Time Left in Sync has been removed from the desktop app

[mcfinney]

The dropbox menu bar app has stopped showing the time left in the current sync in the bottom of the window. It shows a seemingly irrelevant progress bar but even hovering over that does not tell me the time left to sync, which I have depended on to let clients know when files will be there. Hovering over only gives me the option to pause syncing. Was this feature removed or is this a bug in the latest update?

I'm on Mac OS Sierra 10.12.6

[Tim K.28]

Yup agreed pathetic. Will be looking for an alternative option if this feature is gone. It also seems to be uploading waaaaaay slower then last version.

[LuisA1]

Hi everyone,

I’m a member of the Dropbox desktop application team.

First off, I’d like to thank you all for your feedback on this. 

Earlier this year, we removed the time to sync estimate from the Dropbox menu and replaced it with a progress bar as we believed it would be a better measure of true progress of your files syncing, rather than the time to sync estimates.

That said - we’ve heard you! We have decided to bring back the time to sync estimate in an upcoming build of the Dropbox desktop application!

Once this build is released, you should automatically see the time to sync estimate again. We will also update you here as soon as the version with the time estimate is available. 

We truly appreciate all of your feedback, it’s very important to us to make Dropbox work for our users. Thank you! 

[ElJayBronxNY]

Hi, LuisA1.

Thank you for your reply. It's good news to people on Dropbox that this feature is coming back, but I want to point out that your visit to this issue was the FIRST TIME since March 29 that an employee of Dropbox bothered to come here and talk to us. 

As a result, several of us, including me, have signed on with a competing service (Sync) that offers more space for the same money and has a time-to-sync notification. 

In addition to writing here, we have tried to deal with tech support and beg them to bring this issue to your team. Their explanations for the change were not satisfactory and they have little empowerment to do anything real to help us. 

Feel free to reach out again to discuss this breach of trust and appropriate customer service that has caused many to jump ship. 

While at the moment I remain a member of Dropbox as well, my intention is to transition to Sync over a short while. This would NOT HAVE HAPPENED if your team had responded sooner to this. 

[rosephotosau]

 Totaly agree ElJayBronxNY! Months, hundreds of comments and 9,000 views of this thread - not to mentinoed the hours each of us spent to the online chats reps - later, we *finally* get a response to an insane issue that should never have been an issue at all. I think it all begs the questions that we'd all love to know, why on earth would the application team remove the feature that many rely upon in the first instance? Still giving  sync a trial anyway as this whole thing has made me lose confidence in db.

[graystate]

Well I'm stunned. On the one hand, yes it's great that Dropbox actually seemed to have listened, it's coming back and maybe I'll get some sleep now, however, on the other hand, I can't believe this happened in the first place and that Dropbox have been so lax in dealing with the issue and the ridiculous amount of distressed people posting on this thread. The thanks we finally got for our feedback was nice, but an apology for the massive inconvenience this has caused so many users would have been nicer. I sincerely hope the genius who came up with the idea of removing it has been fired.

[Daphne]

Hey @Alex_Basis_HH,

I’ve merged your thread here as there was a recent update regarding your initial query. Please check the solution here, you will be able to follow this space easier now for future updates!

Thanks!

[birdonarock]

I agree with others that this was crazy for Dropbox developers to remove.  Knowing the actual time left syncing is CRUCIAL.  I don't think I ever have a client or colleague on the phone without saying "Dropbox says there's 22 minutes (or whatever time) left" to sync.  The bar is a nice addition but the time left is so important, especially to those of us who work remotely.  Maybe in the future ask users about key design features?  Hope the update is up as soon as possible!

[TomRossSteen]

I'd like my name added to the list that would like the 'time remaining' feature returned to Dropbox. I'm uploading a Red camera file to a VFX house right now and they've asked me how long it will take.... 'I've no idea' is the only answer I can give them.

[mrahmadawais]

It has been months, hundreds of comments here, and thousands of views — no new update and the time to sync is still broken. Looks like Dropbox doesn't care anymore!

After years of using Dropbox, I probably will also be switching away now.

[JHargreaves]

That's great 'n all but it still hasn't happened and it needs to happen now, not after breakfast, not after CSI, NOW!! It is utterly beyond comprehension how anybody could have imagined that stripping the UI of its most valuable piece of in flight information only to replace it with a "progress bar" that only tells you that "er..... like ... something's happening dude.... but.... that's all I can tell you..... so check back with me in a few minutes and .... maybe ..... you know.... I'll have moved a bit...... or not...... whatever" It just screams loud and clear that DropBox developers (and their line managers) are a bunch of pale sun-starved millennial propellerheads who all got excellent grades at school and all think they're the bomb but have absolutely no idea what their product actually does and how their customers actually interact with it. It wasn't broke. It didn't need fixing. Now it does so GET IT DONE. NOW!!!!!!!!! Before this turns into your "New Coke" moment.