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Forum Discussion
To Update or Not Update Dropbox for MacOS
After reading several threads about "Dropbox for macOS is now ready," I still question whether or not to update. I use a desktop Mac 5K, 27-inch (2017) with 3.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5, 16 GB, Ventura 13.4. I use Dropbox primarily to have files online and available to me on other devices. I rarely share from Dropbox but like knowing I can. When I read the update's "Learn more" info, I hesitate to update because
1. I don't know the consequences of moving the Dropbox folder to a new location.
2. I depend on having photos backed up in Dropbox, but I read that Apple no longer allows Photos Library to be synced over cloud-storage services.
3. I read "Customers with external drives will not be migrated to the updated Dropbox for macOS experience." I have a wireless hard drive for backups via Time Machine.
4. When I hover over the Dropbox icon on my Mac, it says my Dropbox is up to date with 175.4.5569. Does this mean Dropbox has already updated my app and that I didn't even notice?
I don't understand much of what I read from Dropbox on this topic. I welcome any advice from those who not only use computers as much as I do but understand more about the technical issues involved. (By the way, I saw no board selection that fits this issue. If I need to repeat the question on a different board, I welcome that advice, too.)
Thanks.
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From my experience I would say NO. While I don't care for the DB volume being moved into the Library, I could live with it, if it worked. But after updating:
- Favorite folders inside DB disappeared and can't be rebuilt.
- Basic file operations, copy, move etc take forever (interminable "Preparing" dialogs), if they happen at all. Usually the Finder locks up requiring a reboot.
- Eventually DB just stopped working. It will either start up endlessly, or stop and disgorge an error.
I've opened a ticket, but as of yet DB is dead on my main Mac. If you're going to update have a TimeMachine BU you can roll back to. My timing was off so my last (DB working) BU is 13.3.1. So I'd need to scrub, fresh install and migrate to get the old DB back. I'm hoping for a fix from support.
Thank you for responding to my post. I'm sorry you're having so much trouble, but I very much appreciate that you shared your experience with me. I use my Mac and Dropbox daily. I am a savvy tech *user,* but I am not a tech-savvy *fixer*. I think your advice is perfect for someone in my situation. Best wishes for getting answers and solutions from Dropbox or the Dropbox community.
We're now almost a year later, and I share your views completely.
I love dropbox, one of the best apps ever created, but this unexplained update read as a very scary thing, and one of the replies showed it was a bad thing.
Why mess with such a wonderful app?
Anybody has an update on whether the above-mentioned issues have been resolved?Thanks, Marc L.16. Nice to hear a perspective almost a year after I posted my questions. I'm getting messages DAILY from Dropbox "strongly recommending" that I update to Dropbox for macOS on File Provider. I feel better knowing that I'm not the only one who is hesitant to do so. Maybe others will comment on your call for updates.
Hey KentuckyFran, my real name is Marc [removed per Community Guidelines].
Yes, I hope this post of yours gains more traction and that Dropbox will move decisively to save one of the best apps every created. Ditch the daily calls to update to an inferior system and proudly restore the original functionality. The app was truly perfect as it was as I'm concerned, superior in a number of ways to its nearest and only competitor, Google Drive (it respects the way the users want to use their Macs and it has perfect history functionality and it is superbly easy to share links), so why mess with one of the world's best apps?
