Tap the “Add Attachment” button to get started attaching Dropbox and Google Drive files to Mail messages.

Now, I’d assumed until very recently that the iOS Mail app wouldn’t let you attach any cloud-based files to mail messages beyond those in iCloud Drive, Apple’s own cloud storage service.

Since I pretty much never use iCloud Drive—I’m a Dropbox and Google Drive person, through and through—I figured I’d never tap Mail’s “Add Attachment” button.

Well, guess what? You can attach Dropbox and Google Drive files to Mail messages, but you have to know where to tap first.

To get started, create a new Mail message on your iPhone or iPad, tap and hold the cursor anywhere in the body of the message, then tap the “Add Attachment” button in the black bubble that appears. (If you don’t see the “Add Attachment” button, tap the arrow on the right side of the bubble to scroll through all the available buttons.)

Tap “Locations” to switch to another cloud service like Dropbox or Google Drive while attaching files to iOS Mail messages.

Once you tap “Add Attachment,” you’ll see a window displaying all your iCloud Drive files—either that, or you’ll see a “No Documents” banner if you haven’t enabled iCloud Drive yet. (You can skip enabling iCloud Drive if you want.)

Next, tap the Locations button in the top-left corner of the screen. If you have Dropbox, Google Drive or another cloud-based storage app on your iPhone or iPad, you’ll see buttons for each one. Don’t see any buttons? If so, tap More, then flip the switch next to any installed storage apps you want to enable.

Don’t see Dropbox or Google Drive in the Location menu when trying to attach files to an iOS Mail message? Tap More, the flip the switches for the services you want to enable.

Finally, tap the button of the cloud storage account you want to use—Dropbox, Google Drive, or another service—then search for a file. Once you’ve found the one you want to send, tap it, and Mail will attach it to your message.

Bonus tip

If you have iCloud Drive enabled on your iPhone or iPad, your iCloud Drive files will always be the first thing you see when you tap the Add Attachment button in a Mail message. If you disable iCloud Drive, though, you can pick a new default cloud service for attachments; it’ll be whichever cloud app is first in your list of Locations. To rearrange the list, tap and drag the three-line handles next to each listed cloud app.

Click here for more iOS tips!

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Hi Lee! Yep, you can download a PDF file from the web to your iPhone—or an iPad, for that matter. All you need is a PDF-friendly app that’ll let you store PDF files on your device.

For example, you can open and save a PDF in an e-reader app like iBooks or Amazon’s Kindle app.

You can also open a PDF in a desktop-syncing app like Dropbox or Google Drive, perfect for keeping copies of a PDF on all your Dropbox- or Google Drive-connected devices.

Let’s get started

• First, make sure you’ve installed a PDF-viewing app that can actually save PDF files to your iPhone. Plenty are available in the App Store, but I recommend one of the four mentioned above: iBooks, Kindle, Dropbox, or Google Drive.
• All set? Now, go ahead and open a PDF file on the web or in an email.
• If you opened the PDF in your iPhone’s Safari web browser, you’ll briefly see a pair of buttons at the top of the screen: “Open in…” and “Open in [name of app].” Tap the screen to make those buttons reappear, then tap the “Open in…” button. Did you open the PDF in the body of an email? If so, open the PDF, tap the Action button (the square one with the upward arrow) in the top-right corner of the screen.
• Next, a menu of PDF-viewing apps will slide up from the bottom of the display. Tap the one you want to use, and the PDF file will open in the app of your choice.
• If you picked either iBooks or Kindle, the app will automatically be saved to your phone’s memory. To open the PDF again, just launch either app, then browse the “PDFs” section of your iBooks library or “Docs” in the Kindle app.
• For apps like Dropbox and Google Drive, make sure to save the PDF for “offline” viewing. In Dropbox, open the PDF, tap the three-dot menu button in the top corner of the screen, then tap Favorite. For Google Drive, tap the little “i” button next to the file’s name, then make sure the “Keep on device” setting is switched on.

Looking for more iPhone tips? Click here!

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Read on for 10 free iPad apps that you shouldn’t miss, from Amazon’s Kindle reader and Flipboard’s customizable “social” digital magazine to Skype video chat and Google’s Office-friendly cloud storage utility.

Note: Yes, there are actually more than 10 apps on my top-10 list, but I figured you wouldn’t mind a few extra.

1. Kindle / iBooks / Google Play Books

Curl up with your iPad and dive into a great book from Amazon’s Kindle store, Google Play Books, or Apple’s own iBookstore with these easy-on-the-eyes e-reading apps.

Each one lets you flip pages with a swipe, choose your favorite font, sync bookmarks, and download any previously purchased volumes.

Download: Kindle | iBooks | Google Play Books

2. Netflix / Amazon Instant Video / Hulu

Cinephiles and couch potatoes, rejoice. You can press “play” on tens of thousands of movies and TV shows from Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu with these streaming video apps for the iPad.

