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
What happens if I don't update to the new Dropbox for MacOS?
I have Dropbox on my M1 MacMini, M1 Macbook Air, old 2015 MacBook Air (all three on Monterey 12.6.3) as well as my iPad Pro and iPhone 13. On the computers, my DropBox folder is in users/{myname}/Dropbox. All files are on the two M1 devices are saved offline (one reason I went with Dropbox, access to my files when I have no internet) and there is a folder that is shared with my spouse on his Dropbox account. I have nothing saved offline on my iPad or phone, but some specific folders are saved offline due to hard drive space. I travel frequently and don't always have WiFi, thus it's critical my files are accessible to me all the time (I am a writer). I am terrified of this update and wonder what happens if I just ignore it?
By default, new files added to the account from the site or another device would sync as online-only on your machine, but you can still mark them as available offline.
Files will still sync as normal, and yes, you'd need to change your aliases if any apps of programs need to locate the Dropbox folder.
The new Dropbox update that forces you to store your files in /Library/CloudStorage will not work for me.
If I ignore the update, will I be able to continue using Dropbox as normal? Or, at some point, will I be forced to update?
I posted that last message as a new thread because it's difficult to get a straight answer from the Dropbox team, but they just moved my message to be a reply in this thread...
- Jay
Dropbox Staff
Hi DBMcNic, thanks for messaging the Community.
The new version of the Dropbox desktop application on Mac OS will move the Dropbox folder into the CloudStorage folder primarily, and can only be stored on your local disk.
You can find out more changes from this on this article. If you choose to upgrade or not, files will still sync from one device to another like normal.
Once the rollout is complete, all users on Mac OS 12.5 or above will be running this version, so it would eventually upgrade to this version.
If you have any further queries, feel free to message back.
Jay wrote:If you choose to upgrade or not, files will still sync from one device to another like normal.
Jay, I think this is the core of the comms problem Dropbox has around this update. If this is true, then there is simply no reason to "upgrade" to the new version of the app, which provides an inferior experience.
If Apple will at some point forcibly EOL the old version of Dropbox, Dropbox needs to communicate that (along with the expected timeline) to customers. If this change isn't actually required by Apple, but is being pushed by Dropbox for some other reason, then Dropbox needs to own up and clearly communicate that to customers. As it stands, the message you're sending to long-time customers is "Upgrade to this limited version of our software for no reason. There's no consequence for not doing so except constant vigilance against our suggestions to upgrade."
Can you provide a clear explanation of the benefit to Dropbox customers of accepting this upgrade, rather than just staying on the current, working version?
Perfect exactly what I was thinking. I use Dropbox for all the things in the previous version. The new version and its file location is something I do not want or will subscribe to. If forced I will just delete Dropbox and move to the Apple version as I only have Apple devices.
I guess the name "CloudStorage" confused me, making me think the files would only be in the cloud. You're saying nothing would change, I'd just have to update all my aliases on my devices?
- Jay
By default, new files added to the account from the site or another device would sync as online-only on your machine, but you can still mark them as available offline.
Files will still sync as normal, and yes, you'd need to change your aliases if any apps of programs need to locate the Dropbox folder.
This update makes a lot of changes. It feels like a violation of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy. I worry about the potential for errors and bugs. A nice safe, protected environment for a large amount of critical data is why I keep using dropbox. Obviously Dropbox believes it is important to install it considering their implementation costs.
Note: While we recommend opting-in to the latest version of Dropbox for macOS, this migration isn’t required for you to continue using Dropbox.
Why should I install it? Long term, what happens if I don't?
Can anyone offer a soft, blue security blanket with which I can wrap up myself to convince my inner being that doing the install justifies the risk?
Thank you.
Mike
- Im not upgrading. In fact i will probably go across to the free apple cloud. How do i stop the dropbox upgrade message permanently nagging me ??
