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Shared links don't open when accessed from an Android device

aprilafternoon

For a while now, I've been sharing Dropbox documents in PDF format via email. Once in a while people tell me they "can't open the links." I always just assumed they didn't know what they were doing, but today I happened to test one of these links on an Android phone.

In the Gmail app on Android, clicking on a Dropbox link in this format:

[Removed as per Community Guidelines]

gives the error,

Cannot display PDF (20190204.pdf is of invalid format)

Anyone know how to get this to work on Android?

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Lusil

Hi @virtue, in general, this error message seems to be a generic error message related to a third party app.

For this reason, I’d recommend attempting to opening the link with a mobile browser and, if you’re still having issues, you can always contact our Support team for a more in-depth look on the matter using our internal tools.

Thanks in advance!

This thread is closed due to inactivity. Please feel free to create a new topic here.

All comments

Lusil

Hi there, @aprilafternoon.

As a first step, could you please send me a screenshot of the error message you’re seeing (excluding personal info)? You can do this by selecting one of the following options:

Thanks in advance!

aprilafternoon

Absolutely! Here you go.

Lusil

Thanks for the screenshot, @aprilafternoon!

Hmm. :thinking: The first thought that comes to mind is that the device doesn't have the relevant third party app to support the file in question so as to preview.

However, I just wanted to ask, if you change the shared link's dl=0 into dl=1 (so as to force the file to download), are you then able to preview the file directly from your mobile phone by any chance?

Let me know what you find!

aprilafternoon

I actually did try the dl=1 argument before I wrote this post! It makes no difference. Shouldn't the links open in the browser instead of trying to download the file?

Lusil

Thanks for trying this out for me, @aprilafternoon.

Could you please try manually copy-pasting the shared link you have into a browser and see if that does the trick?

Let me know of any updates!

Здравко

Hi @aprilafternoon,

The message is absolutely normal. The link point to JPEG file, erroneous renamed to .pdf. Of cource, android try to redirect to activity serving PDF, but the same activity seems doesn't know anything about JPEG. Check Your file format and/or set apropriate name extension. :upside_down:

aprilafternoon

Unfortunately, that's not the case... the file in question is a valid PDF file and I can view it properly from iOS devices... just not Android.

Здравко

Hi @aprilafternoon,

As response to link Your posted initialy (https://www.dropbox.com/s/o8fpocz6tykra0o/20190204.pdf?dl=0) in part of the content (no to direct link) headers reported are:

accept-ranges: bytes
cache-control: public, max-age=31536000, no-transform
content-disposition: inline; filename="AA-iJSzD.jpe…ilename*=UTF-8''AA-iJSzD.jpeg
content-length: 232494
content-security-policy: referrer no-referrer
content-type: image/jpeg
date: Thu, 07 Feb 2019 01:25:27 GMT
referrer-policy: no-referrer
server: nginx
timing-allow-origin: *
vary: Origin
x-content-type-options: nosniff
x-dropbox-request-id: a80463e96954cc0b61e152b987784782
X-Firefox-Spdy: h2
x-robots-tag: noindex, nofollow, noimageindex
x-server-response-time: 171

all together (at least, when I clicked the link provided). Note especially the line:

content-type: image/jpeg

I will left this byself without comments.

Something more: Even on a same OS different activities can have different capabilities (What to say on different devices and/or OS-es). So, some activities can serve more types, others - no. That's it.

Здравко

Of course, this could be bad redirection to https://uce90e38fa32e1b7b14345c2a3a2.previews.dropboxusercontent.com/p/thumb/AAULjtCnhlyMjiewZ4Hm5JrqefroBT7owwI9hpPBjyp9-4V_qn8pJf7SHLafzcTGndTTbvGXc9AfxzJnqo3oihFbWT9kgKjUkD80-Twe1YETOtp2TzjNVnxsfWZgelgdm2NJZs4N4K4kJTObFqWHMD5rBfymqBIP_m7KxWRFneScmSA2PMsekHy9faOAI5gS11VsQh9I4EpZ-SujdzZlqcECuBddFQDNQgTmXrptexC9AnMSHPfApZWjXtRdro9JSu0I6lWrYWYH9smUAA-iJSzD/p.jpeg?size=800x600&size_mode=3

If so, I can't say anything more.

aprilafternoon

Lusil,

Surprisingly, even that doesn't work! If I use the dl=0 option, nothing happens, and if I use dl=1, the file downloads but won't open (other PDF files on the device do open).