The apps themselves are free, but you’ll need to be a paying subscriber ($8/month for Netflix and Hulu, or $79/year for Amazon’s “Prime” service) before you can start watching.

Download: Netflix | Amazon Instant Video | Hulu Plus

3. ABC Player / The CW Network / NBC

Not a Netflix/Amazon/Hulu subscriber? No problem. You can still watch scores of free network TV shows on your iPad from the likes of ABC, A&E, The CW, NBC, and more.

The catch? Unskippable (and relatively frequent) advertisements.

Download: ABC Player | The CW Network | NBC | and more…

4. Skype for iPad

Sure, the iPad already comes with Apple’s FaceTime video-chat app, but it won’t do you much good if you’re hoping to say hello to someone who isn’t using an iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

The free Skype app for iPad, however, will let you chat face-to-face with any Skype users, even those with a PC or an Android phone.

Download: Skype for iPad

5. Google Catalogs / Catalogue / Catalog Spree

Do a little shopping and save a tree while you’re at it with these catalog-shopping apps for the iPad, each of which lets you flip through virtual, iPad-sized versions of catalogs from such big-name retailers as J. Crew, Crate & Barrel, L.L. Bean, and more.

Download: Google Catalogs | Catalogue | Catalog Spree

6. Pinterest for iPad

Wish you could “pin” your favorite fashions, products, and other online goodies to your Pinterest boards on the iPad’s jumbo screen?

Well, you could try the laborious process of adding a “Pin It” button to the iPad’s Safari browser, or you could just install Pinterest for iPad, which boasts its own “Pin It”-equipped (but otherwise bare-bones) browser plus a gorgeous, touch-friendly interface for browsing the latest pins from fellow Pinterest users.

Download: Pinterest for iPad

7. Flipboard

One of the most innovative apps yet for the iPad, Flipboard turns your Twitter and Facebook news feeds into a beautifully formatted virtual magazine, complete with bold headlines and vivid images.

You can also add hand-picked web collections from Flipboard editors or add your own favorite blogs.

Download: Flipboard

8. Dropbox / Google Drive

Both Dropbox and Google Drive will let you sync files and folders from your PC or Mac to your iPad, although Google Drive comes with a nifty bonus: the ability to edit, create, and share Word- and Excel-compatible documents.

Download: Dropbox | Google Drive

9. Facebook / Twitter

Feeling social? Browse your Facebook and Twitter feeds from your iPad, complete with jumbo-size photo galleries, “push” notifications when your friends post updates or replies, and easy photo posting from your iPad’s camera roll.

Download: Facebook | Twitter

10. YouTube

Diving into the YouTube rabbit hole is all too easy on the iPad, and Google’s new YouTube app for iPad makes it even easier to sign into your YouTube account, add videos to your “Watch Later” list, subscribe to new channels, create playlists, and wade through an endless number of related clips.

Download: YouTube

Looking for more iPad tip? Click here!

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Dropbox is a handy, simple-to-use file-syncing service (click here to download and install the free Dropbox desktop utility) that boasts apps for both iPhone and Android.

Among Dropbox’s many features: the ability to tap into your camera roll and sync your photos with your Dropbox-connected PCs and/or Macs.

You can set the Dropbox app (click here for the iPhone app, or here for the Android version) to automatically sync all your mobile photos with your Dropbox, or you can pick and choose which snapshots to upload.

Best of all, Dropbox is only as social as you want it to be. Sure, you can easily share your Dropbox photo albums with anyone, including non-Dropbox users; by default, though, your pictures are stored privately in your Dropbox account.

Ready to start syncing?

Here we go…

Just select the Dropbox folder you’d like to sync your photo to, then tap the Upload button.

For Android:

• First, install the Dropbox app onto your phone, then sign in to your Dropbox account in the Settings menu (tap Settings, then tap “Add account” under the Accounts heading*). If you get the option to turn on a feature called “Camera Upload” while you’re installing Dropbox, just tap “Cancel” for now—don’t worry, we’ll get back to it.
• Now, let’s try syncing just a single photo to Dropbox. Go ahead and snap a photo, then open the picture in the Gallery app.
• Tap the screen to reveal the menu buttons, then tap the blue Dropbox button; when you do, a Dropbox upload window will appear.
• Pick a folder in your Dropbox account where you’d like to upload your photo, then tap the green Upload button. In a few seconds, the picture will sync to your Dropbox—and if you’ve installed the Dropbox utility onto your Mac or PC, you’ll see your snapshot sitting in the Dropbox folder on your desktop.
• Want to sync every single photo you take on your Android phone, from now on? Launch the Dropbox app on your handset, tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner of the screen, tap settings, then tap Turn on Camera Upload. You’ll get the option to automatically upload photos only when you’re on a Wi-Fi network (a good idea, lest you rack up pricey mobile data charges), and you can also check a box to sync all your existing pictures (a potentially lengthy process, so be warned).

