Dropbox and Dropbox API

1 Dropbox 

Dropbox is founded by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi in 2007. Dropbox is a service product that allows you to store, sync, and share your data on the online server, so that this service helps you to get your data quickly, easily, and for the most elegant of almost any Internet-enabled devices [31]. Of course, your data is stored with strong encryption on multiple servers. Dropbox also allows you to access your data using a computer or device you have on hand. Therefore, if you miss important file while travelling, it will not prevent your working life anymore. 

Dropbox is a downloadable product that can be downloaded directly from the company’s website and only available there. It has a version for every major operating system, like Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and BlackBerry. If you are in the computer or any other device that does not have Dropbox installed, you can access it via the Dropbox website (www.dropbox.com) that has a simple look of interface. 

To see all the data that exist in your Dropbox, you must login into your personal account first. Any changes that you make from your main computer or other device will be synchronized quickly. Dropbox will tell you if there are any changes that occur in your files, and it also tells you whether the changes made from your main computer or other device without mention an IP address clearly. In addition, the Dropbox also stores files that have been deleted from the web interface. So, if you delete a file, it does not mean the file has been permanently deleted until you purge it. 

Dropbox offers several different pricing levels. It gives you free for 2 GB of storage for one user, $9.95 per month for 50 GB of storage (Dropbox Pro 50) for one user, $19.99 per month for 100 GB of storage (Dropbox Pro 100) for one user, and $795 per year for 1 TB of storage for up to five users (this package includes telephone tech support). 

The number of Dropbox users from year to year has increased quite impressive. According to [32], at the end of 2009, Dropbox has about 2 million users. One year later (2010), the number of users increases to about 4 million people. Then, before April 2011, the company has about 25 million users and 200 million files ‘saved’ per day and more than 1 million per five minutes. And by source [33], in early October 2011, Dropbox has had more than 45 million users and has been storing data 1 billion every three days. 

2 Dropbox API 

Dropbox API was first launched in May 2010, and since then has been widely applied to various mobile native apps. In October 2011, they announced the launch of the latest version of Dropbox API for mobile apps and web apps. As in common knowledge, Dropbox API is a machine that powers thousands of third-party Dropbox. According to, the API provides methods to read and write from 

Dropbox securely. By using Dropbox API, the app that is made will be more powerful and easy to use by the user. 

According to, there are some improvements found on the latest Dropbox API. First, security has been improved by using the authentication system. That way, users do not need to enter their credentials to the third-party app. Thus, the user will be redirected to the official Dropbox app on the mobile or via web at www.dropbox.com if authentication with an app is needed. 

The second is the addition support for ‘app folders’. With the addition of this support, it means that the app can associate itself in a folder inside your Dropbox account. This folder can be renamed and moved anywhere within your Dropbox in accordance with your wishes, without affecting the process and/or interfere with the work of the app itself. 

The third is to give third-party app access to the Dropbox revision system, like undeleting files, reverting to the previous versions of files, and not overwriting changes when two people change a file at the same time. In addition, developers can also build a search feature on the app. 

And the last but not the least is the addition of better support for web apps. The first version of the API was made mainly for mobile apps. The second version is made with the same focus for both mobile apps and web apps. The addition of supported platforms includes the addition of new tutorials, documentations, and SDKs for Python, Ruby, and Java developers.

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