Lusil

Thanks for trying these out for us, @aprilafternoon.

It sounds like the device that you’re trying to preview the file on doesn’t have a supporting third party app to open it, which would explain why it doesn’t load even when you download it.

For this reason, I’d recommend navigating through a web browser to find a third party app that would allow you to access the file type in question.

Let us know if you have any other questions!

aprilafternoon

The device I was testing on does indeed have a PDF viewer, which works fine with other PDF files (I checked). And my Dropbox links open fine on iOS and in the desktop browser... so I know the file contained in the link is a real PDF. I think there is a bug somewhere in the way Dropbox is delivering these files to Android OS.

Lusil

Thanks for your swift reply, @aprilafternoon .

In order to have a more in-depth look into this, I’d have to move this discussion to email due to account-specific info that’ll be needed.

For this reason, I’ve sent you an email to the email address associated with your Community profile. Please check your inbox for my latest message and we’ll take it from there.

Cheers!

andreich

What is the final solution? I have the same issue for any shared pdf file on android devices

Lusil

Hey @andreich,

I’ve followed up with a ticket so as to have a more in-depth look into the behavior you’re experiencing with shared link previews. Please check your inbox for my latest message and we’ll take it from there.

Cheers!

ThePhysicsCafe

Hi Dropbox, I am a business user. I have EXACTLY the same problem as described. May i know the solutions?

Lusil

Hey there @ThePhysicsCafe, thanks for posting your query on the Community!

Due to sensitive and account-specific information that was necessary to help investigate this behavior, we previously had to move this discussion to email for each user.

Similarly, I’ve sent you a ticket to the email address connected to your Community profile so as to have a more in-depth look.

Thanks in advance!

PS. For any future queries regarding this, please submit your request to our Support team as they’ll be able to assist you with our internal tools. Thanks again, peeps!

LesliePiper

This sucks,
I'm having the same problem.
If I use the link via Whatsapp Web it opens fine.
and if I access the pdf, either download or
with a link from "one drive" it also works fine
conclusion it's a DROPBOX issue.

Please solve it.

korogorov

I am having the exact same issue. Would you please share a solution in this thread? It seems that the issue is being addressed in a case-by-case way privately and that defeats the purpose of this forum...

Lusil

Hey there @LesliePiper and @korogorov,

Since each individual case reported here needs to be looked at more in-depth and account-specific info is required, troubleshooting can’t continue on this thread as it’s a public platform.

As such, I’ve sent you a ticket to the email address associated with your Community profiles. If you have any further queries regarding this, please don’t hesitate to get back to me via email.

Thanks!

TrevorNemanic

@Lusil, can you please help me get to a solution with this problem too?

aprilafternoon

If anyone has received private help from this thread that has resolved their issue and wants to report back here what general steps were taken, that might be helpful.

andreich

I just support it only in my own application. By click on link I open web browser. I don't know any other solution. It should be fix by dropbox team

Lusil

Hey there,

@andreich, thank you for letting us know what worked for you on this matter, awesome work!

@TrevorNemanic, I was able to locate your open communication and can see that it’s been reviewed by a specialized member of my team. Since they have access to our internal tools, they’ll be able to efficiently look into this for you and get back to you as soon as possible.

Thanks in advance for your patience!

virtue

I have this issue too, but its music link. Those who have iphone it works. On any samung, example; Samsung note 9, Samsung Android, Samsung Galaxy, etc.. the link is clickable but when they tap the thick arrow icon to play, nothing. Today, I did it again but used someone else samething, all three are samsung phones. Any update, of what to do, or am i doing someting wrong? Thank you in advance

Lusil

Hi @virtue, in general, this error message seems to be a generic error message related to a third party app.

Thanks in advance!

This thread is closed due to inactivity. Please feel free to create a new topic here.