Teambox review [iPhone]

Other than invisible, background backups, we have to wonder if anyone is really making full use of Apple's new iCloud service. It's nice that you can put your content online and grab it when you need (data charges and cellular connectivity issues aside), but is a blank Internet hard drive really what we need?

Would we prefer some structure to our clouds, then? This is something of a semantic question, as there's no definitive answer. Certainly some software developers feel that a big online box isn't the way to go, as apps like Teambox prove. While you can use this app - or perhaps system would be a better word here - for storage, it's geared more toward project management than file access, though.

Like a lot of people, we flinch inwardly when we hear the phrase 'project management'. It's just a little too boardroom for us, like 'blue skying' and 'thinking outside the box'. But if you're of a similar mindset, don't shy away from Teambox just yet.

This app definitely works well for collaborative projects, and gives you a robust yet simple system for creating new project umbrellas and bringing up to five participants into the loop on a free account. More can be added with a subscription, which is very affordable - particularly for the larger companies likely to want more than five members on a project.

Once the project folder is setup, teams members can be set tasks, milestones, permissions, time tracking and a host of other managerial options that allow you - or your gaffer - to monitor what everyone's doing and what sort of progress they're making. This is all achieved through a stark and pleasingly simple interface that requires little more than check boxes to work.

The team is also kept updated with each other through the exact same system, with full Dropbox, Google Calendar and Google Docs integration, alongside Teambox's built-in options. File sharing is a great feature, which doubles for simple cloud storage if that's all you're looking for. Or it can administer documents to the right people quickly and easily, eliminating the need to email attachments to different people at different times.

Along these same lines, a built-in messaging system allows you to converse between individual members or the whole team, so the one-dimensional email trap gets harder and harder to fall into when you're (dare we say it) managing a project.

But this is just as useful to the individual as it is to a team. Thanks to online access through any web browser, the Chrome browser app and the dedicated iOS applications, you can use Teambox to keep your files neatly synced while working on them from anywhere you choose. A recent activity tab keeps you apprised of all changes throughout the project, or your whole Teambox account, so you always know what's been changed, where and when.

Operating through such a simple interface, Teambox provides a range of powerful and user-friendly cloud storage, synchronisation and project management tasks that cater for static and mobile users, alike. Bearing in mind this doesn't have to be for work, but can aid the household unit or the individual freelancer just as effectively, Teambox is a great place to look if you're interested in getting yourself organised in the cloud.