MEGA Launches Official Android App

BREAKING NEWS: #MEGA launches official Android app. Please try it & give us your feedback. https://t.co/ooKPrxUWQk

— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) July 4, 2013

Kim Dotcom announced on Twitter that there is now an official MEGA Android App available. He has been hinting that official mobile apps we coming along with a desktop client but this is the first official app to be released. The official MEGA Android app is actually one that I have looked at back in February when the only MEGA apps available were user created third party apps. Looking at the change log for the app it is noted that it was acquired by MEGA and is now being maintained by them.

When I tried this app back in February it was one of the most promising apps that was available, but I could not actually get the camera sync to work. Installing it this time I have not had a problem getting the camera sync to work and my phone has been happily uploading photos since I installed. The only problem so far seems to be that the uploads stop when the app is closed by Android and needs to be restarted again for more uploads to continue. Considering this is not something Dropbox or Bitcasa have problems with on the phone I am sure this can be fixed. Update: I recently updated the app and while this was not on the official bug list, it does seem to be running better.

The app also has a long list of features:

• Browse your MEGA storage account
• Fast upload and download files from your Android device
• Camera Sync, upload your photos and videos to MEGA automatically
• Search for files within your MEGA account
• Create public link to files in your MEGA account
• Download
• Delete files
• Rename files
• Move files
• Create folders

While the list of features is impressive the app is still young and missing features like the ability to mark files as favorites and have them always available on the device. While you can easily download files using the app there is no sync feature beyond the camera photo sync. You can download a text document or other file format you can edit on your mobile device but to have access to it again on MEGA you need to remember to upload it again once you are done editing. These are features that will perhaps be coming in new releases but until then apps from Dropbox, Carbonite and Mozy offer more options for users to access, edit and sync files on the go.

The official MEGA app is a good start and the decision to acquire an existing, well rounded app was certainly an easy way to get an official app released. It has improved since I first tried the app before it was acquired by MEGA and it has potential to take on some of the more established cloud storage apps. I am also sure it is no accident that MEGA has released the official app on July 4, U.S. Independence Day, given all of the recent NSA leaks and privacy concerns with using U.S. based cloud providers.

The MEGA blog says official iOS and Windows Mobile apps are in final stages of development. Whether that means that MEGA is in the final negotiations to purchase an existing iOS app like PortableMega on iOS or another app already released we will have to wait and see.

If you would like to download the now official MEGA Android app you can get it in the Google Play Store.