about every kind of file there is, until you can barely tell what the folder was first created for. If you think finding files in a folder like this is difficult, try organizing that data and you will realize just how big a mess you’ve created. Factura is a free Mac app available in the Mac App Store that helps streamline organizing files. It is slightly redundant, but makes moving/copying files from one location to another and renaming them somewhat easier. The app provides a quick view option as well, so that you don’t have to open them separately in Preview. Read More

Favorites: Rate Files By Importance To Better Organize Them [Mac]

For organizing bookmarks and web material, bookmarks are the right thing, and it’s only too bad that there isn’t something similar in Mac for your files. While files are theoretically organized into folders, there is often the problem of distinguishing identical files that are, in fact, different versions. It isn’t just the file names that make it hard to find them again; often you forget what a file is called, or don’t have the time to add it to the right folder. Favorites is a Mac app worth $4.99 in the Mac App Store that lets you rate files by their importance. It acts as an organizer for these rated files, and lets you create folders for the type of files you need to mark. Files can be filtered by their rating or searched for. The app also lets you quickly preview a file, or open it. Read More

ShowOrHide: View Hidden Files Without Using Terminal Command [Mac]

We’ve covered quite a few tips in the past that required access to hidden files on your Mac. Additionally, hidden files aren’t just used for tweaking; every app you install creates a folder on your hard drive, which is saved in the Library folder, hidden by default. While you should just hope that no app requires you to ever go digging after these files, viewing hidden files on Mac isn’t a big deal, and can easily be done via a Terminal command. However, for those that don’t want to go there, there is ShowOrHide - a free Mac app that does nothing more that toggling the visibility of your hidden files. Read More

Auto Delete Archives/Files After Extraction Or Compression In Mac [Tip]

Desktops can be (and are) among the most cluttered places on your Mac, so much so that apps like Clean My Desktop exist to help you manage it. The thing is, your desktop isn’t the only biggest repository of junk on your Mac; the Downloads folder is often brimming with files that you’ve downloaded, used once and never needed again. Of these files, zipped files and extracted folders are one type. Even if you move the extracted files to another location, the archive remains taking up disk space in the original location. If you use the default archiving and extraction utility i.e. the Unarchiver, you can set it to automatically delete the archive folder once it’s extracted the files. Similarly, you can set the utility to delete files once they’ve been compressed. This tip shows you how. Read More

Famulus: Launch Applications, Files/Folders & Websites via Custom Hotkeys

Application launchers provide a lucid and simple solution to access your frequently used and favorite programs. They keep you away from cluttering up your desktop with shortcut icons, which steals the beauty of your background wallpaper. More so, you don't have to hunt for your files and applications by going through the hassle of access them from original directory or start menu shortcuts. Previously, we have covered some very good application launchers, such as CianoDock and Zum for Windows, Chuck and Namely for Mac and  Gnome Pie for Ubuntu. They all work awesomely and provide you with either a beautiful interface, or increased capability. However, their functionality is limited to accessing only applications. If you're looking for a similar application that offers more than that, then Famulus is a worthy shot. It is a portable application launcher that also allows you to launch files and websites using hotkeys. The application allows you to specify custom alpha-numeric commands which run as shortcuts to access files, folders, applications and websites. More on Famulus after the jump. Read More

[Giveaway] Droppy: Easily Move Files Between Desktop Spaces & Apps On Mac [Paid]

Desktop spaces in Mac make it easy to manage multiple apps and windows. Compared to Expose in Snow Leopard, Desktop Spaces, coupled with Mission Control, let you easily distribute and organize your work without overthinking it. While this feature is mostly convenient, it does get difficult to switch files from one space to another, or between two apps that you have open in different spaces. Droppy is a Mac app worth $0.99 in the Mac App store that gives you a simplified way of transferring files between two apps on different desktop spaces. The app adds a wormhole area to the screen, visible across all spaces, where you can dock a file. You can then swipe between desktop spaces and drag the file onto the app you want to add it to. Read More

