The short answer to your question: Despite Dropbox's assurances, the feature and functionality do not exist.
Additionally, it's very likely that Dropbox will not be implementing a solution for the MacOS—after all, this has been an experienced issue for MacOS users for about 18 months. Dropbox's response to concerned subscribers is to assure the community that the functionality remains intact. This is categorically not true.
At issue is a late 2021 addition to the MacOS called "File Provider." In a nutshell (and rather ironically, considering this topic), the File Provider API was literally designed to facilitate real-time syncing of files between local and cloud storage. Thus far, Dropbox has not implemented the changes necessary to make smart-sync work on the new MacOS. Not to mention the fact that Apple isn't slowing their OS development to wait on Dropbox: In a couple of months, we'll be updating to MacOS 14; Dropbox still hasn't caught up to 12.1.
Think about this, though: Other cloud-based storage solutions are already there. Box Drive integrates seamlessly with the MacOS, for example. Our team saw this as a golden opportunity to go all-in with Google's cloud services. We already leverage Google Workspace functionality, so we decided to run a month of testing on Google Drive, and we've been extremely happy with the result. It syncs flawlessly—and across multiple machines. [One of our issues has been that DB's requirement to make working files offline necessarily changes the pathing for those files. This meant that anytime a project changed hands, it required yet another round of painstakingly hunting down links—at times 50+—in InDesign and Illustrator files.] We've been patiently awaiting Dropbox's update for 18 months. We'll be making the migration to Google Drive this month.
I know it can be a massive pain (we've got about about 4 TB to migrate), and it's easy to persist with the way things are, hoping that the good news of a Dropbox update is around the corner. My question is: For how long have you been patient with the lost functionality? How long are you willing to wait, knowing there are viable solutions already out there? Dropbox's official responses no longer indicate any active development in this direction. No more forum messages assuring the community that they're working on a solution. You'll see that their responses indicate an apparent satisfaction with the current MacOS functionality. Don't waste your business' time. Make the switch, and get back to work!
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