We're making changes to the Community, so you may have received some notifications - thanks for your patience and welcome back. Learn more here.
Forum Discussion
Ben S.31
2 years agoHelpful | Level 6
Why does Apple FileProvider force files into the ~/Library folder which is hidden by default?
Sorry if I’ve misunderstood this article but is it true that Apple’s upcoming FileProvider saves files into the ~/Library folder?
If so, could someone help me understand what the advantage is bec...
Jay
Dropbox Staff
Since it's not something official suggested by Dropbox, I couldn't recommend it personally.
RickCurran
2 years agoHelpful | Level 6
Jay Yep, no worries, I understand it's not an officially endorsed solution 🙂
- RHimadiiev2 years agoHelpful | Level 5
Maybe I misunderstood something but it is possible to use external drives with File Provider https://developer.apple.com/documentation/fileprovider
- RickCurran2 years agoHelpful | Level 6
RHimadiiev I don't see any reference to external storage in that article, it does refer to "remote storage" but that is referring to the cloud storage provider such as Dropbox etc.
- RHimadiiev2 years agoHelpful | Level 5
Yes, my mistake.
Buy the way, I had a discussion on Apple forum about it and got an interesting reply:
"It was Apple that created this API and restricts it to the boot volume. But it was Google and Dropbox that decided to adopt Apple's new API. They didn't have to.
It's funny. When Apple publishes really useful APIs for things like font management, 3rd party developers categorically refuse to use it. But then Apple come out with an API that will substantially reduce the features that competitors can provide, effectively limiting them to Apple's own iCloud Drive behavior, they can't wait to adopt it. Doesn't make any sense."
And so for me. Why have Google and Dropbox decided to make such change? It only make things worse, no? What are the advantages?
About Apps and Installations
Have a question about a Dropbox app or installation? Reach out to the Dropbox Community and get solutions, help, and advice from members.
Need more support
If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.
For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.
If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!