App Zap: Remove Apps & All Files Associated With Them On Mac [Paid]

Some apps play nice, others not so much. At some point, we download a seemingly innocent app that will do what it says and be easily banished when we’re tired of it or have no use for it. However, it later turns out that app is there to stay, whether we like it or not. Evil apps? Not necessarily. Some apps have more files than others, and depending on what they do, they copy those files to different locations. While you can delete these apps, finding and tracking down the rest of the files isn’t easy. If you haven’t enabled viewing hidden files, it is likely you won’t get to the Saved Application State folder in Library, and will retain some files from an installed, and later removed, app. App Zap is an app uninstaller for Mac that is worth $4.99 in the Mac app store that not only lets you delete files, but also view and selectively remove files created by the app or the app itself. Read More

Dammit: Speed Dial To Open (Stacks Of) Apps, Files Or Folders On Mac [Paid]

If you use either Opera or Chrome, you are probably familiar with the speed dial feature that allows you to quickly access your frequently visited sites. As far as browsers are concerned, this is a highly useful feature. Imagine having something similar on your desktop for your frequently-used files, folders and apps. Dammit is a Mac app available for $2.99 in the Mac app store that implements this very idea on you desktop. Mac users might question what the point of such an app is when you have Launchpad for launching your apps, but Dammit, literally, lets you use your number pad to open corresponding files/folders and apps. You can create stacks (groups of shortcuts, nine in each stack) and swipe through them using four finger swipe. The app runs in the background and can quickly be brought to front using custom shortcuts. Read More

Drag & Drop Files From PC Or Web To Upload On Dropmark Sidebar [Chrome]

Dropmark Sidebar is a simple way to organize and collaborate in the cloud. This Chrome extension lets you drag & drop files right from your system or web to create an organized collection of files. Dropmark offers super simple drag-and-drop file sharing, where users can drag & drop files, images, videos and more. Moreover, the collection can be accessed from the sidebar, and a simple item with URLs and attachments can also be added to Dropmark Sidebar. To upload items from the web, simply drag and drop them onto the sidebar or the page. Read More

Secret Delivery: Protect Files & Folders On Mac With Unique Passwords [Paid]

Encrypting files and folders on a Mac is possible but it isn’t easy. You will have to create disk images of the items you want to protect, and mount them each time you wish to access the contents. This sounds neither fun nor convenient. Alternative ways to protect files is to use the FileVault utility that will create an encrypted disk on your system where everything, every-little-thing, will be encrypted. A simpler solution with a small price tag is Secret Delivery. It is a Mac app available for $1.99 in the Mac App Store that both encrypts and decrypts files. The app has a simple drag & drop interface and uses AES encryption standard to protect your data. Read More

Air Media Server: Access Mac Files From Your iOS Device [Paid]

There are a multitude of apps that let you control and/or access your Mac from your iPhone. For the true Apple fan, uniting an iPhone with a Mac must be something like an Apple device marriage. Regardless of your sentiments for the concept, it is pretty useful, to say the least. Air Media Server is a free Mac app that lets you access all files on your Mac from your iPhone. You will need to install the iOS app which costs $1.99 in the Apple App Store. Both iOS device and Mac have to be on the same Wi-Fi network for you to be able to view the files. The files aren’t just a preview, if you have the correct app installed, you can modify them from your iOS device, as well. Read More

Safebox: Encrypt Files Before Uploading Them To A Cloud Service [Mac]

Dropbox is essentially a great service; cloud storage and cross platform sync sum up what makes it so useful. If you aren’t a fan of Dropbox, you might like one of the other and equally popular cloud storage services like SkyDrive, SugarSync, Box etc. Safebox is a free Mac app that compliments Dropbox and other cloud storage services by making sure important files are encrypted before being uploaded to the cloud. It is most conveniently used with Dropbox, as it adds a separate folder in Dropbox, visible on your local drive. All important files are first added to the Safebox folder, which, in turn, syncs with the cloud service, encrypting the files and uploading them. It is worth mentioning that the app only encrypts your data, and does not decrypt them. Read More

