Dropbox's New Family Plan Offers 2TB Of Data And A 'Family Room'

Dropbox has announced the arrival of a new family plan that is described as a way to help families keep in touch from a distance. The new plan offers 2TB of shared data between up to six users, enabling them to upload photos, documents, and other files. In addition to private storage, users are given access to a 'family room' folder that makes it possible for others in the family to see what has been uploaded.

Dropbox is, of course, a cloud storage service — one that is typically used by a single person or by businesses. The new Dropbox Family plan is different, offering up to six people access to the same account with a total of 2TB (2,000GB) to share between them. The plan has a single monthly price tag, as you'd expect, which is cheaper than paying for individual plans at $16.99/month.

Users can upload photos, videos, and other files, including Google Docs content. Anything added to the 'family room' folder will make it available to everyone who has access to the account. Dropbox explains that this shared folder could be used for sharing things like recipes and photos with others who are located remotely. Personal files, meanwhile, are only accessible to the users who upload them.

Dropbox says that it includes certain other products and features with the Dropbox Family plan that should help users with their unique usage, including access to Dropbox Passwords and Dropbox Vault; this family plan also supports computer backups.

As the names indicate, Dropbox Passwords is a feature that enables users to create and store strong passwords for the various services they use. Dropbox Vault, meanwhile, is extra security for sensitive files — tax documents and the like — that are best stored with a PIN-protected or biometric lock. Finally, computer backups mean users can automatically sync folders from their Mac or PC to Dropbox.