What's the difference between the desktop app offered on the Microsoft Store and Dropbox Lite?

[noel envoide]

There's a dropbox lite (released 2013), and dropbox beta (released 2020) in the Microsoft store.  I ran across a thread that the desktop app was discontinued in 2022, but I just downloaded an executable from here. 

Downloading the desktop app   No changelog.   When was it released? I had it installed on my pc at one time, but uninstalled it in early 2023.  Don't remember exactly why, but maybe it had something to do not being maintained back then.

I'm a bit confused.  I have the android app

[AbhishekDBX]

Hi - The Dropbox app for Windows can be downloaded from our website (dropbox.com/downloads) or a beta version that we've recently added to the MS App Store as you indicated.

The Lite version is a reader/viewer only version of the app but for most use cases, we recommend the full version.

[Rich]

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@noel envoide wrote:

There's a dropbox lite (released 2013), and dropbox beta (released 2020) in the Microsoft store.

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The Dropbox Lite app in the Microsoft Store is not the same as the full desktop client that you download from the Dropbox website. It operates more like a mobile client. It does't sync files, but instead allows you to access the files that are in your account online.

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No changelog.   When was it released?

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The Dropbox desktop client is updated regularly, though they rarely include a changelog. You can find a list of all the releases at the following link.

• https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Desktop-client-builds/ct-p/101003000

[noel envoide]

I did notice that beta list. That's one of the reasons for my curiosity, since it's updated daily.  I assume both the stable and beta can be updated within the app?

Would you recommend the beta for everyday use?

[Rich]

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@noel envoide wrote:

I assume both the stable and beta can be updated within the app?

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There's no way to trigger an update within the app, but the apps will regularly update themselves. Dropbox pushes updates as they deem necessary, or in the case of betas, as new items needs to be tested.

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Would you recommend the beta for everyday use?

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As an IT person I have to say never use a beta of any software for everyday use. That being said, I've been running nothing but the beta versions on all of my devices ever since they were available. There have been some minor quirks over the years, but nothing that was a show stopper.

When you install a beta version you'll remain on the beta channel until you disable early releases in your account and install a stable version. Basically, a beta will always update to the next beta version.