In recent years, online services (or "cloud system") have proliferated. Whether for social networking, management tools, document creation, or even for back up of your files, they are increasingly present, and also help us not to depend on our computer.
It can be reinstalled, changed, used with another operating system, you will always have access to your photos, your friends, your documents (more or less sensitive) ... all thanks to some tools that have become almost indispensable.
This summer, a new service appeared for this purpose called "SocialFolders". Available initially in closed Beta, it is open to all recently, and proposes a new formula.
SocialFolders lets you synchronize documents in several online services (Facebook, Google Docs, Instagram, Picasa, Twitter, YouTube ...) within the same directory on your different machines, and thus to keep a local backup. Moreover, in some cases, it allows you to do the same with the public content of your friends for easier sharing.
When you will go to the site of Social Folders, you will not find a registration process except if you go through a sponsored link (click here for the registration). Indeed, the registration is found only in the client, that takes the form of software available in Mac OS X (from 10.6) here and Windows XP / Vista / Windows 7 here. However, there is currently no client available for Linux, and the FAQ service does not seem to evoke an ongoing development as well, if you read it.
A client for Mac OS X and Windows, which manages the registration
For our test, we opted for the Windows version, but if you go to that same site, you will find that the installation procedure on Mac OS X is similar to Windows.
As you can see in the above pic, you must specify a name and last name, an email address and a password for your account to be created. You will ofcourse have to accept the terms and conditions of service, same can be read on their site.
Once the installation is complete, it will end up with a behavior quite similar to Dropbox: the installation box will be minimized and will take the form of an icon in the notification area, and a folder is created within the directory as "My Documents" (at least under Windows) to centralize the data.
It will have a dedicated icon, for all the services, and will also create a shortcut in your favorite locations (again, in the case of use under Windows).
A confirmation email will be sent, but it will not contain a verification link. It will only serve you the subsequent detail to tell you the limits of your free account.
A free account limited to 2000 files and 3 services
Because it is released in Beta stage, Social Folders opted for an offer, with levels of use that have recently been revised upwards:
- Free account: Connecting to 3 services, 2000 files can be uploaded
- Premium account: Connecting to all departments, with unlimited upload and transfer
Under the free account, you can also refer friends via email or permalink and thus you will be offered access to 1,000 additional files.
In practice, we sponsored an account and have had direct access to additional files. It also keeps track of referrals within the site interface. The 2000 files limit can be reached quickly by cons.
Anyway, the user is ofcourse informed by email when a quota is reached. This shall also detail the opportunities available to him.
An unlimited offer for $1.99 per month, or $9.99 per year
Regarding the pay offer, its price is quite moderate: $1.99 per month or $9.99 per year. It must be said that Social Folders has little or no stores. As stated in the FAQ of the service, the files are downloaded directly from the servers for the services that you want.
Payment can be made by VISA, Mastercard or American Express (No Paypal account available at the moment).
Finally, if the site sometimes refers to a limit to 999,999 files in unlimited supply, it has been confirmed that the texts were correct and that no limit was applied to the user .
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