iphone files uploading to dropbox

[NuraSeggerman]

I installed dropbox on my iphone6 in order to access some audio files on my phone from my laptop.  I have a dropbox plus account.  the files were made with the voice recorder app.  They were placed in a dropbox folder on my phone.  when I went to dropbox on my laptop the new folder was there but no files.  the files all say waiting to upload.  I have wifi here but cellular connection is low.  Am I doing something wrong?  i turned off cellular data on dropbox (on my phone) to see if it would use the wifi.  It should upload at least one file--there are ten in the folder.  they are all waiting to upload.  I thought this would be faster than doing email airdrops of these files to my computer but it is not working.

[Walter]

Hey there @NuraSeggerman - sorry to hear that.

How long have they been like this ("waiting to upload") and how did you upload them in the first place? Did you use the + button which is the way to manually upload files to your Dropbox account using an iPhone?

Also, have you tried another wifi and/or cellular data and rebooting your phone at all lately?

Another thing I'd like you to try is clear the cache on your app and then sign out and back into your Dropbox account. 

To clear your cache, please follow the steps listed below:
- Navigate to the “Personal” tab
- Tap the gear icon in the upper-left corner of the screen
- Select “Clear Cache” 

[If you do not see the gear icon on this main page, first click on the icon on the bottom right of the app that says “Account”, “Personal” or your Dropbox Business name. You should see the gear icon on this account page.]

Once this is done then please ensure you log out of the Dropbox application, then restart your device and log back in again.

Last but not least, could you ensure that you don't have any pending updates for your iPhone's OS and our mobile application's as well (you can look in your mobile's app store for possible updates)? 

[NuraSeggerman]

Hi Walter,

I did use the + button and then the create folder.  the folder I created on my phone does show up in dropbox on my laptop but it is empty.  On my phone the folder contains the 10 files I put in.  Only one shows that it is in the process of uploading but it is so slow and may be stalled.  In my house I can text on my phone but I can only take calls at the window.  I leaned the phone in the window for quite a while before I turned off cellular data for dropbox and still not one file uploaded.  that is when I turned off cellular.  I just got this app today and these are the only files I have tried to upload so I don't know what would be in the cache to be emptied.  This may be a problem of bad connection for my cellphone.  But will it use wifi?  I did not see info on phone about that.

[NuraSeggerman]

Hi Walter,

I did use the + button and then the create folder.  the folder I created on my phone does show up in dropbox on my laptop but it is empty.  On my phone the folder contains the 10 files I put in.  Only one shows that it is in the process of uploading but it is so slow and may be stalled.  In my house I can text on my phone but I can only take calls at the window.  I leaned the phone in the window for quite a while before I turned off cellular data for dropbox and still not one file uploaded.  that is when I turned off cellular.  I just got this app today and these are the only files I have tried to upload so I don't know what would be in the cache to be emptied.  This may be a problem of bad connection for my cellphone.  But will it use wifi?  I did not see info on phone about that.  Well the first file finally was completely uploaded.  I guess it is about the connection.  Or it may be a security issue--I just saw an email asking if it was me who signed in the iphone so that had been in mail since 2:46.  Perhaps the delay was because I only answered it now. 

[Walter]

Thanks for the additional information @NuraSeggerman - much appreciated. 

Can you clarify whether you access your Dropbox files from the website or if you're using our desktop application?

If you have given the app the appropriate permissions (i.e. use your wifi) then it should upload via wifi as well. 

Could you try renaming those files and try uploading them again maybe? 

As per the email you received note that these are being sent for your own security and if you ever suspect that your account was accessed from an unfamiliar location, you should start by going to the Security tab in your account settings to see all the current sources of activity on your account: https://www.dropbox.com/account/security

To make sure about this, you can check the Security tab which will show: 

• Web browser sessions
• Linked devices
• Linked apps

I hope this information helps to some exntent and please keep me posted on your progress.

[NuraSeggerman]

Hi Walter,

Over the past days I managed to upload 5 out of 8 files.  the last one was 167 MB and took 24 hours or more ot upload.  i checked my wifi speed for upload and it was 1.25 mbit/s so I thought that should have taken 2 1/2 to 3 hours rather than 24.  So although i have had some success I am still looking for a solution to the speed problem.  I am uploading from my phone and i use the website from my computer just to check and see if it is showing up there.  I think my phone may be going to sleep or something like that but I cannot sit around and constantly mess with it.  I will try to see if there is a setting I can change on the phone.

Thanks for your help,

Nura

[NuraSeggerman]

I think my figuring was all wrong and it should be taking 20 or 30 minutes to upload the larger file.  Anyway my math and knowlege of MB is not great.

[Walter · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the update Nura - much appreciated.

Another thing I'd like to add at this point is that if you’re manually uploading files using the “+” (plus) button, uploads will only run while the app is in the foreground (in other words, it’s the app you’re actively looking at). 

When the app is put in the background (in other words, you’re actively looking at some other app instead of Dropbox), Dropbox can only run manual uploads for a few minutes. After this, iOS stops the process to save battery on your device.

To fix this issue, please keep the app in the foreground while an upload is in progress.

Moreover Dropbox syncing can be slow on iOS devices if the following are true:
- You have “iCloud Photo Library” enabled
- You have “Optimize iPhone Storage” enabled in your iCloud Photo settings.

Read on for more information: 

 “Optimize iPhone Storage” stores the high-resolution versions of your files to the cloud, and keeps low-res versions on your device. For Dropbox to upload the high-res file, it has to connect to iCloud’s servers, download the photo, and then sync it to Dropbox. This process can be slowed by the strength of the server connection, and it only works over Wi-Fi.

To address this issue, try the following:
- Disable the "Optimize iPhone Storage" setting on your phone
- Try using Desktop Camera Uploads. This automatically transfers new photos or videos to Dropbox when you plug your device into a computer with the Dropbox desktop app. To use this option, sign in to the Dropbox app on that computer with the same account you're signed in to on your phone. Then connect your phone to that computer (for example, with a USB cord).

This second option may not be any faster than a mobile upload, but if you have a large number of files you can leave Dropbox open overnight to allow the upload to finish.

Apologies for the lengthy response @NuraSeggerman; I hope it helps!