ES File Explorer adds SkyDrive and an FTP server

ES File Explorer is an excellent file manager to handle files and folders on your phone and in the cloud, and to pingpong them back and forth to your computer. It creates and extracts zip archives too, and it opens rar files. It comes with a couple of optional plugins. The app manager can back up apps like Titanium (which won't back up itself), and the bookmark manager is very good at sending shortcuts to files and folders to your homescreens.

ES File Explorer already connected to Dropbox, SugarSync, and box, and now it lets you into SkyDrive too. That's good news, because SkyDrive gives you more free storage space than its competitors.

Of course it still supports Samba servers, and it still works as an FTP client. The FTP client now does FTPS too, which helps keep your files safe from eavesdroppers.

Great new feature: ES File Explorer now comes with a built-in FTP server! This makes it a lot easier to transfer files from your phone to your computer and the other way 'round. Unfortunately the new FTP server is very well hidden. You have to open the settings, then go into the remote settings screen, and only then you'll find the on/off switch for the FTP server which is counterintuitively called "remote manage."

Urgently needed in the next update: an on/off switch for the FTP server right in the main menu. Even better: just give the FTP server its own tab next to the local file manager, the FTP client, and the cloud storage tab. That tab could have an on/off switch with plenty of room left for the IP address, port number, etc.

Keep in mind that if you enter system folders with root access enabled ES File Explorer will generate a bit of network traffic. The amount of data is barely enough to send out some usage statistics, but unfortunately the developer of ES File Explorer leaves us guessing what's inside those bytes. If all of you ask about it in your Google Play Store comments or email the developer (contact@estrongs.com) maybe we'll find out?

• ES File Explorer (Google Play Store)