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.]

Is that why my go***bleep** smarthome stopped working, cause all my tablets have stopped having access to the shared resources that dropbox synced.

Look. I like dropbox, a lot, but some of these decisions are incredibly hard to understand. What am I supposed to do, Dropbox, export each file in my music collection? Manually export every jpg that is used as a background? Export an entire website structure by hand, file by file?

Why are you making yourself so difficult to like? Make a dropbox folder in the root storage or whatever and sync there.

This is ridiculous. Either sync to all supported platforms or admit you can't - I can see and export files from a web browser, I don't need an app.

Also, hell, Dropbox, it worked until I opened the app it it forced me to update so it works, you just killed the feature cause newer users upgraded to a newer android. So an app that works on an OS that works just gets nuked cause you can't be bothered to keep the feature.

[simpson b.]

"Save a file to the Dropbox folder on your computer, and it will synchronize automatically to your mobile device. Cloud file sync is available on multiple devices and platforms, from Windows and Mac to mobile devices like iPhone, iPad and Android via the Dropbox mobile app."

Of course it syncs to my Android. You just have to open the app, wait for it while having internet, then select the file, then click export and it gets downloaded.

How is this not "syncing"? What do you mean you can just use a browser?

What do you mean the browser has a "download" option for a folder and the app doesn't, so you can download and unpack it?

What do you mean what is the point of the android app? It's for uploading the camera reel and ... erm. Well it's worse than the web interface but at least it has fewer features. Might be faster.

[Jay]

Hi everyone, we appreciate the feedback on how to improve the Dropbox mobile app.

This is the expected behavior of the Android app, so it wouldn't be possible to change it for offline files to be visible outside the app.

[crckrmn77]

Wrong answer @Jay !

The Android app used to function as people on this thread are asking for it to function. Perhaps you did not notice that many of the comments indicate that they preferred the prior functionality and want it restored. We know this is possible, because it used to function the way THE CUSTOMER wants.
Or is it just that Dropbox believes that they know best what the customer wants—even if the customer is telling them, "This is NOT what I want!"? You know, if business school taught me anything, it was that the number one rule of business is: "The customer is ALWAYS right." The second rule of business is: "If it happens that the customer is not right, refer to rule number one." Or, maybe, Dropbox has decided that its business is resilient enough that if the customer does not like the product, they can take their business elsewhere. There are alternatives. And, it seems that is where you are trying to send people. Not a sustainable model, if you ask me. But, you're not asking. The "Community" may just be a place you all created to see how your customers think you have screwed up your product and have a laugh at those customers. Good luck. 

[tashrobinson]

If Dropbox continues to insist that this is the correct behavior, when you removed the key feature of the application, namely the ability to sync files between devices, I can find another cloud provider... Bye

[tashrobinson]

It can't be that hard to implement, because IT USED TO WORK THIS WAY. It's not like we're asking for a new feature, just fix what you broke. Let me use my files offline with the program of my choice, like it used to be. No sure whose bright idea it was to change this, but it's the most idiotic idea any company ever had... Remove the feature people use your product for.

[otakuarchivist]

Just because it is the expected behavior does not mean it is not possible. It absolutely is possible and is exactly how it used to work until you removed the feature. Don't insult us with obvious lies about it not being possible.

[Здравко]

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@Jay wrote:
Hi everyone, we appreciate the feedback on how to improve the Dropbox mobile app.
...

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@Jay, The application for Android used to work in such a way, so... "to improve"... 🤷 There is nothing to improve! Just get back the feature available on versions 202.2.2 and earlier (and might be one more later).

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@Jay wrote:
...
This is the expected behavior of the Android app, so it wouldn't be possible to change it for offline files to be visible outside the app.

---

What are you saying? The versions I mentioned above are "impossible"?!... Strange... 🤔 Probably they are imaginary... They don't exist and never existed on the earth.

Oh... I forgot to mention that I'm using the version mentioned and it's working "as expected":

... As most people expect, not as you expect! 👆 So it's possible... definitely. 😉

[DukeGamma]

“This is the expected behavior of the Android app, so it wouldn't be possible to change it for offline files to be visible outside the app.”

…

Customer: “Dear restaurant, your food tastes like garbage. Please make your food not taste like garbage.”

Restaurant: “This is the expected flavor of the food, so it’s not possible to make it not taste like garbage.”

I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.

[merryt]

Seems like systems got re-architected, and this feature was a casualty of refactoring. Totally understand.

I know from a dollars and cents POV it doesn't matter, but if you needed a narrative to help validate this work getting added into the development pipeline. "@merryt has been referring users since 2010, helping convince companies to get business plans, and a paying member since 2014, but this feature along with a few others cut over the recent years were pivotal enough to a few work flows that he quit his plan in 2021"

I do understand and appreciate that these decisions happen. Thank you for letting us know that this feature isn't coming back @jay . Getting an official response is enough to say I am unsubscribing from this thread and abandon hope.

Cheers,

Tyler