Samsung Cloud to OneDrive Migration Explained
It is common knowledge that Samsung Galaxy smartphones come pre-installed with some Microsoft apps. Over the past few months, users have been pleasantly surprised with several improvements in the UI experience. One of the most favored improvements relates to the Microsoft Outlook app.
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Samsung Galaxy Note users are of late receiving notifications about a major change and update to Samsung Cloud. According to these notifications, all the user data will now be transferred to OneDrive cloud storage in the days to come, instead of Samsung’s very own cloud platform.
So the question arises what about those users who are already running a paid Samsung Cloud subscription? And what special benefits do these users get for migrating their data? What led to Samsung taking such a step? And most importantly, should they actually go ahead and migrate to OneDrive?
Long answer short: Yes, they better make the switch. It is worth that effort.
The great news is that all such users will get a whopping 15 GB of free storage on top of the 5 GB quota that is offered to OneDrive users free of charge. So Microsoft is being extra generous to Samsung users. Additionally, if you have already paid for a subscription to Samsung Cloud, it will be automatically terminated. Microsoft will provide you the storage equivalent (for the first year) of what you had paid for Samsung Cloud. A refund will be initiated for any further payments that you might have made.
But why is Microsoft being so generous to Samsung users? Well, Microsoft is aggressively hoping to expand the Microsoft Office 365 user base. Office 365 operates on a subscription-based model that offers free updates and upgrades for Office users in addition to a whopping 1 TB of cloud storage at no extra cost. Microsoft hopes that Samsung users will subscribe to it’s Office 365 subscription and they might offer some great deals in the future also. Microsoft’s strategy has largely been focused on channeling more users towards its subscription-based business model rather than the traditional Office suite available as a one-time purchase with no free upgrades.
Should you exceed your free OneDrive quota (which is less likely to happen as you already have a large chunk of storage quota), you’ll need to subscribe to OneDrive. The lowest available plan for individuals and home users costs only $1.99/ month offering 100 GB of storage. The other plans offering 1 TB and 6 TB of storage space and Office 365 cost $69.99 and $99.99 respectively, per annum.
You can store your photos, files, documents, videos, archives and other files onto the cloud with ease. OneDrive’s sync client does this job automatically for you without having to upload newer document versions every time. Just download & set up the OneDrive client, and it’ll take care of your documents and files on every device, be it mobile, Windows PC, Mac and even tablets.
By subscribing to Office 365, you also get access to Microsoft’s Voice Over IP Service (VoIP) Skype in addition to popular Office apps Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. You can also create and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations online straight from your browser using Office Online.
On the flip side of things, the switch to OneDrive is inevitable and irreversible. You will lose access to some great features that allow you to securely lock sensitive images, one to one talk without needing to swap apps, among others. Once you switch your account, there is no going back.
Samsung Cloud shall cease to exist in the foreseeable future. A lack of user interest and strong market alternatives have forced Samsung to opt for this drastic step. If you choose not to switch your account and store your documents locally, you will get a grace period of one year to download any data stored on Samsung Cloud.
Raza Ali Kazmi works as an editor and technology content writer at Sorcim Technologies (Pvt) Ltd. He loves to pen down articles on a wide array of technology related topics and has also been diligently testing software solutions on Windows & Mac platforms.