Is there a "true" Dropbox alternative available?

[happycadaver]

My first interest is not, if its free of charge or how much space it offers, but if there is a service available, which offers selective syncing and the same OS immersion like Dropbox? My family uses Windows, Linux, OSX, Android and iOS. All of these devices should have easy access to their own and to shared files.

Thanks!

 

[nightcap965]

Have you looked at Google Drive? And what's wrong with Dropbox?

 

[Phil A.]

I use Google Drive (I've got an unlimited Google Work account) instead of Dropbox and it does pretty much everything Dropbox does except differential uploads (i.e. in Dropbox if you change 1 byte in a 1GB file it just uploads the bit that's changed, whereas Google Drive re-uploads the entire file) and LAN Sync (if you have multiple machines synced to dropbox on the same LAN it will sync between them across the LAN)

For me, the additional functionality of Google Drive (unlimited space, Google Docs, integration with Gmail) is more useful than the missing Dropbox features (I also use a 3rd party sync client called Insync which gives me more control than the standard GDrive app), but not everyone has the same needs

 

[Fuchal]

OneDrive is also pretty great, but there are only 3rd party solutions available for Linux.

 

[willentrekin]

Have you checked out Box? I use it across devices.

 

[Smeaton1724]

iCloud?

I'm on the 50GB iCloud plan. Have been using it to make and store folders in on my Mac/iPad/iPhone. Everything is synced and downloaded to each OSX and iOS device, so for me iCloud is better than Dropbox as everything automatically is on my iOS devices, which it isn't with Dropbox on iOS, it is still within the cloud and requires manual downloading. Windows and Linux could access via browser?

 

[Pakaku]

I'm slowly offloading my Dropbox contents to a Mega account.

 

[MacGizmo]

I use COPY, from Barracuda Networks (which instantly makes it better than Dropbox for security reasons alone). It works exactly the same as Dropbox, except the selective syncing is better, the website is better when you need to use it, you get a LOT more free space to start (and even more via referrals—I'm up to nearly 2TB for free). The iOS app is better. But to be honest, you aren't going to find ANY app/service that integrates with more than Dropbox.

 

[navaira]

Whoa, I want 2TB for free.

Does Copy allow syncing single files on a device? (Say, I want to download a 100 MB file to my Mac, but not to my phone, and I don't want to put it in a separate folder, and then update it from my Mac and have it synced on the server and other machines featuring a copy)

 

[MacGizmo]

Does Copy allow syncing single files on a device? (Say, I want to download a 100 MB file to my Mac, but not to my phone, and I don't want to put it in a separate folder, and then update it from my Mac and have it synced on the server and other machines featuring a copy)

The phone is a different beast. No service like Dropbox/Copy actually 'downloads' the files to your phone until you manually tell it to. They simply provide a list of the files that are in the cloud and available for you to download.

As far as the other part of your question, I don't understand what you're asking. But it sounds like selective syncing—which Copy offers.

I would suggest you just try it to see if it does what you want.

 

[navaira]

Yes, I want a solution that works exactly the same on the Mac as it does on the phone: only downloads a file when I demand it.

I'll give Copy a try

 

[iRock1]

If your are concerned about your privacy and security, I'd go with BitTorrent Sync. If you want to go even further, you could make your own private cloud with OwnCloud, though it will require some skills.

 

[simonsi]

Yes, I want a solution that works exactly the same on the Mac as it does on the phone: only downloads a file when I demand it.

I'll give Copy a try

Most cloud offerings would interpret "in the cloud but not synced to any devices" as time to delete the file from the cloud - be careful of that.

I use Cloud Commander (which talks to many cloud storage providers) to handles files on machines where I don't want it synced to that machine but just want a pull n push capability to/from Dropbox.

 

[bingeciren]

I switched from Dropbox to BitTorrent Sync (free version). The advantages are 1) No size limit, 2) Private because everything resides in my own devices, 3) Uses local network hence saves bandwidth and fast. 4) When you share a file by sending a link to someone, you don't need to upload anything to someones cloud. The file sits in your computer and gets downloaded directly from your computer.

