Creating, Sharing, and Storing Content on Google Drive
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It should come as no surprise that the Google Drive online file sharing app is pre-installed on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 as the device runs Google’s Android operating system. If you have a Google Drive account, you can use your Tab 4 to view and share files between your Tab 4 and your Google Drive account.
What’s more, within the Google Drive app you can create document, spreadsheet, and presentation files in the Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides apps, respectively. After you create a document, spreadsheet, or presentation file, you can share that file with other Google Drive users and you can also send that file to another app or device such as to the recipient’s Dropbox account.
Before you start, you need a Google account to log into Google Drive. You may have logged into a Google account when you set up your Tab 4 and if so, you’re ready to go. If you haven’t logged into your Google account, you’ll be asked to do so when you start Google Drive. Don’t have a Google account? You can sign up online at https://accounts.google.com/signup.
Open Google Drive
Start by tapping the Apps icon on the Home screen. Within the Apps screen, swipe to the second page and then tap the Drive icon as shown in Figure 1.
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Figure 1. The Drive icon looks like a triangle with green, blue, and yellow sides.
Within the introductory screen that appears, tap Skip in the lower-left corner of the window. The My Drive window appears as shown in Figure 2 so you can see all files and folders within your Google Drive account.
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Figure 2. Close the top tile that tells you how to organize your files by tapping Got It in the tile.
You can create a document by tapping the red Add button at the lower right corner of the screen that you saw in Figure 2. The New pop up window appears at the bottom of the screen with six icons shown in Figure 3:
- Folder: Create a new folder in your Google Drive account.
- Upload: Upload a file from your Tab 4 to your Google Drive account.
- Scan: Take a photo using your Tab 4 camera and then save it to your Google Drive account.
- Google Docs: Create a new word processing document in Google Docs and then save the document in your Google Drive account and on your Tab 4.
- Google Sheets: Create a new spreadsheet file in Google Docs and then save the file in your Google Drive account and on your Tab 4.
- Google Slides: Create a new presentation file in Google Docs and then save the file in your Google Drive account and on your Tab 4.
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Figure 3. The Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides icons appear in the bottom row within the New window.
Create a New Document
For this article, I’ll create a Google Docs document by tapping Google Docs in the New window. You need to install the Google Docs app to create and edit a document, so tap Get Docs within the Install the New Docs App window. Next, tap the Accept button in the App Permissions window that appears on the screen.
After the Tab 4 installs the Google Docs app, you need to tap the Add button in the My Drive screen again and then tap Google Docs in the New window. The Google Docs screen appears as shown in Figure 4 so you can begin typing a document.
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Figure 4. The Google Docs screen shows the blinking cursor in the document area so you can start typing in your document.
After you finish typing your document, tap Done at the left side of the menu bar at the top of the screen that you saw in Figure 4. The menu bar changes as shown in Figure 5 with the name of your document as Untitled Document by default. Change the document title by tapping Untitled Document in the menu bar; in the Rename Document window that appears, type the new document name and then tap OK.
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Figure 5. The document title appears next to the Close icon at the left side of the menu bar.
If you want to write and/or edit the document, tap the blue Edit button in the lower right corner of the screen that you saw in Figure 5. Otherwise, close the document by tapping the Close icon (it looks like an X) at the left side of the menu bar.
Your document appears within the Files list as shown in Figure 6. This means one copy of your document has been automatically saved to your Google Drive account and another copy has been saved to your Tab 4.
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Figure 6. The Hello world document tile appears within the Files section.
You can view the document within the Google Docs screen as you saw in Figure 5. Within the Google Docs screen, you can edit the document and/or write some more by tapping the blue Edit button in the lower right corner of the screen.
Share a Link
At the lower right corner of the document tile that you saw in Figure 6, tap the Information icon that is a gray circle with a white i inside it. The information window appears on the right side of the screen (see Figure 7) so you can view more information about the document as well as share it with others.
