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Forum Discussion
Is there a way to run the Dropbox app in the background on my iPhone?
Hey everyone,
I just switched to an Android from an iPhone. I am facing a feature problem that I loved on my iPhone! Which is, if I open up an audio file from my dropbox app I can just do other stuff on my phone. On android however, it stops playing whenever I switch over to a different app.
Is there a way to let it run in the background just like the iPhone? Thanks!
- Switched from apple to Android and dropbox on apple allows you to play music while having the app in the background. Android doesn't and it's pretty inconvenient. I was reading a post where someone said that being able to play music in background on apple is unexpected behavior but that doesn't change the fact that it's possible on apple. Please make this a thing. Kinda regret coming to Android after being with apple for so long but the way life is playing out, I had too.
Had the same issue when I switched to Android. Switched back to Apple again, not saying this was the only reason but definitely a huge reason.
- Jay
Dropbox Staff
Hi Don1990, thanks for posting today!
Currently, when previewing files via the Dropbox mobile app, it needs to be in the foreground. In this instance, it wouldn't be possible to have the app playing music while it was in the background.
If you'd like to see this change, you can suggest this idea for others to vote on, so the dev team can look into this in future!
In the past 4 years since starting this topic, I've had multiple iPhones and iPads. They all had this option.
Now I've switched to Android again, and this option is still not available on my Android phone/tablet.
Am I the only one that (accidentally?) has this feature on iOS or am I tripping?
Unfortunately, the Dropbox app on Android doesn’t support background playback of audio files directly like it does on iPhone. However, you can try these workarounds:
- Download the File: Download the audio file to your device and play it with a media player that supports background playback.
- Use a Third-Party Media Player: Open the audio file with a third-party app (e.g., VLC Media Player), which allows background playback.
- Split-Screen Mode: On Android, you can use split-screen mode to keep Dropbox open while using another app.
These methods can help you continue listening while multitasking!
