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How to turn iCloud Drive into dropbox - it's possible!

W

Wbutchart

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 20, 2013
142
4
Hi all , I'm sure many like me were expecting more from Apple when it came to the iCloud Drive experience on ios. I have been trying to create a dropbox like experience and think I have managed.

Download goodreader, enable iCloud in settings. Once enabled add documents into this area, dropbox etc can be added as sources in the connect option. Simply download everything into the iCloud section. If you don't want the files on the device but in the cloud select the folders in the manage files option and click evict, this removes them from the device but there on cloud if needed.

Have transferred loads from dropbox, skydrive and Google drive, evicted it all so it's now on the cloud.

Hope this helps if anyone else was hoping for a centralised cloud storage option.
 
And you put all those files in the goodreader folder or the documents 5 folder - or can you put it anywhere you want?
 
I have been looking at this for a while now and I have to ask. Why work so hard to make iCloud into Dropbox when Dropbox is so easy to get and use. The other services are easy too. I use Box and OneDrive and both work fine. Just curious is all.

I too wish iCloud Drive would replace the other services but at this point it does not. Until it does I don't see why so many want to work so hard to force the issue.
 
fuoco said:
And you put all those files in the goodreader folder or the documents 5 folder - or can you put it anywhere you want?
Click to expand...

In Documents 5 you have a cloud icon across the bottom, then tapping it shows an iCloud drive option in the top left. You can access all your files just like in finder. Haven't figured out how to upload files with it yet though.

Documents 5 has also just been updated with TouchID support too.
 
iCloud Drive doesn't work like Dropbox. It's slow, doesn't offer selective sync on the desktop and doesn't offer an easy way to access your storage from any device, like DropBox does.
 
iCloud Drive just simply doesn't cut it for me as a Dropbox replacement. Hell I think even Box which I use for work is better than iCloud Drive at this point (and if anyone knows Box Sync sucks!)

Dropbox has syncing information (shows when files are being synced, how many etc.), universal client for most if not all operating systems, extremely quick syncing (I love how I can update a password in 1Password and have it ding across to my other devices instantly), and a user-friendly filesystem like interface.

iCloud Drive lacks all of the above and seriously has some growing up to do if it wants to be in the running for a Dropbox/Box replacement.

I feel as if, however, that iCloud Drive is supposed to not really be in that market segment... iCloud Drive feels like it was originally designed and intended to be the invisible little brother to apps that support it, just syncing back and forth freely, and not meant to be a browsable filesystem that it now is on OS X and iCloud.com. Apple needs to address the unbrowsableness of iCloud Drive on iOS.
 
I wouldn't use iCloud drive even if it had same functionality as Dropbox just for one thing. It doesn't keep files, older version of file after deleting it. There was bug whereas after reseting settings via iPhone it also deleted iWork documents and you couldn't recover it while on Dropbox you can recover deleted files.
 
Wbutchart said:
Hi all , I'm sure many like me were expecting more from Apple when it came to the iCloud Drive experience on ios. I have been trying to create a dropbox like experience and think I have managed.

Download goodreader, enable iCloud in settings. Once enabled add documents into this area, dropbox etc can be added as sources in the connect option. Simply download everything into the iCloud section. If you don't want the files on the device but in the cloud select the folders in the manage files option and click evict, this removes them from the device but there on cloud if needed.

Have transferred loads from dropbox, skydrive and Google drive, evicted it all so it's now on the cloud.

Hope this helps if anyone else was hoping for a centralised cloud storage option.
Click to expand...

I tried exactly that for a week with Goodreader on my iPhone. I had high hopes and it did sort of work, but it was just incredibly slow at downloading anything, probably around 10x slower than OneDrive. It didn't work at all on my iPad 3, crashing the app every few minutes.

Gave up on that idea and just went back to OneDrive.
 
Piertown said:
Documents 5 does a similar job as well
Click to expand...
Excellent, how do you evict documents on documents 5 so that's they are stored on the cloud but show on device? I prefer the look of documents but could not work out how to have files in the cloud show in the normal folders (not the document picker) without them taking up storage on the device.
 
indefinitekarma said:
iCloud Drive just simply doesn't cut it for me as a Dropbox replacement. Hell I think even Box which I use for work is better than iCloud Drive at this point (and if anyone knows Box Sync sucks!)

Dropbox has syncing information (shows when files are being synced, how many etc.), universal client for most if not all operating systems, extremely quick syncing (I love how I can update a password in 1Password and have it ding across to my other devices instantly), and a user-friendly filesystem like interface.

iCloud Drive lacks all of the above and seriously has some growing up to do if it wants to be in the running for a Dropbox/Box replacement.

I feel as if, however, that iCloud Drive is supposed to not really be in that market segment... iCloud Drive feels like it was originally designed and intended to be the invisible little brother to apps that support it, just syncing back and forth freely, and not meant to be a browsable filesystem that it now is on OS X and iCloud.com. Apple needs to address the unbrowsableness of iCloud Drive on iOS.
Click to expand...

Bah. Computers have had folder/file organization since the 1950s. It made sense then, it makes sense now, and it will always make sense. In the 1980s there were some weird papers from weird people in the emerging CS field saying the future wouldn't need/have such a system. They were wrong. Apple gave it their best shot and it has been an incredibly annoying failure. Apple needs to stop with that outdated thinking, give it up, and get with the program. Sheesh just stick a file browser in iOS, iCloud, etc. already.
 
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