Dropbox has been working on a new feature for some time now that will give Google Docs a run for its money. The new service is called Dropbox Paper, and it’s mean to make note taking inside of Dropbox simple and possible.

If you’re sick of Google Docs erasing random files (a real pain) or fed up for what Word can’t do, Dropbox Paper might be what you’ve been waiting for.

Beta First

At the recent Dropbox Open even in San Francisco, the company announced that it would be releasing Dropbox Paper in beta form in 2016. If you think that you’d be a good beta tester, you can ask the company to be a part of these first days. Some reviewers have had a chance to test Dropbox Paper already, and here’s what you can expect to find when the service does fully debut sometime in late 2016.

Dropbox wants Dropbox Paper to be a team collaboration tool much like Dropbox is. But, it can also be seen as a complete document editor - it has everything that Google Docs has, and combines elements of other note taking apps too.

Since it’s Dropbox, you will be able to work with Dropbox Paper, and then share what you have done with people that you are working with. So, as you can see, it really is a collaboration tool - but one that aims to make sharing note taking and documents simpler.

A Simple Tool

One of the things that I’m looking forward to the most about Dropbox Paper is that it will be simple to incorporate numerous types of files and text into Paper, so it won’t be hard to bring in other files to share with your team members through Dropbox Paper. But this tool is far better and more than what Google Docs has to offer. Dropbox Paper is not just limited to text.

Dropbox spent a good number of hours working on perfecting Dropbox Paper. The tool can be used to share simple text files, but you can also incorporate graphics files and even sound files into a shared folder.

You can even add social media posts to a file, and add voice files too. So, really, Dropbox Paper is a more well-rounded version of Google Docs - and that’s something that most people will find very useful in a team setting - you can even add a string of code.

Targeting Companies

It’s somewhat obvious that Dropbox is aiming at companies with Paper. But, Dropbox reps have also stated that the company will be happy if free users and premium users start to adapt Dropbox Paper. Even though Dropbox would be happier if major companies adopted Paper as their main collaboration tool (and began to pay for the service, presumably), if Dropbox can get some users to migrate from Google Docs that’s a winning situation.

As mentioned above, the new Dropbox Paper will only be in beta mode starting in 2016, so you’ll have to hang tight if you aren’t selected for beta testing. The full version that’s available to everyone should be out in late 2016.