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Forum Discussion
Syncing dropbox files on Android - third party apps?
Hi everyone,
As you may know, Dropbox doesn't sync files on Android any more as of last year or so (see this, for example). They used to be in sdcard>Android>data>com.dropbox.android>files,...
Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHey! Sorry for the delay here and happy Monday!
I just found a thread that will give you some interesting info on what you described, so you might want to take a look.
Other than that, we do appreciate the feedback and I will gladly pass it along to our team!
I just found a thread that will give you some interesting info on what you described, so you might want to take a look.
Other than that, we do appreciate the feedback and I will gladly pass it along to our team!
Hi Hannah,
Again, this only solves the issue for people who would like to get files downloaded locally. This is sufficient if you only concern is to be able to read a file (that will not get further modified, btw). I and others would like to be able to edit a file on our device and get it synced with the server. Kinda what Dropbox was meant for in the first place...
- HannahSyncing files locally was always intended mostly for the desktop application.
The mobile app was always pretty much a mirror of the website, but I do understand where you're coming from.
If you'd like, you can take a look at our App Center to see all our app integrations, in case any of them look useful.> Syncing files locally was always intended mostly for the desktop application.
Ever use Samsung Dex on a Phone? It is a desktop and something I use daily. Not being able to sync files is a complete show stopper. I edit a few files in Word for android every day. That can not be done with Dropbox as it exists now.
Thanks, that makes sense, although file accessible for edition on android was a thing earlier...
I didn't find anything to properly allow me to work on my notes on my phone, but thanks for the suggestion.
- I just wanted to let you know that I feel your frustration. I know this thread is nearly 2 years old, but I found it while researching why on earth we can't sync files on android.
You're very kind with the gentle way you've pointed out that this was an existing feature that was removed without explanation. "Maybe someday we'll have that feature" is an absurd answer considering that it used to work - it's obviously not some new feature that needs to be built, we know it CAN work because it DID work. Behaving as though it's some new idea that they'll consider trying to implement is bordering on insulting - a much better answer would be an explanation of why it was removed. "We overhauled our system and found that syncing android folders introduced security/transfer/reliability issues, so instead of scrapping the overhaul, we removed that feature" - fine, great, at least we know why.
Even if it's as simple as "too many people were opening tickets about android sync issues due to mobile network issues, so we decided it was no longer worth it to support them", that at least explains what happened, though I'd argue removing such a useful feature because it's "hard to support", without offering a workaround or at least a drop in price for the reduced functionality is a bad business practice.
Anyway,I appreciated your civility in the face of... Well, lies, essentially, and commiserate with you about the loss of this functionality. My understanding is that dropsync is the most widely accepted alternative, but it's a shame this core feature has no first party support. I hope you found something that works well for you, and wish you well.