Open ZIP Files On iPhone/ iPad With The Official WinZip Client For iOS

The time when desktop computers will be completely replaceable by smartphones and tablets is fast approaching. Even now, there is not much that you can’t do with your iOS devices, and their usability is always improving thanks to the growing collection of apps on offer in the App Store. Although there are many solutions available for opening and managing .zip on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, now it has become even more convenient to do so, thanks to the official iOS client for WinZip, which made its way to the App Store pretty recently. Head past the break to know all about this simple, but useful, app.  Update: The app is now available for Android too, and its Play Store link has been added at the bottom of this post. Read More

Turbodo: Create Universal Mac Shortcuts To Open Files & Apps [Paid]

Keyboard shortcuts are dead useful. The universal application of Command + C, Command + V etc., across different OS, is a proof of just how convenient they are. Turbodo is a Mac app worth $4.99 that takes universal shortcuts to a new level. It allows you to create shortcuts for just about any file, folder and app on your Mac. The app runs unobtrusively in the System Menu Bar, and no matter which app you are working in, or which desktop space you’re on, the app enforces the shortcuts you create. You can open and execute several files and apps from just one shortcut. The app has a drag & drop interface for adding executable items. Read More

How To Take Ownership And Grant Permissions To Access Files & Folders In Windows 8

Like its predecessors, Windows 8 imposes strict access permissions on system-wide locations, folders and files. These access permissions restrict unauthorized users (including clients on network, and standard and guest users on local PC), and external sources (malicious scripts, viruses, malwares etc), from accessing core system folders and files. You may know that, when a malicious script attacks a system, it attempts to gain admin or root access to the system to exploit security vulnerabilities. In contrast to previous Windows versions, Windows 8 comes with an enhanced, and robust Advanced Security Settings, making it difficult for a novice users to gain complete control over the system locations, folders and files. Read More

Keep Track Of Files In Any Windows Folder With File Bookmark

Sometimes file directories can have similar file names that can make it nearly impossible to identify a file from within a folder. File Bookmark is a Windows shell extension, which has been designed to bookmark files via the Windows right-click context menu, to find the right file(s) that you have opened earlier from a specific folder. It allows you to automatically mark the last bookmarked file from a folder, so you don't have to manually look up the file within the folder’s content. This can be quite helpful to avoid  the laborious process of searching out several files from within numerous directories, and to deal with non indexed files (which can be hard to locate). Read More

Pretty Run: Find Files/Folders & Bookmarks And Launch Applications

When the default Windows Start Menu received a facelift in Windows Vista, a very useful search feature was also added. It comes in very handy for quickly searching your whole computer for any type of file or folder, including images, documents, folders, zip archives, executable files etc., without opening any window or search module. Pretty Run is an application that does more than what the native search function of Windows Vista and Windows 7 is capable of. It allows you to search not only the contents of Windows Explorer and your program files, but also search between other items, such as the bookmarks saved in different browsers, text saved in the Windows clipboard, between metadata information of mp3 files etc. Keep reading to learn more about Pretty Run. Read More

Add Actions To Automate Dropbox Folder Tasks With Dropbox Automator [Web]

Dropbox is perhaps one of the most widely used cloud storage service across numerous desktop and mobile platforms. While cloud storage services like Dropbox provide efficient synchronization of data, they have been criticized as of late for lack of security. Moreover, there is no built-in method for task automation for such services. Dropbox Automator is a web service that enables automatically performing actions with files stored in your Dropbox directory. You can, for instance, automatically encrypt files when they are added to a specific directory, including converting the added file(s) to PDF, adding it to a ZIP archive, encrypting it, and more. Read More