Make offline files visible in the android filesystem

[andersmusikka]

I think you should make files stored offline on Android available in the file system.

As it is now, the dropbox files marked as 'available offline' are hidden from the rest of the operating system. This gives a number of problems:

1: When opening a file in an app, that app may put the file path in its 'most recently used documents'-list. However, since the path it gets from the Dropbox-app is not long-lived, the 'most recently used documents'-list becomes unusable, since the links on it become dead rather quickly.

2: It makes using browsing apps, like photo viewers or podcast players, on your offline files impossible.

3: Some apps expect content to be found on the file system. For example, the samsung app used to download content onto a samsung smart watch, expects to find files in the file system. It cannot be used to download files from dropbox onto the smart watch.

4: Sometimes a smart phone is used a bit like a computer. Like uploading files to an FTP-server and the like. A FTP-client typically expects to find files on the file system, and allows them to be selected and uploaded. This does not work with Dropbox.

A possible  work-around is to export the contents from the dropbox offline folder onto the phones regular file system. This is unsatisfactory because:

1) It feels cumbersome. The number of clicks to send a podcast episode to a smart watch, or to download a .pdf from dropbox and upload to an FTP-server, becomes a few too many.

2) For files which can be edited (like password manager saves, various profiles, text documents etc), the user needs to remember to copy the file back to Dropbox, which is very error prone.

Dropbox obviously already has technology to synk a file system folder with dropbox. Could not this functionality be offered on smart phones also?

[simpson b.]

I don't know what DB's policy on this is, some of the products that sync files also sync other cloud providers, like google, microsoft, mega, etc. Some are per-service and you can buy your own, some are one-size-fits-all. I don't want to advertise competition here. Especially since I am a paying customer of DB.

Just go to the Google store and type in "dropbox sync" and the results show 8 sync solutions from the top 12 or so results. I use the top rated one, I believe made by MetaCtrl. But I encourage you to look at the results as several apps out there work with dropbox and are way better. There's media players that work with remote media, password managers that use DB as a storage, there's decent backup apps.

Basically everything that we keep asking DB to do and won't. For example, the MetaCtrl software allows folder pairs and sync direction (as in, only sync this folder up and never down) to cut down on the risk of having 15 devices all have the same files and of one malfunctions or is tampered with they all crash. It's already implemented with camera roll sync in DB, camera roll is write only for DB so you can delete local images.

I know I'm giving you a roundabout answer to a point blank question but honestly there's so much to discover around DB that I feel everyone should at least look. Just read the description and look at the screenshots. It will be a well spent 10 minutes.

[NtTestAlert]

The fact that this doesnt work like that is utterly useless. I will be cancelling my pro, not even waiting till the trial ends. Might as well not have the app at all and only use web version in chrome on mobile. Who came up with the idea of REMOVING the only point of the goddamn service - file synchronization. This is a joke.

[Nilaim]

Definitely one more vote for this "feature" here. I cannot believe this design choice, it severely diminishes the value of Dropbox as a cloud service. Now I cannot do on my tablet or cell phone what I can do on my PC... It is truly unbelievable.

Dropbox is already lacking in terms of integrations with available apps on the mobile market, as most support other clouds, often natively. Now the only way to still use Dropbox in 3rd party apps is closed, this is a huge misunderstanding of the needs of many users.

Obviously no fix will be made in any reasonable time frame, so I'll look for another cloud storage that is actually living with its time.

[Simon1]

2.5 years later and still not fixed.  This list of comments likely only scratches the surface of the number of people who are affected by this (most people just wouldn't bother to comment).

People want to be able to edit the file with other apps and, when saved within that other app, have that sync to their DB account.

Does the DB team even read these comments?

[Simon1]

Do you know why they did this?

[DukeGamma]

"Does the DB team even read these comments?"

Doesn't matter. The overpaid, technologically illiterate suits with MBAs at the top have zero vision and cannot understand why someone would want this ability. 

[wowbro]

I need someone from dropbox to explain why this is so messed up. I used to love your service hiding the files on android phones is ridiculous. 

[tashrobinson]

Obviously Dropbox has no intention of reverting back to when they had a real useable sync solution. Not sure which genius decided the core feature i started using this product over a decade ago was no longer needed, but their decision is clear.

I cancelled my subscription and found another working solution. Goodbye Dropbox, it was good while it lasted, but you refuse to listen to the customers.

[MaxRavenclaw]

Would you be so kind as to share this alternative solution?

[konfilios]

Wow, users begging a file sync platform to sync their files on their phones. Maybe it's time to start looking for alternatives. Not just for the usability problem per se, but the utter disrespect of dropbox team ignoring people for more than 2 years.