Camera Uploads not syncing in background when DB APP is off

[Dennis01]

My photos don't continue to sync in the background with my computer when the App is off on my phone.  My understanding is that it is supposed to continue syncing while I am doing other things - it doesn't.  Can anyone tell me why?  I have triple checked the settings, but I could be missing something.

Thanks,

Dennis

[Dennis01 · Accepted solution]

I'm still not sure exactly what the threshold distance is to activate background uploading, but I have tested and confirmed that it works as-advertised.  I drove to a local establishment today that was about 1/2 mile away and checked "camera uploads" on my PC when I got back.  The test photo I took last night had uploaded and was present.

Thanks,

Dennis

[devsam]

Hi, I purchased dropbox family plan and realized that Camera Uploads don't work for iphone 13 pro that my parent uses.

The background refresh is on for dropbox, battery is fully charged and charger is connected, camera uploads is turned on. The os is up to date and so as the dropbox itself. I tried turning off camera uploads and turning back on as well, but no luck. (In fact, deleting and re-installing doesn't work as well). Also, it's not the space issue because we've only consumed 1% so far.

Note that the app is running on background (not even "closed"), but still I have to "open" the app (meaning I need to bring dropbox to foreground) for uploads to work. I even waited days, but camera uploads are not happening unless I actually bring the app to foreground.

This is quite frustrating because the one who's using the phone isn't too keen on tech, and its highly likely that the person won't open the app to sync the data every now and then.

I've canceled the icloud subscription so that we can use the dropbox on family plan, but with this buggy functionality, I mind as well change my android phone to iphone and start using icloud instead.

[Megan]

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

Have you chosen the app to "Allow While Using App" in the location access? 

This setting can be changed to Always manually by going to the Settings app, and looking under "Privacy" > "Location". Could you check? 

Thanks a bunch!

[devsam]

Hi, I purchased dropbox family plan and realized that Camera Uploads don't work for iphone 13 pro that my parent uses.

The background refresh is on for dropbox, battery is fully charged and charger is connected, camera uploads is turned on. The os is up to date and so as the dropbox itself. I tried turning off camera uploads and turning back on as well, but no luck. (In fact, deleting and re-installing doesn't work as well). Also, it's not the space issue because we've only consumed 1% so far.

Note that the app is running on background (not even "closed"), but still I have to "open" the app (meaning I need to bring dropbox to foreground) for uploads to work. I even waited days, but camera uploads are not happening unless I actually bring the app to foreground.

This is quite frustrating because the one who's using the phone isn't too keen on tech, and its highly likely that the person won't open the app to sync the data every now and then.

I've canceled the icloud subscription so that we can use the dropbox on family plan, but with this buggy functionality, I mind as well change my android phone to iphone and start using icloud instead.

I previously posted this question but for some reasons my question got merged to this thread: https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Create-upload-and-share/Camera-Uploads-not-syncing-in-background-whe... and I'm not able to reply to it. I'm reposting this so that this issue gets proper attention.

One of the Dropboxers suggested to turn on location services. Dropbox mobile app no longer uses location services for camera uploads. It's even stated here: https://help.dropbox.com/account-settings/location-data and also in this community thread: https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Apps-and-Installations/Dropbox-not-showing-in-location-services-on-i... (answered by Jay).