Disaster: Dropbox removing external disk support for Mac users :(

[Jon C.10]

In case anyone's unaware... if you're a Mac user storing your Dropbox on an external drive, you'll shortly lose that ability.

https://talk.tidbits.com/t/dropbox-drops-support-for-storing-files-on-an-external-drive-and-onedrive...

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

Just confirmed this with DB support (see below).  Gutted - been with Dropbox for years and our entire video team flow is based around it 😕

>Hi there, I read today that you are scrapping the ability to store the Dropbox folder on external disks, on OSX. I'd like to ask more about this please.

> Hello Jon, and thank you for contacting Dropbox Support. My name is Joseph, and I will be more than happy to look into your request, right away.  

That is correct Jon, as part of the Dropbox for macOS update, the Dropbox folder must be located in ~/Library/CloudStorage.

>This is a showstopper for us, and will mean we have to move to another service. We have a large distributed team using DB for video work, no way it'll fit within internal drives.
Is there a workaround?

> I totally understand and I apologize for the inconvenience. Unfortunately, there is no workaround on this as changing the location of your Dropbox folder is no longer supported by macOS.

>This change doesn't seem to have hit us yet - we're running a variety of machines inc Ventura
What will trigger its enforcement? Can we stay on an earlier OS or Dropbox version?

>The updates happening automatically every time the Dropbox app is restarting, for example if your device never restarts it should maintain the older version but we can't guarantee full functionality on older versions of the application.

>So what will happen - if we have a Dropbox folder on an 8TB drive and a tiny internal drive - will it try to clone stuff across and eat up the space? What's the mechanism?

>That's right, it will try to move the content on your internal drive until it has no space and gives you an error.

>Is Smartsync still supported? I.e. will it move stuff to being online only if it won't fit?

>It is, however it is now known as online-only.

[Bookpast]

What!?  I don't know how I didn't hear about this disaster until now! After using Dropbox for nearly two decades on external drives with no issues, THIS makes Dropbox entirely useless for me. Apple doesn't even MAKE internal hard drives big enough to support this change.

PLEASE Dropbox find a solution to this ASAP. If not, it's goodbye.

[UKD]

@Bookpast sadly the response you will get from @Dropbox will be "we have smart sync" so you don't need that much space. Like most of us we're scrambling to find a better solution and one that will support external drives. Dropbox just blames Apple for all of this and whilst I can't say that Apple is blameless in this whole scenario I'm sure it can't be all their fault.

But then again who knows. Nobody tells us anything and they're not going to admit their own inabilities are they!

[ArthurPix]

@Bookpast Amen. And you have raised a concern that I didn't even think about — what happens when your Dropbox needs exceed the amount of internal storage that it's possible to buy? Smart Sync is all well and good for unimportant stuff, but I NEVER want my data to be accessible ONLY when I have a decent internet connection.

[psalcal]

Sync told me via email they planned to continue support for externals.

[UKD]

@psalcal I've emailed them to ask them the same thing. Hopefully they respond the same way they have to you. The only thing that is a little worrying is that their Sync CloudFiles feature is in beta mode. Not sure how long that's been in beta for.

[UKD]

From Sync

Unlike DropBox, with Sync upon installation you can select the location of the Sync Folder and move it to a permanently connected external hard drive. This will provide syncing and backing up of your files in real-time, for files placed directly in the Sync Folder. Sync will remain compatible with external drives for Mac users.

Get started today, risk free - all Pro plans come with a 30 day full money-back guarantee.

[fjazzfjazz]

Did you try it? Wondering if you liked Sync.

So all of my clients will need Sync as well, to collaborate with me? 

[UKD]

I haven’t tried it. Have asked them some other questions. Will let you know how they respond and I might try it for 30 days as there’s a free trial.

I’m interested in whether they can sync with a Synology NAS and if there’s a migration path from Dropbox to them.

[UKD]

Further messages from sync.com

One question relates to moving files from Dropbox to Sync. Is there a migration solution to do that?
Yes, migrating from DropBox is as easy as dragging and dropping your files into Sync. You can learn more on this here: https://www.sync.com/help/how-do-i-move-my-files-from-dropbox-to-sync/. We recommend using an external hard drive for the large amount of data you noted above.  

(Me) - Not quite what I meant but I do know there is a company called multcloud that does cloud to cloud transfers but there isn't an option for sync.com. That doesn't mean it's not possible to do. A side note on this though. I have used them before and cloud to cloud transfers are painfully slow, or at least it was when I used it a couple pop years ago.
 
And is there a way to sync a sync.com account with a Synology NAS?
Sync does not currently integrate or provide a way to easily backup directly from a NAS. This a commonly requested feature and we are looking into it, however it's not an option at this time.

[Ru 1971]

@UKD 

>>Further messages from sync.com

>>One question relates to moving files from Dropbox to Sync. Is there a migration solution to do that?
>>Yes, migrating from DropBox is as easy as dragging and dropping your files into Sync. You can learn more on this here: >>https://www.sync.com/help/how-do-i-move-my-files-from-dropbox-to-sync/. We recommend using an external hard drive for the large amount of data >>you noted above.  

Thanks for doing this research. I'm in just the same boat. I've got 4 Macs that all rely on Dropbox sync for sharing ProTools/Resolve/Lightroom data for my business. One 'master' Mac Pro machine has all the data synced to it,  but of course this is an 'external drive' (strictly speaking its an internal drive, but its not the boot volume). 

I'm also going to buy another M-series Mac this year, & am not about to order a 4tb internal drive for it given the insane prices Apple charge.

Tell me, have you tried Sync.com yet, & does it co-exist peacefully with Dropbox & other apps, during the transition from one service to another?