Dropbox Paper Android locks up on editing

[dsa157]

Hi all

I am using Paper v255.1.2 on an Android Pixel 3 Phone

EVERY time I go to edit a document, within seconds, the screen will freeze. In about 30 seconds to a minute, I'll get a dialog box asking if I want to kill the app or wait. If I wait, eventually, I will be able to edit for a while until the next freeze.

Obviously this makes the app pretty unusable, but I haven't see other reports of this behavior so it may be something specific to my environment.

I have tried clearing the cache, clearing local storage, uninstalling, reinstalling. Nothing fixes this issue. Please help!

[Megan]

Hi @dsa157, welcome to our Community! 

Have you updated your phone to its latest OS? 

Also, feel free to send me some screenshots of what you see on your end when this happens, so I can have a visual. 

Keep me posted!

[dsa157]

Hi @Lori -

Thanks for the reply. I am on the latest version of Paper and Android 11. 
I was talking to support on Twitter, and they actually provided a workaround.

The app only locks up when I have any other app running. If I kill all other apps and open Paper alone, I can edit properly without any freeze/lockup.

This is an acceptable workaround temporarily, but I think that DropBox should be aware of whatever  issue is casuing this lockup problem.

[Megan]

Hey @dsa157, I hope you're doing well!

Your feedback on Paper has been really helpful, and I will make every effort to ensure that your voice is heard.

We listen to your needs because it allows us to fully appreciate how Dropbox fits into and influences your daily routine.

I'll do all in my power to make sure your voice is heard.

If you need us, we're right here.

[dsa157]

FYI, the workaround doesn't always work. There are times I am still experiencing the lockup when Paper is the only app running.

[johnfitzw]

The Android Paper app ALWAYS has frozen once the file sizes are more than just a few kb for as long as I've been using it (over 3 years). It has nothing to do with the latest version. It's hopeless, really. I don't bother with editing Paper files anymore - it's unusable on Android. I just use the Dropbox functions.

[SharkTank]

I have the exact same experience on Android. It frequently locks up when trying to edit. Eventually it unfreezes and lets you edit. It's maddening. My suspicion is that it has something to do with checklist/tasks items, because I have a lot of them across a lot of docs since I use. It is unfortunate because I otherwise find the app quite useful. Instead I am trying a different product. 

[dsa157]

What other apps are you looking at. I really like Paper and switched over from OneNote, but I agree that this is a deal breaker bug and the Dropbox team has no interest in fixing it. I need a migration took tho, since I have so many Paper documents

[SharkTank]

I've looked at a few of them. My main use cases are checklists, todo/task lists, and general note taking (ie. bulleted lists). NOT mind-map hyperlinking type stuff. I've started using UpNote and have been pretty happy with it as an alternative. It's very similar to Paper in a lot of ways, minus the collaboration features, which I never used anyway. Evernote is another good alternative, but I find it to be a bit too slow and heavy.

UpNote doesn't have a web-based app. It uses dedicated apps on Windows, Android, etc. I'm fine with that.

With the paid version, you can do import/export. I've exported all my notes out of Paper as Markdown, but I haven't had time to try the import yet. One warning when exporting all your notes out of Paper -- it updates the "Viewed recently" date for every doc you export! Madness! And since Dropbox forces us to sort our docs by "viewed recently" instead of more useful last edited date, it totally screws up your sorting order. Utterly ridiculous. I'm looking at other tools because of things like that.

You may find this youtube video useful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OywdK-GIDnw