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Forum Discussion
Dropbox MacOS extension supporting > Monterey?
Hi. I've just upgraded my Mac to MacOS Monterey and received the warning below. Apple recommends that I contact Dropbox about this, and though I am a paying customer, the only support mechanism tha...
- Hi GregHutchings, thanks for reaching out.
First of all, please ensure that you're signed into your paid account in order to see all available support options.
This message is about how a component will behave on a future release of a macOS. There's no change in the way Dropbox will work on your computer (and your data will continue to be accessible, too).
We're hard at work on full support for online-only files on future macOS versions. In the meantime, if you have any issues opening online-only content, you can still do so by double clicking on your files in Finder.
Let me know in case you need something else!
Nancy
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHi GregHutchings, thanks for reaching out.
First of all, please ensure that you're signed into your paid account in order to see all available support options.
This message is about how a component will behave on a future release of a macOS. There's no change in the way Dropbox will work on your computer (and your data will continue to be accessible, too).
We're hard at work on full support for online-only files on future macOS versions. In the meantime, if you have any issues opening online-only content, you can still do so by double clicking on your files in Finder.
Let me know in case you need something else!
First of all, please ensure that you're signed into your paid account in order to see all available support options.
This message is about how a component will behave on a future release of a macOS. There's no change in the way Dropbox will work on your computer (and your data will continue to be accessible, too).
We're hard at work on full support for online-only files on future macOS versions. In the meantime, if you have any issues opening online-only content, you can still do so by double clicking on your files in Finder.
Let me know in case you need something else!
I understand that software is hard. I'm a developer myself. However, these changes that Apple is making in macOS are not coming out of the blue. Monterey has existed and been available to developers since June of last year (2021). There are several developer talks about new APIs around file system extensions and other tech that Dropbox needs to adopt to continue being supported. Similarly, the new Apple Silicon platform has been out for even longer, and we just now hear how Dropbox is working hard to bring an app that runs native on M1. To be fair, many companies have struggled to release M1 compatible apps. If available, I'd love more insight into what the engineering challenge is to bring Dropbox up to compatibility with the new file system APIs from Apple.
I really want Dropbox to win. There are so many things I love about it. But the amount of time it takes to even keep up with macOS from a year ago doesn't inspire confidence that Dropbox prioritizes the core experience that users like me are paying for: an awesome, lightweight, always works Desktop integration for file storage. I'm rooting for you, Dropbox! Now go and do the thing.
When Dropbox arrived on the scene, the way they synchronized files across computers was like magic! But these days, that's old hat, and there are lots of competitors. With so many people moving to mobile, and to web based applications, there is less need for synchronization, or even "files" (!). Dropbox, the file synchronizing product, is no longer new, innovative, and exciting (it remains extremely useful, just not "new"), and Dropbox, the company, is struggling to find a way to stay relevant.
So they don't seem to care about the "old" product, even though that is really their bread and butter. They're grasping for some reason, any reason for people to still care about them. So we get ridiculous things like "Paper", while the core product slowly rots. And we are left to wonder if we should stick with Dropbox, or look for alternatives.
Hi Nancy,
It's been months since you said "soon", and it's been years since Apple said "get ready".
A lot of us are sitting out here with unpatched OS's because you haven't updated Dropbox to work with Monterrey 12.3. Already that's horrible support, but you haven't even managed to give us any updates on the status. At this late date, you should be giving us weekly status updates.
What is the development status of support for MacOS Monterrey?
Thanks.
Support is unofficially saying it is estimated to be fixed in mid-2022 which obviously could go quicker or slower depending on the beta development. But they assured me it was a top priority and the changes to 12.3 make significant changes to the dropbox software, that is why it takes so long.
- Thank you for updating us.
Early Access?
It isn't even a beta, it is a request to be considered for early access to a maybe someday beta that you cannot get right now.
I use PathFinder as my Finder substitute and enhancement. Because in general on the Mac, Apple makes good OS systems and very mediocre application software. I cannot stand Finder. It's has not be significantly improved since it was released with the first Mac in 1984.Now that I stupidly updated to Monterey, all my Dropbox files show as 0 bytes. I sure hope if I deleted any on the Mac believing there was something wrong, I wasn't deleting them on Dropbox, and they'll reappear on the next sync.
