MacOS Users Severely Punished?

[anotheruserhere]

Hello- I'm a very long time DropBox supporter with both family plans and business plans for my small business.

Want to double check what I'm finding for Mac Users. The following document outlines features Mac Users (who have an updated OS) won't have on Mac:

https://help.dropbox.com/installs/macos-support-for-expected-changes

- Spotlight searches don't entirely work- This explains a lot and is a HUGE hassle for both the home and company users.

- Actions involving a large number of files can take longer than usual to complete- If this is true, this is awful for business users (or any users really).

- LAN Sync is currently not supported on Dropbox for macOS- Again, this is terrible. This is especially awful for small business users.

- Some downloaded files won’t display as occupying disk space- This also ties into not being able to open online files from within application. This has been going on WAY too long and needs to be fixed.

- Some newly added files will default to online-only- How is a user supposed to count on Dropbox is this isn't working correctly. This is also terrible for mobile users. What happens if you're on a plane and you suddenly realized DropBox dropped the ball and you can't get a file for the remainder of your flight.

So the question is: I'm paying a premium price for this service: Both for my family and my business account. DropBox is definitely a premium price compared to the others, but I'm not getting all the features: Especially extremely important features like the ones above. Is this document actually correct and if so: a) Am I getting a discount from DropBox since they aren't able to serve Mac customers as promised and b) Are there any timelines on when this is going to be fixed?

This is really awful service towards Mac customers. Maybe this is a known thing but this is pretty bad.

Am I missing anything or is this all correct?

[Hannah]

Hey @anotheruserhere, thanks for taking the time to post to our Community today.

The updated Dropbox for macOS app has been developed to adhere to the requirement as set out by Apple therefore this update was introduced to ensure the best possible experience for our Mac users long into the future.

Of course, we definitely appreciate your feedback about this, it's always helpful for us and I will make sure that your comments are passed along to the appropriate people.

If you need anything else, please let us know.

[anotheruserhere]

Hello @Hannah - Many thanks for the quick reply.

Want to make sure I understand what you're saying:

- Confirming limitations of Dropbox on Mac as outlined in the link provided.

- The limitations are Apple's fault?

Thanks!

- Bill

[Megan]

Hi @anotheruserhere! 

As with any operating system, macOS is updated regularly and with that we must keep the Dropbox desktop app aligned with any requirements set out by an OS. 

The updated Dropbox for macOS app has been developed to adhere to the requirements as set out by Apple therefore this update was introduced to ensure the best possible experience for our Mac users long into the future.

Keeping aligned to those requirements ensures that the Dropbox desktop app will provide the best possible experience for all our customers in to the future.

As for the Help Center article you linked, keep in mind that it will be updated as we continue developing support for macOS.

Thank you!

[FedericoCampanale]

@Megan

Sorry but this is really ostrich attitude and reply from Dbox team.

You clearly hear that most of users DON'T WANT this way of working with cloud based (files) apps, and in this case Dropbox. So please find a way.

As for now, I"m on the latest MacOS and the "old" / not ruined version works fine. I won't update and won't comply to a policy (whether from Apple or from you guys) to pay for an app that doesn't give me anymore what I want. I'll change provider.

Bad bad bad.... Sorry to say!

Please again, come up with a solution!

_||_

[anotheruserhere]

Think I speak for others when I say that in general, Dropbox seems to be drastically behind its competition on MacOS. It's easy to blame Apple, but the other cloud providers seem to have found ways to work within great security and privacy policies. Not saying they're better (because I still prefer DropBox). Just saying that if DropBox's position is to blame Apple, then good luck with that. It's not an explanation, it's blaming someone else for their own shortcomings. 

All this being said, this is NOT frustration with you or with DropBox support. This is blaming Dropbox management priorities and their inability (or lack of interest) in addressing Mac customer satisfaction. It's no secret Dropbox Mac is impotent. I guess Dropbox as a company just chooses to not care and just milk $$ out of these customers who tend to spend more per user than other platforms.

[ginodimeo]

I hope you're still working on it in that case because it's not great, to the point I'm seriously weighing up other options.

[FedericoCampanale]

@Megan

How is it going with finding a solution?

We're still waiting!

It's been 6 months now since my last message..

Do you want us to leave and go to another provider?

Let us know,

thanks,

Best,

Federico

[billgdbx]

We hear what you're saying and continue to work on improvements for the File Provider implementation.  Right now our work is mostly focused on improving scalability (getting sync to go faster and not run into issues at really high file counts), but we are also looking at how to best support external drives and a plethora of other improvements.  We know the situation there is not great, but options that do not rely on FP supporting external drives have their own issues (like, doubling the amount of storage used because you're doing a secondary sync from the FP domain to/from the external drive;  no ability to support download-on-demand; having to run a second sync engine on your CPU).  @FedericoCampanale you mentioned "a solution"--is there a specific issue you're looking for an update on?

[FedericoCampanale]

Thanks for replying.

Yes, by "Solution" I mean a way to choose where we're keeping our files offline.

It works now, as i didn't update DB.

And I don't really agree with all the issues you're mentioning related to external drive.

If it's always attached, then, no issues. Please leave us the choice. That'd be the optimal solution.

-> Easy/all done by DB for people who can't manage their files and have no ideas where things are in their disks (and are happy so)

-> Advanced way to choose how to and where to keep files (basically as it worked before your update/Apple restricted, for who ahve some experience with computers and know what they do. And would be happy to be left doing so.

Thanks,

Best and good luck with the work. It's reaaaally expected.

Federico