Data Backup Digest

Cloud storage providers are aplenty nowadays. However, the key with cloud storage is that it involves uploading your files. Not only does this mean you have to plan ahead to what files you’ll want to access remotely, but also raises some security questions over how well protected your data really is.

Younity offers something a bit different in that you can stream all your files between your devices. You can access any file on any device without needing to mark the files as being shared beforehand. This means that all your photos, music and documents will be with you all the time. All you need to do is install Younity on all the devices you want to share data between.

Younity creates a personal cloud from your devices and your data is only accessible by you. All communication and transfers are done over SSL. At no point does your data load onto any server or remote storage facility; it all just stays between your devices.

How long it takes to sync your data between devices will depend on how many files you have and how fast your computer is. Those with extreme amounts of data on a slow computer may be waiting a few hours, but typically scans take several minutes.

The great thing is that Younity doesn’t automatically store all your data on your smartphone or tablet, but it streams them instead. This means that it won’t be eating away at your limited storage space. If you know you will be without an internet connection then it is possible to download files to the offline storage on your device.

You also have the ability to share any of your files, either to another Younity user or privately via Facebook (the recipient just has to accept the Younity app on Facebook to view your file).

Younity is different to programs like LogMeIn and GoToMyPC because these are aimed around accessing your computer’s functions. Younity just focusses on integrating all your files across all your devices, rather than any computer features.

Currently, Younity is available for Windows (XP, Vista, 7 and 8), Mac OS X (10.6, 10.7 and 10.8) and Apple iOS 6 and above. This means that you can have all your data on your Windows computer and access it all on your iPhone with no issues. Sadly, at the moment there is no Android version, although the company plan to have one eventually. Hopefully this will be soon as the Android userbase is vast and would likely benefit from such a program.

And here’s the best thing about Younity: it’s completely free. Because they aren’t hosting any files or needing to pay for your storage space (this is all done locally), the company can currently achieve making this great tool available for free.

If you’re interested in checking it out then be sure to visit the Younity website where you can download the program and find out any answers you might need. It is probably more geared towards personal use at the moment, since it doesn’t offer centralised management and security that companies will need to ensure data is managed securely and regulations complied with.