Dropbox Touts New Collaborative Cloud Storage Management App

[jennyp]

I'm less keen on Dropbox after the recent price hike, but one thing that keeps me with it is its ability to store data without it necessarily being on your Mac - the "selective sync" feature. The data is accessed by other methods, like DEVONthink or apps that can mount off-disk folders in the Finder (e.g., Mountain Duck).

I'd switch to iCloud if it has this feature somehow - but it doesn't, does it? There's no way to store data in iCloud without it taking up disk space in one way or another?

 

[4487549]

I'm less keen on Dropbox after the recent price hike, but one thing that keeps me with it is its ability to store data without it necessarily being on your Mac - the "selective sync" feature. The data is accessed by other methods, like DEVONthink or apps that can mount off-disk folders in the Finder (e.g., Mountain Duck).

I'd switch to iCloud if it has this feature somehow - but it doesn't, does it? There's no way to store data in iCloud without it taking up disk space in one way or another?

Workaround: create a folder called Documents Local (or whatever you like) that isn't synced along with Desktop & Documents. Not quite the same thing but...

The other alternative, which I'm skeptical of, is to let iCloud decide for you by "optimizing" stoage (storing files you haven't opened in a long time in the cloud). Maybe someone else who has tried this can speak to it...

 

[MacGizmo]

Has anyone here actually tried the new Dropbox yet? I did... it's a farging mess—uses a ton of RAM and CPU, and ultimately does exactly nothing I want it to, and plenty of what I don't.

I heard Dropbox was in a really bad spot financially. This will surely make matters much worse, ultimately forcing them to sell out to the highest bidder. Unfortunately for them, everyone has their own cloud syncing now, so they're aren't as sexy as they were years ago.

I will miss the selective syncing feature of Dropbox, but not much else.

 

[jdechko]

Just migrated most of my data out of Dropbox and cancelled my Plus subscription last night. I have a couple of shared folders that I'll keep the account active for (for now), but the latest changes really pushed me over the edge.

 

[ignatius345]

I've been using Dropbox since near the beginning. The "magic folder that syncs" aspect has always been the real point, but they just keep larding on more and more features, especially since they went public.

I ponied up for a 2 TB iCloud plan and moved the bulk of my stuff over to iCloud Drive last year. Dropbox still wins in some respects, like selective sync, shared folders and cross-platform availability, but iCloud Drive is catching up.
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I will miss the selective syncing feature of Dropbox, but not much else.

Yeah, iCloud Drive is still horrible with this. Dropbox also gives you a lot of control over syncing and the ability to troubleshoot and diagnose sync conflicts

But agreed, once shared folders roll out in iCloud, it's probably getting toward the end of the line for me using Dropbox.

 

[SteveW928]

... I think they overestimated their market position. They needed to emphasise their independence, multi-platform, and ubiquitous nature, and renewed sense of security. Instead, they went all Microsoft BOB on us. Shame. ...

Yep. For years there were rock-solid cloud file sync that couldn't really be matched. Now, I'm not sure what they are trying to become, but it is certainly a fail.

I still like Dropbox's per-file status visible in the Finder, I can see exactly which and when individual files and folders are syncing or done syncing. iCloud Drive is a lot more opaque.

iCloud is a joke by comparison, but maybe some can make do with it.

I'm probably going to do some moving stuff around and re-checking my workflow before my plan renews. I've used them since shortly after they started, but I think our relationship is coming to an end.

 

[Isamilis]

i just moved to pcloud from dropbox plus. I used only less than 200 gb out of 2tb storage. The dropbox clients made my mac temp high and few times I have to terminate it due to its high cpu usage. Already deleted, cleanup, reinstall with same results (High Sierra). Also, the block level updates not monopolized by dropbox anymore. Also backup process directly from Dropbox to pcloud is seamless.