Canonical launches Ubuntu One Android cloud app

Canonical has released an Android app that lets people access files stored on their Ubuntu One cloud accounts.

Ubuntu One is a service similar to Dropbox or Apple's iCloud, in that it lets people synchronise and share files between various client devices. An Android app was already available to stream music stored on Ubuntu One, but the new Ubuntu One files app allows the management of many different file types.

Users can even set the app to automatically upload photos taken on their smartphone to the cloud — a feature also found in Google's new Google+ social networking suite.

"Ubuntu One files automatically backs up photographs taken from your Android phone's camera directly to your Ubuntu One personal cloud," Canonical said in a blog post on Wednesday. "Giving you peace of mind knowing that all the great photos on your mobile are backed up and available for you to share.

"Speaking of sharing, you can do that directly from the app — just tap and hold on the file or photo you want to share and instantly post it straight to Facebook, Twitter, or your blog."

The post also mentioned that Canonical submitted its new iPhone music-streaming app to Apple last week, and was hopeful it would be accepted.