You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.
Forum Discussion
Dropbox support for macOS 12.3
So I'm referring to https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/desktop/macos-12-monterey-support
Does this mean it will be 100% safe to upgrade to macOS 12.3 as long as I keep Smart sync to Local, please?
You can never ever say its 100% safe - simply because you'd be using a Beta OS and also a Beta version of Dropbox. However, it should work well, but, be cautious of the fact it is beta at all levels.
I know previously at last minute notice Apple have changed how stuff worked in beta versions meaning stuff which used to work no longer did when updated to the next release so thats also something to be aware of.
What are InDesign creatives doing about this?
What are DropBox software engineers doing about this?
We are downgrading our staff from Monterey to Big Sur to keep them happy and productive.
Dropbox Support do not seem to understand that the Monterey implementation of online only/local file syncing no longer functions the way it used to under Big Sur. They tell me that 'cloud only' (zero file size) linked files in InDesign on macOS Monterey need to first be locally synced to prevent this workflow error message pop-up - but this didn't used to be the case under macOS Big Sur.
I provided DB Support with a screen recording illustrating the problem (see this link: www.dropbox.com/s/5lmtck47lk1cowt/Dropbox%20Big%20Sur%20InDesign.mov?dl=0 showing that this was not required under macOS Big Sur. Other forum posts say that MS OneDrive on macOS Monterey is not generating this linked file error message.
- I say this without bias as I have been a very happy Dropbox customer for many years. It’s shocking to see that this issue has not been solved in such a long time. Dropbox doesn’t seem able to keep up with the pace of the rest of the industry… Apple just released the beta for macOS Ventura and Dropbox is stuck at 12.2…
I just contacted support again to see if they actually passed on my screen recording to the engineers. They said they can see it was passed on. I asked for financial compensation (reduced DB fees) for the period of time that our workflow and productivity and they said they would pass on my request. I reminded them that Apple are about to release macOS Ventura, so there’s no point focusing on getting Dropbox to work with Monterey, there’s a whole generation of macOS that Dropbox has failed to 100% work on. I read they have $8 billion in user fees that they are sitting on. But yet, they don’t have the software engineering resources to solve this. I actually have a ‘conspiracy theory’ that Dropbox can’t solve this on their own without getting Apple engineers to help them, and Apple engineers want Dropbox to provide their back of house code before Apple will help them, but Dropbox will not want to do this. My theory is that Apple want to see Dropboxes backend ‘best in class’ sync code so they can improve iCloud Drive syncing, which, like OneDrive and probably others, is a slow dog, compared to Dropbox. I personally have used Dropbox since the first year it was released, and know it is the best in class, but this issue (and their awful new choice of wording for online/offline sync status) makes me sad for Dropbox and their loyal customers.
I complained about this problem for more than 6 months.
The dropbox is not working for m1 macs.
Any adobe application can't open previous off-line files. That's makes impossible to work.
IMPOSSIBLE.
So we have a lot of computers that we can't use because dropbox is not working. And that issue is not new.
Support is always saying that is working to correct, but nothing is done.And we are still paying for a service that is not working.
Please be clear to the clients. It will work or not? Or we need to look for another service to use?STILL on OS12.1 because of all the potential issues I'm reading about, but really need to at least upgrade to 12.6 now.
I have an M1 iMac and an intel MacBook Pro that are my main machines than I need to sync seamlessly, and a ton of shared folders with clients that I don't want to lose. I use mainly Adobe apps.
I don't have files on external drives, so not too worried about that issue, and I can live with the smart sync issue, if I can at least open online only files through the finder. The majority of my files are live on one machine or the other.
Given all that how safe if it to upgrade, and is there any reason to only go to 12.6 or might I just as well go to Ventura?
johnhalldesign May I ask how the upgrade went? Did you lose Smart Sync?
Is opening files through the Finder workable? Thanks !
I have been a Dropbox customer now for more than ten years and in that time I have tried all other major cloud services. Nothing even came close to Dropbox in terms of speed and reliability.
