Best Practice - Choosing Apps

Adding apps to your account is a great way to leverage Box’s open platform to do even more with your content. Plus, you can pick as many as you like.

Quick Tip: Consider the programs you're currently using - then search for those apps in Box. You may be surprised at how many integrations are available!

Official Box Apps

Official Box Apps are applications that are built directly by Box, using native Box APIs. Below are the main categories of Official Box Apps:

• Desktop Apps
• Android Apps
• iOS Apps
• Server Apps
• Mobile Web and Accessibility

Adding Apps to Your Box Account

To find an app, click your profile image (or initials) in the upper right-hand corner of your screen, and then click Apps in the drop-down menu. From there, browse for what you’re seeking (or use the search field to find it directly).

To see the apps you’ve already added, click My Applications. You can add or remove apps in one step.

Click on the app's name to read more about what it does, look at the screenshots to learn how it interacts with your Box account or read reviews to find out what other Box users have to say. We'll never charge you for apps you've enabled, but some apps do require a separate subscription to use.

Recommended Apps displays a list of curated applications that your account holders can use with files in Box. Using recommended apps saves time you might otherwise spend searching for an application and figuring out how it works with Box, and also makes accessing a third-party app's functionality easier and faster.

Admins: Choosing Apps for Your Enterprise

As an admin, you can customize the work environment for your users by enabling or disabling apps.

Third-party apps

To enable or disable third-party apps, in the left-hand sidebar of your Admin Console, click Apps. Then in the top of the window, click Box Apps & Integrations and scroll down to the Global Apps Settings section.

The Individual Application Controls section concerns apps, such as Slack, Salesforce, or G Suite, that integrate with your Box account. They empower you seamlessly to edit documents, work with spreadsheets, digitally sign contracts, and more -- right from Box. By adding apps to your account, you create a direct link between Box and your favorite services.

Box enables you to choose three states for third-party apps in your enterprise.

• Disabled: Disabling an app prevents your team from using the app in their Box accounts. Use this setting if there’s an app you do not want to be connected to your Box account.
  • We’re always partnering with third-party developers to bring you more useful apps, so do keep an eye on the list of available ones in the App Gallery.
• Available: If an app here is set to Available, your users can add it to their Box accounts. This is the default setting for all Box apps.
• Added by Default: This setting automatically adds the app to your users' Box accounts. Use this setting if you want all of your users to be able to access a specific application immediately, or if your team is already using it and you need to link it by default to your account.

Global app settings

Three options are available for added third-party apps:

1. Published Applications
2. Secure Connection
3. Default Editor

• To disable all published applications by default, check Disable published third party apps by default. Published applications include all applications in the Box App Gallery and in the Admin Console under Apps > Box Apps & Integrations.
• To disable Web app integrations that do not use a secure connection, check Require web app integrations to use secure connections (SSL).
• Select which applications to use for viewing Word, PowerPoint, and Excel Office files in the Default Editor section.

Box apps

To enable or disable Box applications, in the left-hand sidebar of your Admin Console, click Apps. Then in the top of the window, click Box Apps & Integrations.

In the Official Box Apps section, you can quickly locate and disable the integrations of Box apps (Box Drive, Box Mobile, Box Notes, and so on) specifically. By default Box app integrations are enabled, and we do not recommend you disable them.