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Figure 7. Return to the My Files screen by tapping the left arrow icon in the upper left corner of the window.
Swipe up and down in the window to view activity information for the file such as when you last updated the file. The window also contains several options for sharing your file with others. By default, link sharing with other Google Drive users is off. Tap Link Sharing is OFF to turn link sharing on so anyone who has the link can view the file. Next, tap Link Sharing is ON to change how anyone who has the link can modify the file within the Anyone with the Link window shown in Figure 8.
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Figure 8. Tap the Link Sharing is ON option within the window to open the Anyone with the Link window.
Within the window, tap the Can Edit button so anyone with the link can edit your document. If you want the person who reads your document to only comment on it, tap the Can Comment button. You can turn link sharing off again by tapping the Turn Link Sharing OFF button. After you tap the appropriate button, tap OK in the window.
Now that you’re sharing a link, people who have access to the link appear within the Who Has Access link within the information window. If you want to give another person access to your document, no matter if they’re a Google Drive user or not, tap the Add People icon just below the document title near the top of the window.
In the Add People window that appears in Figure 9, type the name of the Google Drive user or the user’s email address. Next, tap Can Edit to open a drop-down menu so you can determine what the user can do with the document. Give the user the ability to edit the document by tapping Can Edit, which is the default option. You can have the user leave comments only by tapping Can Comment or have the user only view the document by tapping Can View.
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Figure 9. If you decide you don’t want to share the link, tap Cancel in the Add People window.
Add an optional message for the user by tapping in the Optional: Write a Message field and then type the message in the field. When you’re done, tap Add. The Google Drive app automatically sends a message to the recipient either at the email address included in the user’s Google Drive account or the email address you typed in the Add People window.
If you would rather share the link to the recipient’s Google Drive account so he can access it from another source, or to send the link to another location on your Tab 4, tap the Share Link icon near the top of the information window. The Share Link window appears as shown in Figure 10 so you can share your link using one of the following apps or services:
- Directly to another device using a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi Direct connection
- In a memo you view in the Memo app
- In an email or Gmail message
- In a Google+ post
- The Google Hangouts instant messaging app
- To the recipient’s Dropbox account
- To another Google Drive account
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Figure 10. Swipe upward in the window to view the Wi-Fi Direct icon.
You can also copy the link to the clipboard to paste into another app not available in the list, such as Hancom Office.
Note that even though the Samsung ChatON instant messaging service is still in the list, Samsung ended the life of ChatON in all worldwide markets except the United States in February 2015. Samsung will discontinue ChatON in the United States sometime in 2015. Therefore, we don’t cover using ChatON as a sharing or sending option in this article.
Tap the icon to share the link using the service or open the app into which you want to paste the link. If you decide you don’t want to share the file using the Share Link window, close the window by tapping the Back touch button.
Send the File to a Recipient
If you would rather not have others access a file in your Google Drive account, or the recipient prefers to receive the file using a different app or method, you can send the file using another app or service by tapping the Send File icon in the information window. Within the Complete Action Using window shown in Figure 11, send the file using one of the following apps or services:
- Directly to another device using a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi Direct connection
- As a file attachment in an email or Gmail message
- To the recipient’s Dropbox account
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Figure 11. Tap an icon in the list to send the file using the associated app or service.
If the recipient decides that he wants you to send the file to his Google Drive account, you can do this by tapping the Drive icon within the window. After you tap the icon of the service or app you want to use, tap the Always button to always use that app or service whenever you send a file from Google Drive to someone else. If you want to select the app or service to use each time you send a file from Google Drive, tap Just Once.
The appropriate app or service opens on the screen so you can send the file to the other person. If you decide against sending a file when you’re viewing the Complete Action Using window, close the window by tapping the Back touch button.
Now that you know how to create a document in Google Drive, you can use your knowledge to write documents, produce spreadsheets, and/or create slideshows, and then share your creation with others with Google Drive on your Tab 4.