Beta Build 110.3.425

Come now, you can't say "another service" and not tell us which one! 🙂

I, personally, am setting up (well, have set up) a NextCloud server on a Raspberry Pi and am considering moving the data and functionality for which I use Dropbox to it. It doesn't have some key handy features of Dropbox Pro though (namely smart sync), so I wouldn't recommend it as a Dropbox replacement.

I also tried pCloud. M1 is supported, but also no native Apple Silicon app (at least a few months ago). Works great, has an (expensive) encryption add-on, you can also choose for 500GB storage (if you do not need 2TB) and you can have your data on EU (or US) servers. The App uses less memory compared to Dropbox and the company is responsive to questions.

I have read some reports of users that where (falsely) charged with having explicit material in their cloud storage, pCloud has very strict rules and deletes/disables your account without warning, until you prove they are wrong which seems impossible. I personally did not have any problems with the service and may switch to pCloud in the future.

So, the 110.3.425 beta did actually install and run on my M1 (without Rosetta 2), but immediately complains that the app is outdated, with no way to update to a newer beta build...what gives? How do I get this to work?

You installed an old version, just download it from https://www.dropbox.com/install which (I think) is the latest version.

But Dropbox still uses Rosetta 2 because it is not an Apple Silicon native app. (at least not on my M1 Macbook)

I installed Dropbox from that link and after install it indeed automatically updates to version v123.4.4832. You can find other version here, there seems to be a more recent stable build (124.4.4912): https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Desktop-client-builds/ct-p/101003000

But Dropbox does not publish release notes (at least not in that location) and it is unknown what changed.

As far as I know there is no native Apple Silicon version for the dropbox client. It does work on Apple Silicon, but uses Rosetta 2 (in Activity Monitor the architecture shows Intel). It runs without problems on my M1 Macbook and memory usage does not defer (much) from my Intel Macbook.. so it is inefficient on memory with both platforms ;-)..

Are you sure rosetta is not installed? According to MacOS it still is an Intel binary. You won't see Rosetta running, it just translates the app on first run and installation of Rosetta is very fast. 

Oh SNAP! You're right! How in the hell did that happen? I have denied all attempts to install Rosetta, so far, and now this?

**bleep**, I'll have to see now whether it was installed somehow and whether there is some way to uninstall it. Sorry, but I really thought those threads were about Universal betas...I guess I'm back to getting away from Dropbox, after 10 years of being a Pro subscription customer...ridiculous that they still don't have a Universal beta...shameful.

Upon further research, Dropbox is the *only* intel app on my new macOS 12 Beta system.

Oh, the irony, that it would be Dropbox that installed Rosetta 2 while I was trying to install a Dropbox version that works without Rosetta 2...foolish me, and dam* you, Dropbox!

Now I'll have to re-install or try to make this solution work:

There is no need to remove Rosetta 2. It does not do anything unless you start an Intel binary. I have read an article where they describe some way to remove Rosetta 2, but I would only try it if you know what you are doing: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/669486

Dropbox is very silent about a native Universal Dropbox client version, I also have doubts about how optimised the Universal binary for Dropbox will be, as the current client easily consumes 1 GB of memory on my Intel iMac doing nothing :S.

That's the same link that I got those instructions from that I put at the end of my last response. Will have to see whether it's worth the trouble. But thanks for the encouraging words...so, there is zero slow-down to my all Apple Silicon system if I don't actuate an Intel app?

Looks like I'll remove Dropbox again and cancel my subscription next chance I can get...I have spent dozens of hours working with Dropbox to help them figure out a nasty bug, but I just don't see them take their users' concerns serious as is shown by the fact that the client still hogs memory like it's 1999, and that they still don't have an Apple Silicon version like it's November 2020.

Why oh why?

Thanks for your help!

> so, there is zero slow-down to my all Apple Silicon system if I don't actuate an Intel app?

Correct. Rosetta only runs when needed to make an Intel binary run on Apple Silicon, and then, once that is finished, Rosetta quits.

Thanks, TJ!

That does indeed sound like it's been solved in the best of ways.

I trust that Apple will, at some point, provide tools to scan the system for Intel apps, and a means of going all-in with Apple Silicon apps only. Sure looking forward to that...this little MB Air has been silently crushing anything I have been throwing at it (and that's a lot) more snappily than my MacBook Pro 2018 (max config) every did. Apple Silicon will be the future...or ARM/RISC in general.

If you open the System Information app which is included with macOS you will find an item Applications somewhere on the left. Click this and let it load, it will show you all installed application with their architecture. 

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tillkrueger wrote:

That's the same link that I got those instructions from that I put at the end of my last response. Will have to see whether it's worth the trouble. But thanks for the encouraging words...so, there is zero slow-down to my all Apple Silicon system if I don't actuate an Intel app?

Looks like I'll remove Dropbox again and cancel my subscription next chance I can get...I have spent dozens of hours working with Dropbox to help them figure out a nasty bug, but I just don't see them take their users' concerns serious as is shown by the fact that the client still hogs memory like it's 1999, and that they still don't have an Apple Silicon version like it's November 2020.

Why oh why?

Thanks for your help!

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I can understand why Dropbox adds features which may be useful for individuals or businesses that use Dropbox as their daily productivity environment. I just don’t like the fact that it bloats the application for users that do not need all the extras. And you take the resources it uses into consideration, its just too much for just a sync app, for me at least. 

Oh ja, stimmt ja, fast vergessen!

Apple Menu > About This Mac > System Report... > Software > Applications

Da werde ich noch einiges zu tun haben...

kinda like what Apple did with iTunes...bloated it out of existence.

Well, that's one thing, but they are also sloppy for a company that has 100's or thousands (or even millions) of individuals and 10's of thousands of business users relying on their technology. It bugged me for years that when using "Smart" Sync, files that were only online would still be applied to the total local storage, so that even an empty Dropbox folder would deduct over 200GB from my internal SSD.

Why does it take a customer like me to get on the phone and spend dozens of hours talking and emailing back and forth with them to prove it to them and then work with them to get that fixed...how many years must people have thought it's time to get a new harddrive, SSD, or computer, because they are always running out of space? I mean, I give them kudos for working with me and taking care of it, but what kind of QA is going on there, and how, then, is it surprising that the Dropbox client is taking up ludicrous amounts or RAM while doing *nothing*? Or not being on creating an optimized Apple Silicon version within months of Apple's big platform shift?

They are resting on their laurels, which, like the Quark page layout design company found out, can tank a once near-monopolistic company from one year to the next.

...yeah, if they continue like this, they'll go the way of the Dodo, fo sho.

Btw, I was able to get rid of Rosetta 2 in my Monterey install by following the directions referenced in my earlier post, and confirmed it by trying to run an Intel app, which then triggered a pop-up asking me whether I'd like to install Rosetta 2. For now, I like having this alert to remind me that I am about to install a non-native app...for everything else, I have my Big Sur install with Rosetta 2.

Exciting times, moving away from the power-hungry (hot!) Intel CPUs and into a world where CPU and GPU share the same memory...of which Dropbox insists grabbing 2GB 😕