Why is the Dropbox Desktop App no longer available?

[thecandidate]

The dropbox desktop app had such a great user interface and was a good workflow for our team.. unfortunately as of 17 Jan 2022, it has been dropped.. I wonder why this change was made, and i'm just hoping the application is being improved instead of being killed.

What we enjoyed out of the desktop app was the ability to pin specific files to the main dropbox for quick access, which everyone was able to identify quickly. with the Finder app, it was hard to see pinned items, and with the website, its a redundant process – requiring lots of extra steps – having to open up the website to identify the folder before pinning them. the website does not give as much visual cues as the desktop app previously had. 

Please, dropbox, #bringitback! 

[JohnRBusterBrown]

The Dropbox Desktop App works with three  other programs that I use - TxDocs, ScanSnap Home, and MyCase.  The web app does not work with any of them.  This is a problem.   Also, it would be nice if Dropbox Professional worked with those three programs and if I could use and pay for the HelloSign unlimited signatures add on to my DropBox package.  But without the Desktop App or at least its capabilities and interface with the other programs, I really don't need Dropbox.

Second Question:  Can I have two DropBox packages at the same time.  I need Professional and either the Personal or the Family package, especially if one package works with the HelloSign addon and my other programs and another does not.

[ThiagoGamer]

¡Hola! En primer lugar, espero que tu pregunta haya sido respondida, ¡pero de todos modos lo haré por ti! La aplicación de Dropbox sigue funcionando y es pública para su descarga. Te dejaré el enlace de descarga y mi enlace de referencia. Prefiero usar la segunda, pero te dejo con ambas opciones. ¡Espero que te ayude!

directo:https://www.dropbox.com/download?plat=win

[removed per the Community's Guidelines]

[Walter]

Hey @JohnRBusterBrown, sorry for the late response here. Are you still having issues?

When it comes to your second concern, note that connecting accounts is available to Dropbox users on one of our Business plans.

Basic, Plus, Family, and Professional accounts  on the other hand can't be linked with each other. Also, Dropbox Business accounts can't be linked with other Dropbox Business accounts. 

[John Rice]

You continue to tell us to tell you what we want, and EVERYONE on this thread has been perfectly clear.  BRING BACK THE VERY USABLE, VERY USER FRIENDLY DESKTOP APP.  Without this functionality, I no longer have any reason to avoid Microsoft's OneDrive or Google's Cloud, as they offer the integration that you formerly did.  

[hmedia]

It's funny to see all the people complain about the Dropbox experience and the Dropbox company over this thing disappearing.  It's a little bit similar to the sentiment that was on these very forums when it suddenly appeared, and people were totally ticked that Dropbox were spending their efforts on useless and intrusive UI widgets and integrations instead of their industry-leading sync technology, and the backend that separates them from everyone else and keeps our data safe.  (the difference being there were a lot more complaints about this thing than the handful of people who've become dependent on it and regret to see it go).

For what i suspect is the vast majority of users, its good riddance to the st00pid widget app, and a surprising response from Dropbox staff showing a real humility, and clearly valuying the customer first beyond anything else to be able to face the reality of it's epic failure and let it go.  Kudo's to them for that.

The rest of you, respectfully, learn how to use a computer and store files properly, and you too will be glad the PITA widget is gone!

Cheers.

[hmedia]

Not everyone

[sethhasty]

or perhaps different industries have different workflows and needs?   

I computer rather well, most likely not as well as someone who puts security over ease of use / collaborating on creative projects... but then again, I don't lock my car door when I go into a store either so 🤷‍:male_sign:

anyway... my process has been a mess since the desktop went away and I hate that I am still a Dropbox sub, but alternatives are not much better.  

i dont understand why it couldnt just be a simple on/off ..... I can use it, and you could turn it off for your high skill computer skills.   

[rachoo78]

First of all, my content is definitely not safe with dropbox.  All my data and edits since Dec 27, 2021 are all gone!  I've been using dropbox for years and I last edited docs on June 4, 2022.  I've been editing files everyday this year, but those edits are all gone.  I go to Europe for 2 weeks, come back and all my files reverted back to Dec 27, 2021 and Jan 17, 2022.  Dropbox support is not helping and they can't figure out why my edits got deleted.  They just keep telling me that I haven't accessed anything in my dropbox since Dec 27, 2021.  Really??  All my finances, photos, work expenses....ALL GONE!  I'm furious!  I didn't receive any notifications that the desktop app was being discontinued.  I would have backed up all my files to Google Drive.  I'm in the process of transferring ALL my dropbox files to other sources because dropbox cannot be trusted!  I will then close my account.  I have already told everyone I know to get rid of their dropbox because content is not safe there.

[Jay]

Hi @rachoo78, the Dropbox desktop application still exists, and has always been around since it was introduced. The only thing that changed was the relatively recent file navigator in the desktop app, which was introduced and then discontinued later. 

The icon in the system tray/menu bar is technically the Dropbox desktop application, as when you click it, you can access your preferences for the app.

When the file navigator app was discontinued, nothing else was removed, so your files should still have been syncing via the tray icon. 

However, from what you've described, it's possible that either the files weren't syncing properly, or there's other issues such as a second Dropbox account involved.

[rachoo78]

Thanks @Jay for your response.  However, my dropbox was syncing properly up until around June 4, 2022.  I last accessed my files on that date and everything was there.  It even stated that I last modified my documents on June 4, 2022.  Now when I go into the exact same spot I have always accessed my files, it says last modified Dec 27, 2021 and anything I added after that date is gone.  I don't have a separate dropbox account and never have.  Dropbox did some type of update between June 4 and June 19th that reverted my account back to 2021.  I thought maybe it was an excel issue, or Microsoft issue, but it's definitely a dropbox issue since ALL my dropbox files have been affected.  I have contacted my attorney since this has caused so much anguish and stress and I will be using hundred of hours to try and recreate what has been lost.  Some data like photos are just permanently gone, unfortunately.  This has happened in the past, but only affected one file, that I know of and I just recreated the spreadsheet.  I complained to dropbox and they couldn't do anything about it.  Luckily I had copies of that file that I had emailed to people.  But this time, it affected my personal and business finances, which is unrecoverable.