When Kim Dotcom launched MEGA there was a complete absence of any type of mobile presence at all. It was as if smartphones and tablets did not exist and the desktop still ruled the world of computers. He then tweeted that desktop and mobile apps would be coming soon but official apps have still not materialized.
#Mega desktop client and mobile apps coming asap. AND one doomsday button for everyone ;-)
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) January 25, 2013
While there are no official MEGA Android apps, MEGA does offer developers an API to build their own and there are some that have jumped at the chance. Of course using these apps requires you to enter your MEGA user name and password so there is another layer of trust that you need to have that the app is not hijacking your login information. That being said of the few apps that are now available they offer a range of features. Some only allow you to login and download files, some allow you to upload and a couple promise to upload your photos to your MEGA account similar to what Dropbox, Bitcasa, and SugarSync can do.
Below are the MEGA Android apps that are available as of today, February 14, 2013. I have not tried all of these apps, but if I have I will note my impressions of the app.
MEGA secure cloud for Android
This app also looked promising with an impressive feature list including:
- Browse your MEGA storage account
- Upload and download files to your Android device
- Camera Sync, upload your photos and videos to MEGA automatically
- Search for files within your MEGA account
- Share and download MEGA links
- Delete files
- Rename files
- Move files
- Create folders
This is the second app I tried on both a Nexus One and a Galaxy Nexus. After logging in and setting up the camera sync on the Nexus One I had no luck getting it to sync any photos. The Galaxy Nexus however was able to start uploading photos to MEGA. There is no progress indicator so you cannot see how fast or what photos the app is uploading it did appear to upload the entire photo folder. It also did not appear to do this automatically like other apps. I had to go in and tell the app to sync before an sync of the photos would begin.
MEGA Storage Manager
This app is the one that seems to promise the most. The description offers a full feature list including:
- Camera folder synchronization
- File and folder uploads and downloads
- Resource management (moving, deleting, renaming files and folders on the cloud storage)
- Included local storage browser for file/folder choosing when uploading
- Notifications with progress displayed during uploads/downloads
- Creating links for uploaded file for sharing purposes
- Opening downloaded files directly from notification view
This was the first app I tried. I installed it on two different Android phones, a Nexus One and Galaxy Nexus. After logging into MEGA and setting the app up to sync photos from my Android devices to MEGA and trying to take a couple new test photos I could not get any thing to sync up. The app has promise but it is not working as expected yet.
Mega cloud storage
This app appears to be very limited at the moment. You can login and do the following:
- Download
- Create new folder
- Move files and folders to trash
- Delete files and folders from trash
- Empty trash
MEGA Manager Alpha
I believe this is the first MEGA app that was released. It is still very basic but the developer promises more.
- Sign in
- Browse files/folders
- Download files/folders
- Open files
- Share files (to Gmail, Dropbox, Drive, etc.)
Mega Cloud Drive
This app is also very limited but was the only app that mentioned the MEGA inbox.
- Uploading and downloading of files
- Viewing contact lists
- Reading inbox messages
All of these apps are still in the early stages of development and I am sure will improve with time. The apps that offer the ability to upload and sync your photos are the apps that seem to be the most developed so far and the only ones I tried. They are not anywhere near the level of the Android apps from Dropbox, Mozy, Carbonite, SugarSync and Bitcasa, but considering the time that MEGA has been up and running and the fact that these are not official apps they are a good start. I don’t think I would trust them with being the only way of safe guarding your photos from your Android device but that time might come.
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