LiveDrive review

Livedrive is one of the first developers to the Windows 8 party with a new native app that works with the company's online storage and file sharing service. Livedrive already has provided apps for both Android and iOS, so this is a logical evolution for the company. It's available in plans that range from £4.95 per month on up, each with a 14-day free trial. See all Storage software.

The Windows 8 Livedrive app works well and follows the interface standards to the tee. The real only limitation is that you can't back up your Windows 8 PC using it, only access Livedrive's BriefCase file-sharing service. Obviously, it's intended for mobile devices that don't have a lot to back up, but it would be nice if you could use the app to back up Windows 8 tablets like any other computer. Admittedly, the Livedrive desktop app is a lot more efficient with options for prioritizing files, etc. See all Windows apps.

As you might have inferred from the previous paragraph, LiveDrive is both a backup/storage and a file sharing service. Backup is the usual a matter of selecting files, folders, drives, or your computer and... Well, backing up. The BriefCase is a way to share files amongst your PCs and is two-way from all devices. In the W8 UI app you can access the BriefCase to email a link, upload the file to SkyDrive (a major nod to Microsoft no doubt—there's no support for iCloud, Google Drive, etc., in this app), and save it locally. But there is no support for backup.

Livedrive's pricing is broken down between the backup and BriefCase services. For home users, backup is $8 a month or $80 a year for all the files on one PC or Mac. The BriefCase is £9.95 a month or £99.95 yearly and includes 2TB of storage for all your devices. Together as the Pro Plan, they're £14.95 a month or £149.95 a year with unlimited backup plus for 5 PCs or Macs, plus 5GB of BriefCase storage for all your devices. That sounds expensive, but it's also a heck of a lot of storage and nearly universal access.

Livedrive is well worth a look if you have a lot of stuff to back up. It's pricey, but the unlimited backup is offered by most services and you have access from any device. But while expanding the access of Windows 8 devices to the BriefCase services is a good move, it is a pity that they didn't go the whole way and include the service's backup functionality, especially as more and more people organize their lives with mobile devices that need backing up as well.