How to Stream Your Media Anywhere with Dropbox and Google Drive

Google and Dropbox have some ridiculously low-priced 1TB storage options. With so much space for so little money, what could you do with it? Well, for starters, you could turn them into your own personal media servers.

Chances are, if you're into rolling your own media machine, you've checked out services like Plex—our favorite media server—that allow you to stream from one of your devices to another. This is an excellent solution, but it also means you're limited by your own hardware and bandwidth. With Dropbox and Google Drive, that's all handled for you. You get your own space on the internet where you can access your media from anywhere you want. You'll just need a few tools to help you out.

First: Upload Your Files

Before you get started streaming files from Dropbox or Google Drive, you'll need to put something there. There are a few ways you can easily get your media into the cloud.

Use the Dropbox or Google Drive Client

Dropbox has a pretty great desktop client, but it wouldn't be hard to forgive you for eschewing the Google Drive client. While it works a lot like Dropbox, the syncing client was a little slower and less reliable than Dropbox when it first came out. However, if you want to upload your files en masse, it's a pretty easy option. You can also add Google Drive to your right click menu so it's even easier to get files onto Google's servers.

Save Files Directly From the Web to Google Drive

If you find files on the web you'd like to add to your collection, you can use the previously mentionedDownload to Dropbox extension to send it directly to Dropbox. For Drive, you can do the same thing with Google's own Save to Google Drive extension. You can use both for individual files or images of whole web pages.

Save Space with Play Music

For storing video or photos, Dropbox and Google Drive are the way to go. However, for music, you also have the option of uploading your collection to Google Play. The upside to using Play Music is that you can store up to 20,000 songs and they don't count against your storage limit. The downside, though, is that you're pretty much limited to Google's own app. If you're okay with using Play Music, this is can help avoid hitting that limit. However, if you'd prefer to use a different music player, stick with the above methods for uploading songs.

View Your Files

So, hours later, you've got the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe uploaded to your the cloud and you need to get your Avengers on. Depending on how you want to view your videos, you have a wide variety of options to choose from.

Watch Your Movies in Kodi (Formerly XBMC)

If you're using Kodi (the new name for XBMC) on your HTPC, you can use the dbmc and gdrive add-ons to connect your storage accounts. Load up the add-ons and you'll get a list of all the videos uploaded to your storage and click on them to stream them over the internet. You can check out our guide on XBMC add-ons for installation instructions here.

To make it a little bit easier to access your cloud files, you can add a shortcut to the Videos sub-section of the main menu. To enable this:

1. Go to System > Settings.
2. Select "Appearance."
3. Under "Skin" select "Settings."
4. Select "Add-on shortcuts."
5. Under "Home Page Videos Submen" select "Add-on 1."
6. Select the "dbmc" add-on.
7. Repeat for "gdrive."

Note: Depending on your custom skin, this option may be in a different location or might behave differently. These instructions are for the default "Confluence" skin.

Now, from the main menu, you can select the dbmc or gdrive add-ons from the Videos section at XBMC's main menu and play your videos right away.

Stream Your Videos to Chromecast

The Chromecast started out as a pretty-okay Netflix device. Now that the app floodgate has opened, though, there are tons of things you can do with it. One of those things is stream your video directly from Dropbox or Google Drive via Koush's AllCast app. In addition to streaming local media from your phone to your Chromecast, you can also pull up videos, photos, or music from your personal cloud storage.

Send to Your Gaming Consoles/DLNA TV

One of the most versatile ways to send media between devices is DLNA. With a DLNA streaming service, you can send your media to your Xbox, Playstation, or any number of supported televisions. To do this, you can use Plex Media Server—which, combined with Dropbox and Google Drive, will let you stream videos from your Drive storage right to any device in your home.

To use Plex to stream your content, first you'll need the premium service Plex Pass ($4/mo or $30/year). Once you have the upgraded account, open up the Plex web server and create a videos library (click the + button next to your server name and follow the wizard to add at least one folder from your computer). Once that's done, here's how to add your cloud storage content:

1. Go to Plex.tv and log in.
2. Click your Username in the top right corner.
3. Click Cloud Sync.
4. Authorize any accounts you want to access via Plex (both Dropbox and Google Drive are listed here).
5. Click "Launch" to open the Plex/Web server.
6. Open one of your video libraries in Plex/Web.
7. On the left side of the screen, click Sync.
8. Select "Cloud Sync" from the "Choose Destination" box that pops up.
9. Choose a title for this collection and click "Sync."

Now these videos will be added to your Plex library. This means anywhere you could stream your other media to is now a target for your cloud media. The process to stream content to your DLNA-enabled console will depend on the device. At the start of this section, you'll see a video on how to stream to an Xbox 360, but you can check out our full guide on turning your video game console into a streaming media center here.

Listen to Your Music (Without Google Play)

As stated before, if you want to use Play Music for your music library, all you need is the Music Manager app and Google's own services. However, if you elected to go the Dropbox/Drive route, there are a few apps you can use to access your music remotely without having to sync your entire library.

AudioBox is a Chrome-based music app that incorporates your music from both Dropbox and Google Drive (as well as Box.net, SoundCloud, and OneDrive). Android app Beat (not to be confused with anything by Dre) can similarly stream music stored in both storage services. On the iPhone, Vibe can do the same thing.