Box for Windows 10 app blog post image

Cloud storage provider Box is building on their relationship with Microsoft with a new Windows 10 app. Unveiled today, Box for Windows 10 is a single app running across all Windows 10 devices, including tablets and eventually the phone.

Box worked with Microsoft not only to make the the app better for users, but also to make it easier to maintain the look and feel of a Box experience across devices. By combining code from the Windows 8 app and the Windows Phone app into the Universal Windows Platform, Box tweaked UI elements and built new features once instead of testing them across various versions of Windows.

“Microsoft has … made it extremely easy for developers to build apps for PCs, tablets and phones,” Box CEO Aaron Levie said in a press release announcing the app. “Using the Windows 10 platform, developers only need to build one app versus individual apps for each platform.”

The announcement is part of a deeper integration between Box and Microsoft.

Box CEO Aaron Levie
Box CEO Aaron Levie

Box has been working on the project since April and, according to Levie, the cloud storage provider was one of the first companies to work with Microsoft on building a universal Windows 10 app. The team worked closely with Microsoft to shift functionality that relied on custom code to instead use built-in APIs available across Windows 10.

This enables users to access Box within many Microsoft apps. It’s integrated into the Windows file picker, so any “Open” dialogue can be used on stuff stored in Box. And that also means that any edits made to the files are saved right back to Box for more seamless collaboration and syncing.

Box and Microsoft have worked together on tighter integration before. Earlier this summer, Box users gained the ability to create and edit Office apps within Box’s website. Microsoft has also added Box as a cloud storage option for iOS users.

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