Forum Discussion

sbergenh's avatar
sbergenh
Explorer | Level 3
3 years ago

Time zone changes affect file names in Camera Uploads (iOS)

I’m currently working and living in different countries in different time zones (one-hour difference). During my work trips, I take hundreds of photos of archival documents and other research materia...
Camera uploads
Mobile
sync
upload
Brett G.3's avatar
Brett G.3
Explorer | Level 4
2 years ago

Dropbox has no business renaming photos. Period. 

How can I set dropbox to not alter the photo file names created by my phone? My Android phone gives my photos easy to search chronological names. Dropbox destroys that.

Jay's avatar
Jay
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
2 years ago

Hi Brett G.3, if you're using the automatic camera uploads feature, then it isn't possible to disable the renaming of the files.

 

To keep your original file names, you'll need to upload the images manually to your account via the app.

  • Brett G.3's avatar
    Brett G.3
    Explorer | Level 4
    2 years ago

    hi Jay, Why is that? why would any backup software rename files? Why would any software add periods to file names - that is a poor naming convention and is highly frowned upon.

    Brett

  • Brett G.3's avatar
    Brett G.3
    Explorer | Level 4
    2 years ago

    BTW, I'm on an Android phone not ios.

     

    What is the best way to de-duplicate the files now? I have the original version and the renamed version. 

    That happened because auto back up would not backup videos although I saw today that dropbox now has the ability to backup videos and I've turned that on. 

    Will videos also be renamed? 

    • Jay's avatar
      Jay
      Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
      2 years ago

      The option to backup videos has been there since the feature was introduced. Videos likewise would also be renamed to show the data and time they were created.

       

      While I personally don't know the reasoning behind why the files are renamed, I imagine that it makes it easy to locate a specific photo or video given the date and time, regardless of which device was used. Since each device names files differently, it would be hard to find the correct file if you have differing naming conventions across every device.

       

      It wouldn't be possible to deduplicate the files, however, since you know that the files were renamed, you could sort in alphabetical order and delete the ones generated by Dropbox.

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