There is a broad choice of cloud storage solutions to choose from for iOS, including Apple’s own iCloud. But, if you’d like to sync your iOS device with a non-Apple computer or mobile device, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive are worth considering. How do they compare on iOS?
Could the other cloud have the more silver lining?
Which of these two cloud storage solutions you should opt for will, of course, largely depend on which of the two ecosystems – Google’s or Microsoft’s – you more commonly use or favor. However, your decision here could also be largely influenced by how easy both cloud solutions are for you to use on iOS. There’s nothing wrong with migrating from one to the other, should your circumstances seem to warrant it – so allow us to help you to decide whether to move or stay put.
Which is the winner for app compatibility?
There are dedicated free iOS apps available for both Google Drive and OneDrive, and both require iOS 8 or above and are highly rated by their users. A dead heat in the first few rounds, then…
If, however, you have a Windows PC which you tend to put to such light productivity uses as word processing, editing spreadsheets and making presentations, it might be OneDrive that draws first blood. That’s because, if you have a Microsoft account, you’ve already got access to OneDrive – and it works better with the Microsoft Office apps of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, which are more popular and widely-used than the Google equivalents. Plus, the desktop, iOS and cloud versions of these apps can all regularly make automatic saves to OneDrive.
Now, which makes better use of the latest iOS functions?
So, is Google Drive out for the count? Not quite. That’s because it could still offer the more intuitive and feature-rich experience for users of the latest iPhones and iPads.
Last month, OneDrive was updated with 3D Touch support, allowing iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus users to speedily access their most recent files on OneDrive from the home screen. However, what if you want quick access to a file that you haven’t recently been editing? Then there’s actually better 3D Touch functionality with the Google Drive app, which allows you to not only similarly open recent files, but also search for other files and even upload photos from the home screen.
And, unlike OneDrive, Google Drive is compatible with both the Split View and Slide Over multitasking features available on the iPad Air 2, iPad Pro and iPad Mini 4.
And the winner is…
… whichever you personally prefer! It might seem like a cop-out answer, but there are so many variables at play that we can’t make the ultimate decision for you. You should, however, at least now have a better perception of how the two could weigh up on your iOS device.