But I cannot launch or use or view any Dropbox file that is online only. I must access them from the Dropbox web page, and download them. They are not usable from the Dropbox App on my Mac.
I think Dropbox has a lot of chutzpah, charging me full price for a crippled app. It isn't as if Dropbox didn't have access to Monterey beta software and developers notes for a year before it was released.Why do Dropbox users need to wait for some future update to Monterey before this gets fixed?
I realize Apple is constantly shuffling the deck and changing the basic underpinnings of how their software works, usually with zero consideration to any third-party developers who products are seriously affected by anything Apple changes to "improve security" (translation: To make your Apple computer harder to use, more complex, with more processes running in the background and therefore more likely to perform poorly.)
When is Dropbox going to fix this?I am having this EXACT issue, and have already been on with Dropbox Support for two hours! The first hour, they kept saying it was the other apps (that I couldn't open the DB files on) that had the issue. Then they said 'oh wait, yes you are right'. The second hour was 'It's Apple's fault' with absolutely no way to help me. They're still happy to charge me $150 per month though!
This and the weird limitation of the backup feature(you can't select any folders you want) made me cancel my professional account and I'm now looking for alternatives.
From what I can till Apple announced these changes long time ago which means Dropbox had a lot of time to react, but they did almost nothing. Now they have had some kind of beta software that I don't get even if I have selected early releases for months.
You really need to step up your game Dropbox.
Wow, what a nightmare! What exact version of Monterey is it that you've upgraded to? Is it 12.3? I'm still on 12.2.1 for fear of something like this happening.
All of Monterey is bad. Many new processes like triald that all use up CPU and Apple isn't telling users what they do. Still getting CPU Frequency throttling where the temperature sensors are not hot and the system throttles the computer by lowering the speed of the CPU and via kernel task giving the CPU lots of useless tasks to run to make the CPU too busy to respond to the user.
I am in the process of creating a new user, and moving over all the files in my Download, Desktop, and Picture folders. Every user has their own set and Apple has made to provision for easily creating a new user profile that duplicates your current profile.
I've installed TG-Pro to create my own fan curve which helped keep the fans from going screaming crazy at 6,500 RPM and monitor all 18 of the temperature sensors.I also got iStat to monitor CPU load and frequency. There are hundreds of online requests for help relating to Monterey running poorly on Intel hardware. So far, Apple is blaming the users and not accepting any responsibility. They're happy Intel users are suffering poor performance on their computers, so we will all be so dissatisfi
Remember Apple accidentally on purpose made sure that iOS updates made users phones run worse than before the update. Apple got sued over that one and lost the case.
So, now on top of all these problems, I have to deal with Dropbox not being fully compatible Monterey.
Nancy, your message was from February. It's now late May and still this is not fixed. The only "fix" is to use a beta. Betas are risky and not intended for production workflow.
Apple Silicon and Monterey have been in the pipeline for nearly 2 years. What the hell is taking you all so long to get this fixed?
Dropbox is a critical component of my workflow...if it breaks, I'm well and screwed. Please get his taken care of or give us a damned timeline so we can either soldier on with Dropbox or move to a new solution who will properly support our hardware/software.
Can I subscribe to updates to this discussion?
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there is NO BETA. we are getting down to the wire. D day is June 12th which is 90 days (the max deferral period) from when apple released 12.3. I wish there was a beta! extremely concerning!
- I didn’t choose to upgrade my OS, I bought a new work computer out of necessity. All of my files are in Dropbox and I can’t even download them. When do you expect to release the compatible version? Can I sign up for the beta version? I’m a bit desperate.
Hi KMT1,
I recommend you go to the top of this thread and message Nancy, who works for Dropbox.
Perhaps they would post an update on their efforts to address this problem.
- In other words, Dropbox Online Only files appear in the Finder as Zero Bytes and must be downloaded to a local file to be useful.
So, no, Dropbox has a kludgy workaround for their total lack of integration and support for Mac Monterey. Hi Nancy,
Any update on the Dropbox integration with Monterey??