If you want selective-sync and on demand sync, then you have to switch to the Pro version and pay. The free version is perfectly adequate for my needs to sync Documents and Downloads folders for example.

 

[eyeseeyou]

Maybe western digital mycloud + wdsync

 

[Phil A.]

Most cloud offerings would interpret "in the cloud but not synced to any devices" as time to delete the file from the cloud - be careful of that.

I'm not aware of any cloud offerings that insist on you having a file downloaded to at least one device - which ones are you thinking of?

 

[MacGizmo]

I'm not aware of any cloud offerings that insist on you having a file downloaded to at least one device - which ones are you thinking of?

Pretty much all of them, no? I mean, the file has to exist somewhere if it's a SYNC service like Dropbox.

 

[Phil A.]

Pretty much all of them, no? I mean, the file has to exist somewhere if it's a SYNC service like Dropbox.

I've got stuff in Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive that only exists on their cloud and not on any devices - they're far more than simple sync services. True, if you are syncing a folder to your drive and delete from the computer it will delete from the service too (after all, that's what it's designed to do), but you can create / upload a file to a folder on the service that isn't synced anywhere and it will be fine exiting just in the cloud - that's what selective sync is for

For example, with Google Drive and OneDrive you can create documents using the web interface, edit them, etc and they don't need to go anywhere near a computer. You can sync your phone camera roll to Dropbox (and others) and never sync that folder to a computer; You can upload a file to a non-synced folder and then delete the file from your computer and the uploaded file will be just fine.

 

[wolfgangrumpf]

Another vote for OwnCloud. I would add that it doesn't take *that* much skill, but it's best if you install the server version on a machine that you leave on all the time (e.g. your home media server, or whatever). The Mac installers for both server and client are pretty straight-forward. I use an Ubuntu machine to serve and access the files from, well, everything - Mac, iOS, etc.

If your are concerned about your privacy and security, I'd go with BitTorrent Sync. If you want to go even further, you could make your own private cloud with OwnCloud, though it will require some skills.

 

[simonsi]

I've got stuff in Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive that only exists on their cloud and not on any devices - they're far more than simple sync services. True, if you are syncing a folder to your drive and delete from the computer it will delete from the service too (after all, that's what it's designed to do), but you can create / upload a file to a folder on the service that isn't synced anywhere and it will be fine exiting just in the cloud - that's what selective sync is for

For example, with Google Drive and OneDrive you can create documents using the web interface, edit them, etc and they don't need to go anywhere near a computer. You can sync your phone camera roll to Dropbox (and others) and never sync that folder to a computer; You can upload a file to a non-synced folder and then delete the file from your computer and the uploaded file will be just fine.

My point was you need to be careful otherwise you can inadvertently have the data deleted, possibly by actions on a different machine/device.If you never have it synced to any device (thats what I use Cloud Commander for for instance, then all is well but if you sync then delete the data goes too. How mobile devices play in that I don't know, don't use them for that.

 

[iRock1]

Another vote for OwnCloud. I would add that it doesn't take *that* much skill, but it's best if you install the server version on a machine that you leave on all the time (e.g. your home media server, or whatever). The Mac installers for both server and client are pretty straight-forward. I use an Ubuntu machine to serve and access the files from, well, everything - Mac, iOS, etc.

I myself tried and failed miserably. Certainly it's not a consumer-level thing, like downloading and installing an app from the MAS.

 

[960design]

My first interest is not, if its free of charge or how much space it offers, but if there is a service available, which offers selective syncing and the same OS immersion like Dropbox? My family uses Windows, Linux, OSX, Android and iOS. All of these devices should have easy access to their own and to shared files.

Thanks!

iCloud.com? There is a windows iCloud client if you feel that you need that, otherwise just access, drag and drop files directly to the web. 5G storage. Doesn't cost a dime.