DropBox vs. Box.net vs. SkyDrive vs. Google Drive: Managing Multiple Cloud Storage Accounts Making You Crazy? Meet iExplorer — the iPhone App that will keep you sane. [REVIEW]

Sure, your data may be a lot safer offline locked away in some vintage treasure chest along with your vintage coats, but you can’t deny how demanding our lives have become — so much so that everybody expects us to carry our files wherever we go — otherwise, we might just miss out on that next big job interview or lose a girlfriend (depending on how lousy you are at keeping her “stuff”).

So we reluctantly wave the white flag and surrender our data to that big white Cloud because we can no longer ignore its importance (or we simply got tired of fighting it).

And if you’re like me, you probably signed up with every other cloud storage service out there hoping to find that “one perfect cloud service” for you.

But of course you eventually realize that it’s a pipe dream. There’s no “one perfect cloud storage service” after all — not yet anyway.

You are then left with bits and pieces of your online treasure chests scattered in a sea of disarray. You know you want to create some semblance of order but as you look around you wonder where in heaven will you start???

Wheew, I thought you’d never ask!

Enter iExplorer.

Just as the name suggests, it works pretty much like your Windows Explorer. The iExplorer app is like “the Windows Explorer for inter-cloud services” — it manages your files within different cloud services — copies, renames, moves, deletes — that sort of thing.

It’s very useful for a lot of file management requirements like:

1) Data security via redundancy, that is keeping multiple copies of files across multiple cloud services — in simpler terms, backing up your backups. Say, if DropBox closes, you still have backups in SkyDrive and Google Drive.

2) Optimizing data space. This is the opposite of redundancy. Here, your goal is to eliminate duplicates that eat up too much space on your accounts. You can compare existing files across multiple cloud services and immediately remove duplicates. After all, how many copies of the original RPG (Ridiculously Photogenic Guy — meme) do you really need?

3) Makes the mundane task of regular file maintenance (rename, copy, move, delete) so much easier and worry-free. You wouldn’t have to worry if you’re deleting the wrong and solitary file in this or that service because comparing is a breeze — you can always check your files at a glance in one app. No need to open all cloud mobile apps. This one app does that for you.

iExplorer Performance Review:

PROS:
1) Let’s you manage files on local and most remote servers — FTP server, NAS server, WebDAV server, Cloud server (SkyDrive, DropBox, Box.net, Google Docs, CloudMe, Google Drive).

2) Fast file transfers (varies with file size and network speeds of course).

3) Supports streaming of photos, audio, video from NAS/FTP/Cloud servers.

4) Supports file-viewing for most file types and allows you to print and tweet viewable files.

5. Supports file search.

CONS:
1) Can’t stream my audio files with Box.net.
2) App crashes/freezes sometimes.
3) File transfers to Google Docs not supported. Only view, edit and save as another format.

4) Currently doesn’t support SugarSync and EverNote and no web browser (under development, hopefully addressed on next update).
5) Had previous issue with SkyDrive — it doesn’t list files. But it has been fixed with the recent update (Version 2.3) and now works fine.

PRICE: $4.99USD

FINAL VERDICT:
iExplorer works as advertised, is fast and efficient and saves you a lot of time. It’s perfect for people who manage a lot of files in multiple servers, either at home, work, school or practically everywhere else. If file management is making you crazy, iExplorer is sure to restore your sanity.

I give it 4.5/5 stars.

Highly-recommended. This app is definitely App-laudable!

Are you looking for serenity in a sea of
chaos? There’s an app for that! Download iExplorer today. [iTunes AppStore link]