No search. No in-app editing. Figuring out photo management can be tricky.
Bottom Line SugarSync (for iPhone) delivers on its promise to keep you connected to your most important documents and files no matter where you are.File synchronization changed my life; if it hasn't changed yours yet, you really ought to give SugarSync (free for 5GB) a try. It works with all major platforms: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Symbian. A Linux client is in beta. The SugarSync iPhone app (free to download), which is the focus of the review here, is relatively similar to SugarSync's Android app, and a necessary piece of the syncing equation. Mobile access is essential.
SugarSync's best known competitor is Dropbox (4 stars, free for 2GB), an excellent tool that I personally still use in tandem with SugarSync. Both Dropbox and SugarSync are PCMag's overall Editors' Choice picks for file-syncing services, and which you choose may largely be a matter of preference.
Features
SugarSync's iPhone app is free to download, but you do need a SugarSync account to use it. The first 5GB of any account are free, but you can upgrade to 30GB for $49.99 per year, 60GB for $99.99 per year, or 100GB for $149.99 per year (monthly payments are also available, see the pricing page).
Download and install the app, then log into your SugarSync account.
The graphical opening page is the first indication that SugarSync's iPhone app is easy to use. All the icons and names you've given to your synced devices appear. See the slideshow for an example. Tap on any of the icons, and SugarSync will pull up a list of the folders and files that devices houses.
Say you're away from the office but need to quickly reference a spreadsheet that you (wisely) set to sync with SugarSync. From your iPhone, you can find that file and view it right on the screen. You can't edit it on the spot, however; you'll need another app for that. I've had no problems opening and zooming in on Excel files, even ones with multiple pages, using the app.
If someone else had needed that file, I could just as easily have selected "Share" in SugarSync and sent it to the appropriate person via email, with the link that let them download it. If you don't want to send the file from the default email address on your iPhone, you can choose instead to copy the link the clipboard, letting you send it however you like.
Other ways you can interact with a file include renaming it, copying it, and moving it to a different location within SugarSync. Some actions, namely share, sync, copy, move, and delete, can be performed in bulk.
SugarSync provides decent security, encrypting your data while at rest and while in transmission, and the iPhone app gives you the ability to put on one more measure: a four-digit PIN. For anyone using SugarSync on data that could be considered sensitive or personal data, this additional layer of protection definitely helps to make you feel more secure, and keep out malfeasants.
Photo syncing on SugarSync for iPhone is a little less intuitive than the rest of the app, and it can become very complicated quickly, especially if you use other photo-syncing services, such as iCloud . I had a hard time figuring out where photos lived after landing on the Photos area. It's just not clear where or how they're stored.
A section for Recent Documents proves more useful. It shows documents that SugarSync has identified as being recently changed and synced. For day-to-day work files, this area is great for quick access to files you're likely to need the most.
One missing feature is a search tool. The ability to search for files that you've synced—even just by file name or folder name—would quickly mitigate some of the other minor annoyances and shortcomings in the app.
SugarSync Mobile
While I still adore Dropbox and will emphasize that it's still worthy of our Editors' Choice award, SugarSync does a few things just slightly better and deserves more praise. SugarSync also gives you more space with a free account (5GB compared to Dropbox's 2GB) and unlimited bonus space for referrals. The SugarSync iPhone app does a suitable job of keeping you connecting to all your files. It will deserve more use, though, once it restructures its photos area and provides a search bar. The only reason Dropbox might be your preferred app is if you like the Dropbox way of thinking. With Dropbox, you put everything you want synced into a "Dropbox" folder. To sync any other way is considered advanced. In SugarSync, you choose to sync existing or new folders and files. But seeing as you can get both for free, there's no real reason you can't have both and perhaps use them for different kinds of data.
More iPhone App Reviews:
• Thrillcall (for iPhone)
• Shazam Encore (for iPhone)
• WinZip (for iPhone)
• SugarSync (for iPhone) version 2.5
• Clear (for iPhone)
• more
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