Changes to Dropbox Public Folder

One of the most important things that I use the Dropbox app for is the ability for me to easily share larger files with people by including a link to that file and e-mailing the link in an email I send to clients or friends. I was looking at CNET's tutorial on how to use the link function in Dropbox and I don't quite understand the difference between old and new versions exactly. As far as I can see, there hasn't been any change in the way it works.

When I'm using my PC, and I am in the Dropbox public folder, all I need to do is right mouse click on the file that I want to share the link of, pick copy the link and then go to my e-mail application and paste the link into the body of my e-mail. It is that simple.

When using Dropbox on my iPad I highlight the file that I'm interested in sending to someone and I pick the link button and choose e-mail link.

The primary difference seems to be that you don't have to only do this from a shared folder or a public folder anymore. You can do link a file from any folder so now there is no need for a separate or dedicated public folder anymore. This is probably why any new Dropbox accounts when they are created after July 31st will no longer automatically create a public folder for the account.

The biggest problem that is going to arise from this change is for software partners that utilize the Dropbox account and the public folder share function will have to rewrite their current code to use the share function which is now part of Dropbox API.

However in the long run, I think this is a positive step forward, and we will all benefit from the simplification that this gives us for sharing files which for some of us is the primary reason we use Dropbox .