Drop feature coming to Microsoft Edge will let you share files between your computer and phone

You can already use Microsoft’s Phone Link app to transfer files between your Windows PC/laptop and your Android smartphone (well, you can if you have a Galaxy phone). Now Microsoft is working on a way to share files between a wider selection of devices running Windows, Android and even Mac.

This feature is called Drop and is currently being tested in the Canary build of the Edge browser. It will become one of the sidebar widgets, which add extra functionality to the browser.

Interestingly, instead of a file browser type UI, Microsoft went with something that looks like a messenger. You can send files with a drag & drop, but you can also send messages – handy if you want to leave a note about a particular file or send yourself a reminder.

There’s more you can do with Drop – Microsoft recently added the ability to capture a screenshot and annotate it with the basic editing tools. This can be used for even more elaborate notes and reminders.

Unlike Phone Link, Drop doesn’t do local transfers. Actually, it is just a front end for OneDrive – any files you send will be uploaded to cloud storage (and will take up space in your account). The advantage of using this instead of OneDrive directly is that the Drop interface is more convenient for those already using Edge as their primary browser.

Another advantage is that once a file has been uploaded, it will be accessible from all devices that are signed into your Microsoft account. This simplifies sharing between multiple devices (desktop, laptop, phone, tablet, etc.).

If you want to try this out before the stable release, you will need to download Edge Canary on Windows and on Android.

Source | Via