There’s been a lot of buzz around this Cloud.app recently.
While the developers described it as “every Mac user’s wet dream”, the twitter population went crazy about it. There was someone who said Cloud was a forecast app, then someone said it was only vaporware.
Cloud is real, guys. And it’s a wet dream.
First, I’d like to say that I received my invite today and that Cloud is in its early development stages. So, many things will change and improve but still, I’ll give you a glimpse of what this amazing application can do.
Now, let’s put an end to this buzz: Cloud is a file sharing app.
You can share screenshots, urls, pictures, files, folders and even Photoshop documents.
Then, another revelation: Cloud is a menubar application. It sits there in your menubar and you can “launch it” via a unique hotkey which by default is Cmd + Alt + CTRL + U.
Last, Cloud supports – and will support – many other Mac applications: Safari, Firefox, Photoshop, Grab, Finder, iPhoto, iPhone Simulator, iTunes. Rumor has it that in the future it will support Tweetie 2, we’ll see.
Anyway, now that you know what Cloud is, it’s time to see what it does.
As I said, Cloud is an application that lets you share stuff over the internet. But, unlike many other apps, it’s very well integrated into the OS. To start using it you just have to create an account and fill the preferences, then you’re set.
With Cloud you can share a file in the Finder just by selecting it and pressing the hotkey, then the app will perform all the operations (upload, url generation, url pasting in the clipboard) in the background. And this works with web pages and .psd files as well.
As you can see, once you’ve told Cloud to upload something, the icon the menubar will begin to turn black: when it’s completely black you’ll have the assigned url copied in the clipboard and the icon will be grey again.
See the banner I was creating in PS? I just hit the hotkey, and here it is: http://cld.ly/90vs
The ways Cloud can improve your workflow are many: you can share a screenshot / url in a matter of seconds, give your co-workers a quick preview of the .psd you’re working on or quickly share a .zip folder.
To me, this is a real dream come true: sure, there’s Dropbox, but Cloud just feel so…natural that I’m already asking myself how can I live without it now.
Cloud is an invite- only beta, be sure to follow @getcloudapp on Twitter to receive updates.
Stay tuned! 
#1
That's what Ryan said 4 months ago:
Hmm this doesn’t really make me wet myself, it sounds good but not revolutionary. What does it look like on the Cloud side, the online interface?
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#2
That's what storiesofmac said 4 months ago:
I still have to test the web interface.
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#3
That's what Ryan said 4 months ago:
Hmm I’m not sure what to think, it doesn’t get me excited but then neither did Dropbox but once I used that I couldn’t understand how I’d gone without it.
I’ll take your word and look forward to trying this
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#4
That's what Ryan said 4 months ago:
Well, there <em>is</em> no web interface, yet. They’re still working on it.
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#5
That's what Eugenio Grigolon said 4 months ago:
Looking forward to grab it! Nice review.
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#6
That's what Martin Leblanc said 4 months ago:
The integration with Raindrops is pretty neat.
I like the idea of Cloud app but I’m already using Dropbox (and loving it) :-/
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#7
That's what Andrew Deibel said 4 months ago:
looks interesting but not worth paying for, since dropbox is free.
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#9
That's what Kiyo said 4 months ago:
There is actually another service called CTU that is almost exactly this, but has been up for several months and uses google accounts for log in, so you don’t have to remember another account… getctu.com.
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#10
That's what Alvin Lai said 4 months ago:
Cloudapp looks great for quickly showing design drafts with clients and co-workers, would love to give it a spin!
I thought this would be a good opportunity to introduce another screen capture tool for designers and agile folks
If you’re a designer using Basecamp and you’d like to create messages with attached screenshots, check out http://freshlog.com
Freshlog also integrates nicely with issue trackers like Lighthouse, Unfuddle, Assembla, Fixx, and Fogbugz.
Check out a review of Freshlog:
http://www.elctech.com/articles/stop-wasting-time—create-bug-tickets-with-screenshots-using-freshlog
If you have any questions, just ping me on twitter @freshlog
Cheers!
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