Discontinuing Mobile Version

[bte52]

I received an email from Dropbox advising that my current Dropbox app will be discontinued soon and to go to the App Store to get new version. I did so an no new version was present. Only to download what I already have.

Prior to posting here I tried to contact support directly however it is necessary to pick your device from a drop down list and when I try the dialogue box will not populate and I’m not allowed to continue. There is no way to manually enter. You must choose from list. Thank you.

[ov7a]

First of all, I want to thank all Dropbox team for the great product and service they provide. I'm a proud user of Dropbox since the first release (like, since 2010 or 2011). For all these years, Dropbox was awesome and perfect.

But two recent news were a huge disappointment for me. The first one is about free device limit (3 devices). This one is understandable: each service needs money to run and the limit is reasonable.

The second one is ridiculous. Today I've got an email saying that I must upgrade a mobile app in 28 days to continue using dropbox. Seems legit at the first time, but the IOS app requires IOS 10 or higher. And I'm using Ipad mini 1 gen with IOS7. I know that is also ridiculous to use such "ancient" device (bought in 2013) in the era where year-old device is considered obsolete. But Dropbox is working on it. Perfectly.

And now I have two options: buy a new device (in 28 days, screwing all plans) or opt-out from Dropbox to an alternative.

I think that this is cancer. Dropbox really should reconsider this.

[Rich]

Is this an older iPhone or iPad that can't be upgraded to a newer version of iOS? Newer versions of Dropbox require iOS 10 or later. If your device can't be updated to iOS 10, you're stuck with whatever version of Dropbox is available to you in the App Store. Up until now, those older versions of Dropbox continued to work, though they lacked the improvements, features and security updates of the newer versions.

Unfortunately, it seems that Dropbox will be ending support for those older versions of the app and they will be prevented from connecting to Dropbox. If you're not able to update to a newer version, you'll either need to use the Dropbox website on that device, or upgrade to a newer device.

I'm in the same boat. I have an iPad 2 that works perfectly, but can't be upgraded beyond iOS 9, therefore it can't run the latest versions of the Dropbox app.

[SolJam]

Sorry I can't be more help.  I open dropbox app on my iOS and it automagically prompted to update which I did...no reason to download or reinstall.  I will have to check but I would image that I have autoupdate set which would take care of this.

I have an email report saying one of my end users has an out-of-date iOS app for dropbox.  You would think that dropbox support would make it easier to determine version numbers and end-of-life...nope, I have been searching and can't find such a creature.  Software companies...everything is not a link to start a download, publish your versions by OS where they are easy to find.

[Rich]

---

@ov7a wrote:

But Dropbox is working on it. Perfectly.

---

But that doesn't mean it will continue to work perfectly, even if Dropbox didn't make this change.

Older apps rely on older technologies that aren't always available in newer versions of an operating system. In order for Dropbox to be able to support newer devices and operating systems, they have to update their services on the back end (the servers you connect to). Often, that means leaving behind support for older technologies that are no longer secure or no longer supported by their own developers.

Nothing lasts forever, and this is especially true in the computing world. Just because something works today, doesn't mean it always will.

[SolJam]

Understood, ref. your reply.  However, the point I make is not that I want to stay on or have my end users stay on older version.  Much the contrary.  My point is that I should be able to go on the DropBox website and easily get a listing of past and current versions of Dropbox apps (desktop, mobile, etc.) by version and end-of-life.  You find this for Microsoft, Adobe, etc.  So, if it doesn't currently exist for Dropbox then it should.

[Rich]

My response was directed at ov7a's comment regarding older devices; not yours.

[Lusil · Accepted solution]

Hey peeps! Thanks for reaching out about this. 

As @Rich mentions, if the mobile OS version running on your device doesn’t meet the minimum requirements to install/update the latest version of the mobile app, you’ll have to update to at least the minimum version supported.

If you're not able to update to a newer version, you can use the website on that device or, if you already have the mobile app installed, you can continue using this version (but will not be able to install future updates).

Finally, please note that I’ve already shared your thoughts with the dev team regarding this. 

If you have any other thoughts or questions for us, please let us know. Thanks in advance!

[nnatale]

Hi

We are using several ipad 2. We are unable to update to ios 10. While there are plans to update the ipads in a few months, it is not feasible right now. Can you confirm that the app will still work on the older versions. We are getting an error msg to update no to avoid interruption.. 

[ov7a]

And today I've opened Dropbox on my ipad mini and it can not login. This is ridiculous. It is not even in dropbox security list.