Dropbox has still not completed the major changeover to Apple’s new interface: all Mac users should only receive the new version of the client by the end of May, as the cloud service has announced in an updated support document. The update has been available gradually since last November and requires at least macOS Monterey 12.5. We continue to work to maintain the “quality and reliability” of the sync process, emphasized Dropboxand I also want to work closely with some users who use special configurations.
Major changes in Finder integration
The new Dropbox version introduces fundamental changes, some of which are due to Apple’s specifications or the limitations of the Mac manufacturer’s interface. For example, the Dropbox folder can no longer be freely stored in a location of your choice, but automatically ends up in the directory ~/Library/CloudStorage.
In the future, the operating system can also remove Dropbox files from the Mac itself if, for example, storage space is low, even offline files are then no longer available locally.
Problems with AirDrop
Report users of Dropbox’s backup feature of significant problems with AirDrop: Apple’s service for fast local file exchange then no longer works properly in macOS 13 Ventura because Dropbox takes over the download folder. Files sent to the Mac via AirDrop lose their usual storage location and cannot be found after the transfer, as users in the Dropbox forum complain. Only switching off the backup function seems to help at the moment, a fix from Dropbox is not available.
Apple originally asked cloud services to complete the transition to the file provider framework by spring 2022. Only Microsoft OneDrive managed to update its own client in good time, but it also had to contend with significant problems and a lot of annoyance among users.
(lbe)