*These settings may vary depending on the make and model of your Android phone.

Tap the “+” button in the top-right corner of the Dropbox app to upload photos from your iPhone.

For iPhone:

• Install the Dropbox app, then sign in with your Dropbox username and password. As with the Android version of Dropbox, you’ll see a “splash” screen asking if you want to turn on the Camera Upload feature; for now, tap “Cancel.”
• All set? Then let’s start by uploading a single photo. Take a picture with the iPhone’s Camera app, then go back to Dropbox.
• Tap the folder where you’d like to sync your images (such as the pre-existing Photos folder), tap the “+” sign in the top-right corner of the screen, then tap the Upload Here button. Your picture should sync with Dropbox within a minute or so—and once it does, you’ll see it sitting in your Dropbox folder on your Dropbox-connected PC or Mac.
• You can also sync all your iPhone photos with Dropbox by turning on the Camera Upload feature. Tap the Settings gear in the bottom-right corner of the screen, then tap Camera Upload, and flip the switch to “On.”
• A secondary screen will ask whether you want your photos uploaded automatically only on Wi-Fi networks or using your iPhone’s cellular data connection; again, I suggest picking “Only Wi-Fi” to avoid excessive data charges. Once you’ve made your choice, tap the “Enable” button.
• Now, here’s the downside to Dropbox’s Camera Upload on the iPhone versus the Android version; once you turn it on, it will (annoyingly) start uploading all the photos in your camera roll, whether you like it or not. If you don’t want to wait several minutes or even hours for all your old snapshots to sync, you’ll have to go back to the Settings menu and flip the Camera Upload switch back to “off.”

Bonus tip

Want to automatically share your Dropbox photos with a small (or not-so-small) circles of friends and loved ones?

Click the link icon to share a Dropbox file or folder with anyone you like.

Easy:

• You can send a web link to a photo or folder to anyone you like, even someone who isn’t a Dropbox user. Go to the Dropbox site on the web, move your mouse over the file or folder you want to share, click the link icon that appears on the right, copy the URL from your address bar, then share that link with friends and/or family.
• You can also create a shared Dropbox folder with fellow Dropbox users. From the main Dropbox web page, click Sharing in the left column, then click the “New shared folder” button.

Have more Dropbox questions? Post ’em below!

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But there’s one aspect of using Dropbox (click here to download and install the free Dropbox utility onto your system) that takes a little getting used to, especially for beginners: any file you drag from your desktop into your Dropbox folder is at the mercy of those in your private, hand-picked circle of Dropbox collaborators.

I’ll put another way: If I drop an Excel spreadsheet into a Dropbox folder I’ve shared with my wife, and my better half subsequently drags the spreadsheet out of our shared Dropbox folder and onto her own desktop, that Excel file will essentially (and instantly) disappear from my Dropbox—and, indeed, from my hard drive altogether, unless I happened to have made a copy of the file first.

The “Events” feed gives you the chance to restore a file that was deleted from your Dropbox folder.

The good news, though, is that there is a way to retrieve any file that’s been removed, edited, or otherwise deleted from your Dropbox.

The catch? If you’re using the free version of Dropbox, you must act within 30 days, or the deleted Dropbox file will be gone for good.

(Paid “Dropbox Pro” users can opt for a feature called Packrat, which stores older versions of your Dropbox files for as long as Packrat is enabled.)

Here’s how…

• First, you’ll need to log onto your Dropbox account from the web. When you do, you’ll see a list of all the files and folders stored in your Dropbox, as well short list of links just to the left. Go ahead and click the one marked “Events.” Once you do, you’ll see a long list of absolutely every event that’s transpired in your Dropbox, from adding or deleting a file to renaming a folder.
• Next, find the file you want to restore in your Events feed. You can jump to a specific Dropbox sub-folder or date by clicking the drop-down menus in the upper-right corner of the page. Want to search instead? Go back to the Dropbox home page and perform an “advanced” search. (Make sure to check the “Deleted items” box before clicking the “Search” button).
• Found the file? Then click its name, and you’ll get its revision history on Dropbox, including any edits and its ultimate deletion from your Dropbox folder. Just select the version of the file you want to revive, then click the Restore button.
• With a few seconds, the restored file should reappear in your Dropbox.

Bonus tip

You can quickly access the revision history for any existing Dropbox file by right-clicking it in your desktop Dropbox folder, then selecting “View previous versions” from the “Dropbox” menu.

Got more Dropbox questions, or any tips to share? Post ’em in the comments below. And in case you’re wondering, no—this isn’t a sponsored post. I’m a genuine Dropbox fan.

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