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Re: 25k API restrictions for indvidual/free users? Weird incentives for devs and hurting app develop

25k API restrictions for indvidual/free users? Weird incentives for devs and hurting app developer

thelwang
Helpful | Level 7
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We're adding dropbox upload/download to our app....I don't really use dropbox myself so help me figure all of this out. 

 

Reading around the Dropbox website says that apps that connect to free or indivudal users have no API limit, but apps that connect to business have a 25k limit for file upload calls? Is this right? business users pay the most so would think it's the other way around?

 

Also since it's an API limit and not a byte limit, that means when uploading files in hunks I want to use the biggest hunk size possible to reduce the API calls?  Also since the piece meal upload has a complete step, it'll always take at least 2 calls to upload a file with that.  That means uploading 12500 files in hunks that'll take up at least entire 25000 api call limit?? Even more if the hunk size is smaller.

 

Is it then good advice to upload all files smaller than 100MB with the one shot uploader, and use the piece by piece uploader for larger files? smaller hunk sizes are nicer for reliability, so it bad I have to give up relability for this API limit.  Don't understand why this is an API call limit and not a size limit.  Uploading in hunks is much nicer on phones that have bad connections that come in and out but this pressues us not to use it.

 

I really think the limit should be a total size limit or # of files updated limit to avoid this weird pressure on people making apps.  No reason someone uploading a 1GB file in 10MB hunks should have to cost a company 1000 api calls (4% of their entire total combined API limit for every person).  Just count the file updates instead.

 

We're just worried business users will not want to use our app if we hurt their limit too much or worse than that the owners of the business accounts will ban all individual apps.

 

 

Can the fine people of DROPBOX clarify what the situation with all this is and put up guides? I didn't see the 25000k limit anywhere on the developer docs or developer blog post but knew to research it from other people complaining.

 

I'm worried that in time that business will stop users from linking apps like ours because of the API limit. Also its bad news for all the old apps that used a really small hunk size since now they're gonna be hurting the API limit.  I bet lots of team with more than ~50 people will want to stop their people from using individual apps like ours. 

 

Help me understand why app makers shouldnt be worried?

1 Accepted Solution

Accepted Solutions

Greg-DB
Dropbox Staff
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Apologies, it looks like this thread was caught by the spam filter for some reason. I've restored it.

I see you posted a new thread for this, so I've closed this one in favor of the new one:

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/API-support/dropbox-API-call-upload-limits-confirming-some-things-an...

View solution in original post

1 Reply 1

Greg-DB
Dropbox Staff
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Apologies, it looks like this thread was caught by the spam filter for some reason. I've restored it.

I see you posted a new thread for this, so I've closed this one in favor of the new one:

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/API-support/dropbox-API-call-upload-limits-confirming-some-things-an...
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