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Google updates Drive for iOS 8, adds Touch ID

Google Drive Chrome extension

Updates for Drive app for iOS 8 and Drive extension for Chrome browser bring new features and security settings

Google has fiddled Google Drive for both Desktop and iOS 8 adding a number of new features. Top of the list is the ability to use TouchID to unlock Drive, doing away with Passcode Lock for the app.

Another update to Drive for iOS 8 lets iPhone and iPad users open files from Drive and save back to Drive from other apps on your device. With a lot of people now saving videos to Drive it is now possible to add them to iOS. On all versions of iOS 8 users can now save videos to the device’s camera roll. To access the new feature select the File Info icon and tap Open In and then Save Video.

Changes have also been made to the Google Drive Chrome extension to make it behave more like Desktop software. Users can now open files stored in Google Drive using other programs. Text documents can be opened in Word, for example, while images could be opened in Photoshop or Illustrator.

The feature can be accessed by right-clicking on the file you want to open and selecting Open With.

“This includes apps like advanced image and video editing software, accounting and tax programs, or 3D animation and design tools. So, no matter what you keep in Drive, using the web to access and manage files doesn’t mean you’re limited to using applications that only work in your browser,” explained Google Drive product manager Rachel Barton.

All of the changes are available now by updating the Drive app for iOS or the Drive Chrome extension.

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