Files are updated as you use them, and you can right-click on a file and choose Remove Download to delete the local version of the file. Opening a file in an app will kick off a download, and then the file will open once the download is complete. In Finder, files in the cloud have little gray cloud icons with arrows pointing down to indicate they’ll need to be downloaded before they can be accessed. That’s because Apple is taking the work it did to supporting its own cloud-storage system, including support for on-demand files right within the APFS filesystem, and allowing other apps to tie into it. Once you log in to a cloud service via StrongSync, you get a view into that service that’s very much like the view you get when you look at iCloud Drive. ExpanDrive says that StrongSync is the first macOS File Provider app to ship. This framework basically allows third-party apps to provide a bridge between the Mac’s filesystem and their cloud-storage providers of choice. Right now, cloud storage providers such as those services I mentioned above, and others such as Dropbox, work on the Mac via kernel extensions, a method of modifying the Mac system software that is not going to stick around much longer because of Apple’s increased focus on macOS security.įor storage providers the alternative to using kernel extensions is macOS Big Sur’s File Provider framework. But it’s perhaps most interesting as a sign of how Apple sees the future of cloud storage on the Mac. StrongSync currently just works with Box, OneDrive for Business, Google Drive, and Sharepoint, with other services on the way. Long-time Mac storage utility maker ExpanDrive has launched StrongSync, a $50 utility that… sort of does what ExpanDrive already does? Like its big brother, StrongSync allows you to view cloud storage services as if they were hard drives mounted on your Mac. This is Google Drive, but it looks just like iCloud Drive. ^ : A peek at the future of cloud files on the Mac.'ExpanDrive 4, more services and faster sync'. 'ExpanDrive Blog » ExpanDrive v2.4 released - ExpanDrive Blog'. 'ExpanDrive Blog » ExpanDrive 2 for Windows – FTP and S3, blazing fast SFTP'. 'How to mount cloud storage in the Mac Finder'. 'Using ExpanDrive to mount remote file systems'. An increased list of supported storage and cloud storage providers have been introduced since version 5, including Dropbox, Google Drive, Google Team Drives, Amazon Drive, Box, OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, Sharepoint, Openstack Swift, BackBlaze B2, Amazon S3 as well as the original SFTP, FTP or WebDAV server and SMB/Windows File Sharing. New features include improved performance and file versioning.

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