Frequently asked questions

• 1.When I open Skyfiles for the first time, why does a Google login page pop up, instead of Skyfiles asking for my email and password directly?
• 2.What's the difference between Google Drive , Google Docs and Skyfiles?
• 3.Are the files listed in Skyfiles stored locally or in the cloud?
• 4.How does the “Open with a default local application” feature work?
• 5.If one file is modified in a local application by two collaborators at the same time, can Skyfiles detect the conflict when it is synced back?
• 6.Does Skyfiles support G Suite accounts?
• 7.I own multiple computers, and I would like to use Skyfiles on all of them, do I need to buy multiple licenses?
• 8.Is there a Mac OS X version of Skyfiles available?

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• 1.When I open Skyfiles for the first time, why does a Google login page pop up, instead of Skyfiles asking for my email and password directly?

  This is OAuth, Google’s recommended login method for all third party products. It is a much safer authentication standard, and protects your credentials from being leaked to third parties.

• 2.What's the difference between Google Drive , Google Docs and Skyfiles?

  Google Drive is a cloud service for storing and managing your files. It also includes a desktop app to sync files between your local computer and the cloud.

  Google Docs is an online editing and collaboration tool for editing Google format files, such as Google documents, spreadsheets and slides.

  Skyfiles is a light-weight but full-featured client for Google Drive, which enables you to use desktop applications like Microsoft Word to edit your online files. Files are downloaded to your local computer for editing and resynced with Google Drive after modifications have been made.

• 3.Are the files listed in Skyfiles stored locally or in the cloud?

  The files are all stored in Google’s cloud. They do not require any local disk space.

• 4.How does the “Open with a default local application” feature work?

  When you highlight a file and select “Open with a default local application”, the file is downloaded to a temp folder on your computer. Once the download is finished, it will be opened by the appropriate desktop application.

  Any modifications you make will be automatically synced back to Google Drive.

• 5.If one file is modified in a local application by two collaborators at the same time, can Skyfiles detect the conflict when it is synced back?

  Unfortunately, no. Due to limitations in the Google Drive API, client apps cannot detect changes in real-time when a file is being simultaneously modified by more than one user.

  In this situation, the last changes saved will overwrite the earlier modifications.

• 6.Does Skyfiles support G Suite accounts?

  Yes. You can use your G Suite account with Skyfiles.

• 7.I own multiple computers, and I would like to use Skyfiles on all of them, do I need to buy multiple licenses?

  No, this is a per-user license. One licensed copy of Skyfiles can be used by a single user on one or more computers.

• 8.Is there a Mac OS X version of Skyfiles available?

  Not yet. Only a Windows version is available at this time.

  We may consider developing a Mac OS X version in the future.