Can't set passcode on mobile app

[tbox]

I have an Android phone (Android 12) and installed Dropbox on my phone and the app is not allowing me to set a passcode. I click the slider to enable passcode and it prompts me for passcode and then says "Passcode set", but the slider unsets itself and the passcode doesn't get set.

Any suggestions?

[Nancy · Accepted solution]

Hey @tbox, welcome to our forum!

Can you send me the app version that your Dropbox app is running on your phone? 

Also, I’d like you to clear the app’s cache via its settings and reinstall it on your device, before trying to set a passcode again. 

Let me know how this goes.

[tbox]

Thanks for your reply Nancy.

I am using version 280.2.2 of the app and I did as you suggested. That seems to fix the problem for me.

Thanks again!

[Nancy]

That’s great to hear, @tbox!

If you need anything else, I’ll be around the forum.

Cheers!

[marvf]

I have the same problem using 310.2.2 on a galaxy s22 running Android 13. Deleting the cache and reinstalling the app does not fix this. It's a dangerous flaw in that anyone gaining access to my phone while it's unlocked has access to Dropbox. I cannot set a fingerprint without having a passcode configured, so I must log off after each use of Dropbox which is a hassle.

[Hannah]

Thanks for the nudge here, @marvf, and sorry to see you're having trouble with this.

Did you restart your device at all, after clearing the app's cache or before reinstalling?

If that doesn't help, can you give us a more detailed description of the issue?

[marvf]

Yes I just tried that. I deleted the cache I uninstalled Dropbox, and then I restarted my phone and re installed Dropbox. The 1st time I try to configure a passcode it allows me to do it however when I log off and start Dropbox again, there is no fingerprint offered even though I had configured that when I configured the passcode. And when I log in again using my email and password the configure passcode is back to off. When I try at that point to set it, it prompts me to enter a passcode twice which I do. After that it shows me the configure passcode screen with the slider set to off. When I move it to on, The Dropbox app once again prompts me twice for a passcode and keeps repeating that behavior.

[Hannah]

Thanks for the update here, @marvf.

The thing is that it's expected that the passcode will no longer be enabled/valid, if you sign out of the app and then back in.

If you're able to access the passcode, can you just close the app and re-open it, instead of signing out, to see if the passcode sticks?

[marvf]

It does stick if you simply close the program and reopen it. At that point the fingerprint/passcode prompt pops up. So it is working. I had expected that a passcode setting would survive a log out. But as you now have explained, it doesn't. However once one is logged in with the passcode disabled, should one be able to enable and disable it repeatedly, or as I seem to have experienced, one gets one chance to enable it? I'll experiment.

[marvf]

OK. Here's the issue now. If you log out of the program while the passcode is set, then when you log in again the passcode is off as expected. However when you try to set it you can't. So I have to delete the data and the cache and then I am able once again to enable the passcode . It seems that logging out with the passcode on creates an issue for the program and that it thinks the past code is still present even though it is turned off. So one must delete the data and the cache in order to get back to the initial condition allowing the passcode to be set.