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Dropbox alternative on M1?

A

adww12321

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 24, 2012
59
9
Just acquired a new M1 MBP, I'm trying to go all native-M1 with my apps, but one sticking point has been Dropbox.

Incredibly, it looks like there's no M1 version of their client, and no timeline for making it happen. Their existing client uses significant resources under Rosetta, which seems a bit ridiculous, as it has only one job! (or rather it should -- syncing files...)

Just curious if people have good recommendations for a cross-platform substitute? I saw sync.com has an M1 client, but I've not used them before. (iCloud is out for us as we are in a mixed environment that would make it unwieldy.)
 
Google is intel still too. Dare I say iCloud or am I missing something here? Are you looking for an agnostic application?
 
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Unlike Backup & Sync, the Google Drive application is now available native to apple silicon (in beta). It is supposed to also work on consumer accounts, and also enable file streaming / placeholders (like OneDrive on Windows). Has anyone tried it?
 
I switched to iCloud. It works and it's pretty fast, apart from the occasional hiccups requiring a restart of the bird process... but that may be because I am on macOS Monterey Dev Beta
 
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VitoBotta said:
I switched to iCloud. It works and it's pretty fast, apart from the occasional hiccups requiring a restart of the bird process... but that may be because I am on macOS Monterey Dev Beta
Click to expand...
How well does sharing work with people who don't have an iCloud account? The last time I tried this, at least a year ago, it was pretty much unusable compared with Dropbox. Easily working on shared folders and moving the default storage location are the only two things holding me back from iCloud Drive. Both stupid issues that shouldn't exist.
 
seangrimes590 said:
How well does sharing work with people who don't have an iCloud account? The last time I tried this, at least a year ago, it was pretty much unusable compared with Dropbox. Easily working on shared folders and moving the default storage location are the only two things holding me back from iCloud Drive. Both stupid issues that shouldn't exist.
Click to expand...

I only know that you can use it on Windows too but I have never tried.
 
adww12321 said:
Just acquired a new M1 MBP, I'm trying to go all native-M1 with my apps, but one sticking point has been Dropbox.

Incredibly, it looks like there's no M1 version of their client, and no timeline for making it happen. Their existing client uses significant resources under Rosetta, which seems a bit ridiculous, as it has only one job! (or rather it should -- syncing files...)

Just curious if people have good recommendations for a cross-platform substitute? I saw sync.com has an M1 client, but I've not used them before. (iCloud is out for us as we are in a mixed environment that would make it unwieldy.)
Click to expand...
What kind of resources do you see Dropbox using. Checking now, I see it using 0.4% CPU and around 600MB RAM on a 16GB M1 Air. I haven't seen any performance impact from it. BTW - the Macrumors forum web page uses 500MB RAM just for comparison.
 
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adww12321 said:
Just acquired a new M1 MBP, I'm trying to go all native-M1 with my apps, but one sticking point has been Dropbox.

Incredibly, it looks like there's no M1 version of their client, and no timeline for making it happen. Their existing client uses significant resources under Rosetta, which seems a bit ridiculous, as it has only one job! (or rather it should -- syncing files...)

Just curious if people have good recommendations for a cross-platform substitute? I saw sync.com has an M1 client, but I've not used them before. (iCloud is out for us as we are in a mixed environment that would make it unwieldy.)
Click to expand...

I'd even pony up for that..... If anyone can go native for all apps, i'd be impressed....

I guess the Dropbox website is always thee, but less convenient using an app..

Well, Apple would want peple to use icloud,,,, Its just no syncing of selective folders. which is probably the major drawback.
 
adww12321 said:
Just acquired a new M1 MBP, I'm trying to go all native-M1 with my apps, but one sticking point has been Dropbox.

Incredibly, it looks like there's no M1 version of their client, and no timeline for making it happen. Their existing client uses significant resources under Rosetta, which seems a bit ridiculous, as it has only one job! (or rather it should -- syncing files...)

Just curious if people have good recommendations for a cross-platform substitute? I saw sync.com has an M1 client, but I've not used them before. (iCloud is out for us as we are in a mixed environment that would make it unwieldy.)
Click to expand...

Maestral

Open source Dropbox client for macOS and Linux.
maestral.app maestral.app

Supports M1 natively. Less annoying than the normal Dropbox app.
 
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The reliability and speed of iCloud Drive have improved considerably over the years, to the point where if these factors alone were enough, I would move my business docs there.

What’s holding it back for me are the lack of block-sync, basic collab options and folder sharing options. Dropbox and Google Drive are just way out in front.
 
