If you have multiple cloud applications/services on your
Android smartphone, you know how much of a challenge it can be to search the
seemingly endless amount of files and folders for what you’re looking for. And
since you’re on a mobile device, the challenge is even greater. That’s where
apps like CloudMagic
come in.

CloudMagic allows you to associate a number of cloud
services so they can all be quickly searched from a single point — quickly
being the operative word. The CloudMagic search is one of the fastest of its
kind that I’ve used. Here are some of CloudMagic’s features:

  • Search multiple accounts
  • One view of all your data
  • Rich previews and actions
  • Partial word search
  • Multiple devices
  • Connect to Dropbox, Drive, Windows Live,
    Hotmail, Gmail, Exchange, Evernote, SkyDrive, Yahoo! Mail, Box, Outlook.com,
    Office 365, and more
  • Filter search results

One of the best things about CloudMagic is that it’s incredibly simple to use. There are two versions of CloudMagic available: A free version that limits you to 50 previews per month, and CloudMagic Pro for $4.99 per month (USD) with unlimited previews.
With that in mind, let’s install and get to know this handy application.

Installation

To install CloudMagic, just follow these steps:

  1. Open the Google Play Store
  2. Search
    for “cloudmagic” (no quotes)
  3. Tap
    the entry for CloudMagic
  4. Tap
    Install
  5. Tap
    Accept

Once it’s installed, you’ll find the launcher on your
home screen or in the application drawer (or both).  Tap the launcher to open CloudMagic.

Usage

On the first run, you’ll have to sign up for a
CloudMagic account. Sign up for the free account so you can determine if the
previews feature is enough to warrant paying for the Pro version.

Once you’ve signed up and logged in, your first task is to
link accounts to CloudMagic. Here’s how:

  1. From
    the Add an account screen (Figure A), tap on the account you wish to add
  2. Enter
    the credentials for the account to be added
  3. Tap
    Authorize when prompted
  4. Tap
    either Add other accounts (to add more accounts to CloudMagic) or I’m done…
    to start searching

Figure A

CloudMagic running on a Verizon-branded Samsung Galaxy
S4.

From the Search window (Figure B), you can enter a search term and CloudMagic will look through all of your
connected accounts. You’ll be surprised at how fast the search results pop up.

Figure B

You can see icons associated with entries that indicate
what account each file/folder is from.

You can also filter your search results. Even though the
search is lightning-fast, if you have an inordinate amount of files/folders to
search through, you may want to dictate what is searched. To filter the search,
tap on the bottom left icon and select one of the following: Messages, People, Files and Docs,
or Events (Figure C).

Figure C

Filtering your search results in CloudMagic.

After the search results appear, scroll until you find the
entry you need, and tap to open. The type of entry will determine how the
file/folder/email/etc is opened. For example, if the file is a .doc, you’ll
have to have an app installed that will open that particular file type. In the case of a search result drawn from
Google Drive, you’d be able to open that result in Google Drive itself.

CloudMagic also offers quick previews, so you don’t have
to open up the files. Simply tap on the search result to
view the preview (remember, the free version only gets 50 previews per month).
Once the preview is open (Figure D), you can view it with the preview or
open it with another app.

Figure D

A spreadsheet in preview mode.

To open a file in a third-party app, follow these steps:

  1. Search
    for the file
  2. Tap
    on the search result entry containing the file
  3. Tap
    on the file to open in preview mode
  4. Tap
    on the bottom right icon
  5. Select
    the third-party app to open the file

If you’re looking for one of the fastest ways to search
all of your cloud services, look no further than CloudMagic. After using the
free version, you might find it worth the $4.99/month to get unlimited
previews. This is one of the best tools I’ve found for locating various items
within cloud services. If you have multiple cloud services associated with your
device, CloudMagic will quickly become your go-to search.