Dropbox unveils five new features for iOS to challenge the desktop

After one of Apple's main competitors had a wee problem with fiery phones recently, it's reasonable to expect there would be more people embracing iOS.

While working from your phone or tablet can be a lesson in convenience, often you still can't match the efficiency of working at your desk.

In a bid to change this (or at least close the gap), Dropbox are releasing a new iOS app, with five new mobile productivity features to make working on your iPhone or iPad faster and easier. These features include:

Sign PDFs right from Dropbox

Receiving a form, printing it, signing it, scanning it and then emailing it back can be a real hassle and time-eater. Dropbox's app snubs all this, and allows you to sign the PDF direct from your device.

Share Dropbox files in iMessage

The all-new iMessage integration means you can select Dropbox files from within iMessage and share them in-line with the conversation, rather than switching back and forth between apps.

Create and view files without unlocking your phone

Adding the Dropbox widget to your lock screen will allow you to quickly create, view and upload files, and even scan docs or receipts into Dropbox.

Stay up to date when you view files on mobile

The new app has a feature that notifies you as soon as someone saves a new version of a file you're viewing, allowing you to reload to see what's changed with just a tap.

Share screen time on your iPad with other apps

The app supports picture-in-picture, which means if you need to, you can watch a video from your Dropbox while working in another app.

The question is, will these features increase the productivity of using mobile devices enough to close the efficiency gap to the desktop? We can only wait and see.