Ballloon Chrome Extension Lets You Download and Save Web Files Directly to the Cloud

If you've ever had to download files from the internet and then upload them to your online cloud storage account then you're probably familiar with how mundane and tedious the process can be.

Fortunately, there is now a Chrome extension called Ballloon (yes, with three L's) to the rescue. This nifty little tool can take the hassle out of saving images, links, and PDFs directly to the cloud.

So How Much of an Advantage is This?

You might think to yourself "well, how much time and effort could this extension really save?" The answer to that question depends on how often it is used and what you need it for.

If you frequently save photos, PDFs, or links from the web and you find yourself going through repetitive downloading and uploading processes, then you should certainly give Ballloon a try. By downloading directly to the cloud you also conserve temporary storage space on your computer's hard drive.

Saving Online Images and PDFs to the Cloud

If you come across a photo that you want to save to the cloud you can easily do so by clicking one of the corresponding symbols in the small "Ballloon" window that hovers in the top corner of every image or PDF displayed in the chrome browser when the extension is enabled.

Of course, you'll have to input your login credentials for your GoogleDrive and DropBox account before the extension can log in and upload web files for you.

Saving Links to the Cloud

You can also quickly save hyperlinks to your cloud accounts, for easy access to important web pages. Simply right-click the link and select "Save Link To" and then choose either GoogleDrive or DropBox. Although Ballloon currently doesn't allow you to download entire web pages and upload them to the cloud, this is a feature that may be added in the future.

At the moment Ballloon only supports GoogleDrive and DropBox, but extension's official site states that other services will be added soon.

Are There Other Ways to Save Files Directly from the Web to the Cloud?

There are a couple other ways to get files from the internet right into your cloud storage accounts. There's a web app called "Save Web Files Instantly" that lets you input the URL of a file and then select whether you want to upload directly to DropBox, Box, GoogleDrive, SkyDrive.

However, given the fact that you have to manually locate, copy , and paste the file URL, the process is not nearly as convenient as clicking a Ballloon icon. Still, since Ballloon does not yet support Box or SkyDrive, if you use those services then you may be better off going with the aformentioned web app.

Another way to save files from the internet to the cloud is to use a different Chrome extension called CloudSave. This extension is not as easy to use as Ballloon but it supports more cloud services, including but not limited to: Box, Picasa, DropBox, GoogleDocs, Amazon Cloud, Flickr, and Facebook.

Conclusion

Although CloudSave is more user-friendly than the "Save Web Files Instantly" web app, and supports the most cloid services, it lacks the literal one-click simplicity of Ballloon.

With that said, we prefer to use Ballloon in combination with GoogleDrive for maximum speed and productivity. It seems that once Ballloon adds support for more cloud services it will probably be a clear choice over competitors because of its intuitive design.

Get Ballloon for Chrome now!