However, since this latest upgrade on macOS that moved the Dropbox folder to some Apple-dictated Cloud Storage folder, my experience has been exclusively abysmal. The major two issues that make Dropbox unusable for me right now are: (a) Folders that I selected to be available offline suddenly become online-only. And (b) Files just won't sync. Just now I am waiting to again download files that I have already selected to be available offline, but Dropbox just does nothing. It sits there "syncing", but does nothing. To make it work, I sometimes now go to the Dropbox webpage to directly download a file from there, because the syncing just takes far longer than manually downloading it from the website.
This has been my experience ever since this silly move of the Dropbox folder to some other directory. Is there anything I can do to fix this? Can I force the Dropbox folder to be in the old location? Or is it finally time to move on and go to Google or even Microsoft?
I have had the same experience. A case of someone fixing something that was not broken and decimating it.
So what was your solution to that problem? Did you move to another service?
- Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Sorry to see you're having issues with the new Dropbox for macOS version, Stefan86 and Son Gospel.
Which version of the app are you currently using and what's the exact sync status as shown on your Dropbox icon?
Im still waiting for the 12.3 Montery fix.. or did I miss something? Now Im actually running Montery 12.4 and Dropbox is still useless. I have to spend hours and hours syncing files manually back and forth when opening huge After Effects projects stored on Dropbox. If Dropbox is not fixing this soon, then I will have to find a another solution.
You haven't missed it...there is still no fix. I've held off on upgrading from 12.2.1 to the latest OS because of all our work files are on dropbox. Ridiculous that we pay service.
- Mark
Super User II
You can never ever say its 100% safe - simply because you'd be using a Beta OS and also a Beta version of Dropbox. However, it should work well, but, be cautious of the fact it is beta at all levels.
I know previously at last minute notice Apple have changed how stuff worked in beta versions meaning stuff which used to work no longer did when updated to the next release so thats also something to be aware of.
Thank you Mark 👍🏽😊🙏🏽
OK, I think I understand that this newsletter and article was referring to betas now.
I was thinking that it referred to 12.3 stable release when it's coming.
What about when Apple deploys the production (non-Beta) version of MacOS 12.3?
If I accept the 12.3 upgrade, will I still be able to open my online only files via Finder?
Will there be any proactive communication from DropBox to guide Mac users through the current issue where MacOS 12.3 may not be compatible with the DropBox Legacy System Extension?
Thanks
Hey all,
Since Dropbox is dragging their heels on sorting out the compatibility issue with macOS Monterey 12.3+ as indicated here – https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/desktop/macos-12-monterey-support
I had the thought to share feedback with Apple that their dropping support for the kernal extension has caused havoc for their creative customers that use these cloud based storage solutions. Perhaps if enough of us raise this issue with Apple, they'll put more effort into ensuring that the new extension / API is as functional as the previous and helping cloud providers sort out a fix. Wishful thinking.
Send your feedback here as to the problems 12.3+ has caused you with Dropbox: https://www.apple.com/feedback/macos.html
On Macrumors forum, user pasamio writes that Apple made everyone aware that the kernel used by Dropbox would be removed in future version of macOS, back in 2019! So Dropbox had the chance to prepare way early of this incoming dooming of the smart sync, which here in June 2022 still hasn't been resolved, even if Dropbox promised to do so in early 2022....
Link to forum post on Macrumors: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-confirms-macos-12-3-deprecates-kernel-extensions-used-by-dropbox-and-onedrive.2332742/page-3?post=30817183#post-30817183
This is really really unprofessional Dropbox, you made our company and my clients stuck on macOS 12.2, since you can't solve this matter. You've had all the time in the world, but instead you focused your resources on spitting out new features, instead of fixing your broken software.
I'm still repeatable trying to keep clients away from leaving Dropbox as our main collaboration platform due to this problems, and it's becoming REALLY hard to argument to keep on using Dropbox, when the solution is so broken as it is. First the arrogance reply on the M1 support, and now the broken Smart Sync which you had ages to fix.... And now macOS 13 is on it's way...
