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Forum Discussion
Dropbox on File Provider support for macOS questions
I'm reading quite a few threads on File Provider support for MacOS and I have some questions.
What exactly does this get me? It seems like a step backwards. I'm losing Dropbox Vault support and...
Why do I want it? What does it get me over traditional sync?
The lack of LAN sync really sucks. And not being able to keep my Dropbox folder on an external drive also sucks.
If I am giving up both those things, what am I getting in return to make my experience better?
Walter
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffI saw that page before. I don't see the benefit of using it.
As an en-user of Dropbox, how will this help me over the built in Dropbox sync?
- billgdbx
Dropbox Engineer
File Provider is Apple's API for syncing going forward on their newer OS versions, and replaces the use of legacy means for supporting download-on-demand. Dropbox users who have not yet opted into FP are running a version of sync that provides most, but not all of the functionality of Online-Only files. Even that level of support is not guaranteed by Apple long-term, therefore all users on macOS will eventually need to move onto FP, or live in a world without download-on-demand (which is acceptable to some, but not all of our users--in particular those with more Dropbox than can fit on their local hard drive). We're continuing to work towards delivering the full feature set for FP, including external drive support and more.
So if I don't care about Online-Only or File-On-Demand, File Provider for Mac OS really doesn't get me anything?
If I want all my files local all the time, then could I continue to use the legacy client and have access to LAN Sync? Or will that go away forever at some point and Dropbox will only support FP?