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adww12321 said:
Just acquired a new M1 MBP, I'm trying to go all native-M1 with my apps, but one sticking point has been Dropbox.

Incredibly, it looks like there's no M1 version of their client, and no timeline for making it happen. Their existing client uses significant resources under Rosetta, which seems a bit ridiculous, as it has only one job! (or rather it should -- syncing files...)

Just curious if people have good recommendations for a cross-platform substitute? I saw sync.com has an M1 client, but I've not used them before. (iCloud is out for us as we are in a mixed environment that would make it unwieldy.)
Click to expand...
I'm almost in same boat. The only two non-native apps I require on a regular basis are Dropbox and Citrix.

I'd have hoped Dropbox would have had an ARM-native client by now. Something strange must be happening for it not to exist yet.
Not really holding my breath for Citrix, but I guess we'll see.

There's a couple others, but they're used only occasionally and don't otherwise permanently hook into the OS with constant background processes.
 
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xraydoc said:
I'm almost in same boat. The only two non-native apps I require are Dropbox and Citrix.

I'd have hoped Dropbox would have had an ARM-native client by now. Something strange must be happening for it not to exist yet.
Not really holding my breath for Citrix, but I guess we'll see.
Click to expand...
Having once been a paying Dropbox customer, I have been steadily moving away. Dropped down to the "free" tier and only keep it at all because of links others have to files I share. (And only manage it from Windows because of their lack of M1 version.)

Their attitude has consistently been appalling. Major increases in cost and trying to placate by increasing storage - which many of us simply do not want.

Partner uses Sync. I use OneDrive and iCloud. Sync seems now to have become too epensive for the smallest available paid-for tier.

But having problems with both. I simply cannot get OneDrive Finder extensions to work - so no choice about keeping items in cloud or on machine, etc. Gone round the uninstall/reboot/re-install merry-go-round countless times. And cannot see an easy way of sharing files anonymously - I don't want people to see my real name when I share a document. I should be able to do so anonymously. (In truth, I want to be able to choose whether they do, or do not, see my name.)
 
polyphenol said:
Having once been a paying Dropbox customer, I have been steadily moving away. Dropped down to the "free" tier and only keep it at all because of links others have to files I share. (And only manage it from Windows because of their lack of M1 version.)

Their attitude has consistently been appalling. Major increases in cost and trying to placate by increasing storage - which many of us simply do not want.

Partner uses Sync. I use OneDrive and iCloud. Sync seems now to have become too epensive for the smallest available paid-for tier.

But having problems with both. I simply cannot get OneDrive Finder extensions to work - so no choice about keeping items in cloud or on machine, etc. Gone round the uninstall/reboot/re-install merry-go-round countless times. And cannot see an easy way of sharing files anonymously - I don't want people to see my real name when I share a document. I should be able to do so anonymously. (In truth, I want to be able to choose whether they do, or do not, see my name.)
Click to expand...
Honestly, the main reason I use Dropbox is because I can install & run it on my multiple work PCs without administrator access (which I do not have). We're 100% permitted to install apps that don't require admin access (Chrome, Spotify and many Microsoft App Store apps, for example). But we need to get special permission for apps that require administrator credentials.

Apple's Windows solution for iCloud Drive requires administrator access, so I can't install it (and apparenly because of how it hooks into Outlook, it's not one they're willing to make an exception for). And, for whatever reason, our IT department has disabled Microsoft OneDrive, so I can't use that, either.

I could use the web interface for iCloud Drive, but it's more cumbersome than having always-synced access across several machines.
 
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I gave up on iCloud Drive and went back to Dropbox.... the difference in performance and reliability is massive, I'd say embarrassing not only for Apple but for most of Dropbox's other competitors. Dropbox is just a ton faster, and just works. Shame that I will have to pay for one more subscription though...
 
I switched completely to iCloud Drive.

Dropbox on M1 was killing my MacBook Air.
After a few days without a reboot, switching user account with fast switching was taking up to 30 seconds and the whole system was becoming unresponsive, after a big of digging I found the issue was Dropbox. Crazy..
After I removed the app completely the Mac was fast again.
 
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mxrider88 said:
I switched completely to iCloud Drive.

Dropbox on M1 was killing my MacBook Air.
After a few days without a reboot, switching user account with fast switching was taking up to 30 seconds and the whole system was becoming unresponsive, after a big of digging I found the issue was Dropbox. Crazy..
After I removed the app completely the Mac was fast again.
Click to expand...
That’s odd. I migrated to an M1 Air in February and have had zero performance issues from Dropbox. It never uses more than a fraction of a percent of CPU time. I wonder what causes this difference?
 
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