Clients are pushing for Onedrive and Sharepoint as replacement for dropbox – but now after 6 months waiting for a fix, my arguments can't hold ground anymore, which is sad, because dropbox is the better collaboration platform, but lack of support.... is disrespectful to us customers
And now, over a year later, this sounds like the issue currently present on Mac Dropbox with using "online" files, because it uses kernel extensions that Apple have stopped supporting in latest versions of OSX.
In reply to:
faebe07-05-2021 07:13 AMI'd like to extend this request to discontinue using deprecated kernel extensions and instead base the new version on Apple’s new File Provider framework for MacOS:
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/fileprovider
Microsoft recently announced a similar move for OneDrive:
and:
gmon750Explorer | Level 312-01-2021 05:35 PMI will say this... I will be purchasing a new Macbook in 1st-quarter 2022. As a loyal Dropbox user for 10 years, this is the first time I'm considering jettisoning Dropbox if they don't provide native support for Apple Silicon.
Get your app updated and away from kernel extensions. Considering the size of your company, I find it disturbing that so little resources are allocated to keeping your software current. This is the kind of thinking usually applied to failing companies.Hi there,
I'm on Mac Ventura 13.4.1.
I can only ever access the Dropbox Beta app through the icon in my menu bar. The dropbox app just opens my finder folder. The app from the menu bar said I needed to update, so I did. After it updated, it started to move ALL of the contents of my dropbox folder to a new location. It said it would take an hour and sync in the background. I'm hours in and it says it has 51,000 files to go. I'm exceptionally nervous about what's happening here. I updated the app because I was trying to set up an external hard drive, but was running into issues with the hard drive not showing up in Beta. Now my files are being moved and it's gonna take far longer than an hour!
I can still see and access all my files when I log into the Dropbox.com, but all of my files that I try to access through dropbox in the sidebar of my finder window have an empty cloud icon and say they're uploading. I can access them, but I'm not sure what's going on. None of them are stored locally, they're all on Dropbox.
Can anyone shed some light on what is happening? Apologies if this is nothing to sweat; data storage & migration is not my forte!
- Hannah
Hey kalysince83, thanks for taking the time to post here!
Indeed, this is the update to the new Dropbox for macOS app on File Provider.
I moved your post to a thread with lots of relevant info and you can also check this article.
Let us know if you're having any syncing issues.
Thank you kalysince83 for your post, although I'm not sure it was an answer to mine, which is just above yours. Has the sync finally ended and is Dropbox functioning OK? I hope so 🙂
What I have realized, however, is that inquiries about using the "old" Dropbox with newer MacOS are never acknowledged by Dropbox staff like Hannah, but only those who have fully updated but are having horrific problems, like Son Gospel and Stefan86. When I see these accounts I feel I should never update and take such a risk.
And I suppose it would be asking too much to know exactly and truthfully what the status is concerning Mac and Dropbox.
Is there any new about when Dropbox is going to resolve the issues with Smart Sync under Monterey? They announced first support for Finder only and full support will be released in a future.
Is there an estimated date? Because, not having Smart Sync working from any application is, basically, a pain in the a**.
I've been holding off upgrading my Macs to Monterey until Dropbox is fully compatible. I rely on it so much for moving files between my computers and clients. I'm shocked how long it is taking Dropbox to getting it working perfectly, given Monterey was launched 6 months ago.
- Megan
Maybe I've missed something or I'm being dense but is anyone else struggling with Dropbox since the update? I've always automatically synced all files online and haven't had any trouble simply double-clicking to open them. Now I have to make them available offline before I can open them to edit/access my files. It does seem like this is not an issue with recent files but older ones. It's a pain. Is anyone else dealing with this? Have you found a solution?
I'm using a Mac OS Monterey 12.2.1 and the drobox desktop app if that is helpful.Yes i've noticed that opening online-only files is now not working as expected in macOS versions before 12.3 as well.
