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Dropbox APP missing

The main reason why the construction company that I represent, had decided to start using Dropbox instead of a server are 2

1) Everything is in the iCloud no need to have computers with a lot of memory capacity

2) Everything was really easy to manage with the Dropbox App with the PC and Handy, especially in terms of internal communication, being able to leave a message and comments or instructions on each document or folder, and all the documents no matter which format was easy to visualize, you had a preview of any document... so when you get in a folder you see the documents, not just the name and format (like now).

The main reason why the construction company that I represent, had decided to start searching for a substitution of Dropbox

No Dropbox APP = We are searching for a new solution. WE USE TO OPERATE ALWAYS DIRECTLY THROUGH THE APP

Dropbox's website is not easy to manage as was with the app...

Dropbox's website; you can see a preview of each document, has issues to open lots of formats, etc...

Dropbox's website; not comfortable to interact with a team big as our

Dropbox's Desk; in order to see the previews I do have to synchronize all so... use the memory capacity of my computer.. so If you have a 2 T of information, you better get a PC with this capacity... Why use a Cloud if at the end you need to use your computer memory capacity? Can someone explain me????

Dropbox Desk; no way to internally communicate with a team, no way to leave a message or tag anyone in a comment...

Resume:

Dropbox instead of going forward... is going backward... The App was a great and easy solution for big corporations...

My team and I are absolutely disappointed that you have deleted the App, and we HATE and find useless the Desk solution.

I hope you fix the App soon, otherways you are definitely losing us as clients...

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Megan

Hey all, thanks for posting here!

Your feedback regarding our Dropbox desktop application has been very valuable, and I will endeavor to make sure your voice is heard.

I will pass on your comments to the relevant departments so that we can further improve our product.

Keep in mind that no features were removed and you can still use your Finder or File Explorer without an issue.

If you have any questions, or you're not sure how to achieve something on your app, this is why we are here to jump in and help.

Thanks a bunch!

All comments

mercy_gt

AGREE! Especially when we're still all working from home - I work in a large comms/marketing/media team who used the app to comment on files and photos all the time. The search function of the app has been indispensable over the last few years.

Now I have to retrain my team on how to access files with LESS features on their program files/desktop. We work in healthcare - we don't have time to re train, we are very busy supporting our frontline workers!

We started using dropbox at the beginning of the pandemic because it was going to be a better solution than remote server access to keep our team agile and ready to respond in the midst of this crisis but now we need to seriously consider our options. The App was perfect, why did you take it away?

aresende1

Agree all around. Please bring the dropbox app back!

tdeboer

I just talked to Dropbox rep and they let me know that the app is not coming back for AT LEAST A YEAR!!!!!!😖😭☹️. I LOVED the desktop app. Our organization had organized our corporate life in that thing. Very disappointed.

ishabioamp

Yes! Dropbox please bring the app back. I relied heavily on the Folder Overview sections to really describe and detail what each folder contained. Our entire documentation system relies on easy access to the folder overview via the desktop app. I also found the app so user friendly, aesthetically pleasing, and easier to toggle and navigate compared to my Finder. Dropbox loses its value without the desktop app.

thecandidate

100% agree!

The dropbox desktop app had such a great user interface and was a good workflow for our team.. unfortunately as of 17 Jan 2022, it has been dropped? I wonder why this change was made, and i'm just hoping the application is being improved instead of being killed.

What we enjoyed out of the desktop app was the ability to pin specific files to the main dropbox for quick access, which everyone was able to identify quickly. with the Finder app, it was hard to see pinned items, and with the website, its a redundant process – requiring lots of extra steps – having to open up the website to identify the folder before pinning them. the website does not give as much visual cues as the desktop app previously had.

Please, dropbox, #bringitback!

ConstructoraBCN

Spoiler

Thank you so much to everyone that is giving support to my comment.

I really hope that someone in charge sees it, brings back the APP, and keeps investing in it ... in a changing world, in a middle of a crisis because of the pandemic, in a moment where the digitalization of each company is the only way to keep our heads up, to give support to our clients, no matter where (home office), to keep the teams united, once again no matter where they are located (home office), and in a moment where everyone is in a hurry because we do not know what will happen next, so speed up, and productivity comes first... How Dropbox has decided to limit features???

It is really really disappointing to lose features, to lose easy access to the folder overview (this is something that I really won't handle long, it freaks me out), without the APP our productivity and internal communication (My team and I used daily the comments @.. for internal communication, it was really great and user friendly! through the website is a mess! and through the Desktop solution... it is simply unavailable!!!) have been negatively affected... Especially in the middle of a pandemic when most of the companies are a bit decentralized because lots of employers work from home... You need quick and easy interfaces, user-friendly, to avoid mistakes, etc... And once again... How disappointing can be to have a cloud solution that the only way to operate is synchronizing local all? Hello! Do we need to buy all new computers with bigger memory capacity because we do need to keep what is in the cloud as well in the Computers?

I repeat myself, instead of going forward Dropbox in the middle of a pandemic is going backward and affecting negatively to its clients, and for the same price... How disappointing!!!

Example:

Should we move all to GoogleDrive? I use to like better Dropbox... but not anymore..
There are companies that operate 100% with a cloud, such as HOLDED (ERP-CRM Solution) that have no app but have a really easy website interface, and that keeps all simply online without the need of using computers internal memory.. (Dropbox app is no user friendly at all..)

I personally think that Dropbox should bring the App back asap (before we all freaks out) and keep investing in easy solutions for internal communications because the future of lots of companies is operating decentralized.

Info: I have talked to the support of Dropbox by telephone, and they have told me that they canceled the app because lots of people have got stressed with 3 interfaces (Website/App/Desktop). My answer to all of them is: Nobody force anyone to use the 3 solutions... do not install the app if you don't like it, simple as that.

TilmanM

totally agree. I'm "just" a private user of dropbox, but I used the app every day for my workflow. if I have to use Apple's finder I can just as well use iCloud...

Sambosam

My Dropbox regularly switches itself from opening within the app and then the finder. I then have to change the settings within preferences to "open with desktop app" but now that option is no longer visible. Any ideas?

Hannah

Hey @Sambosam, thanks for posting your query to our Community.

To give you some info on this, as of January 17, 2022, the Dropbox desktop app only supports Finder and the menu bar, and the desktop app window is no longer available.

You should have received an email about this at some point, but not to worry! Your content is still safe with us.

You can still save, view, share, and access all your files with the Dropbox folder in macOS Finder, the menu bar, on our website, and from the latest iOS and Android apps.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Bukre Ayan

I have been using the Dropbox app for mac since I began working last year. And our firm has been using it for a longer time. Since this morning, I cannot use the app as I used to do because Dropbox stopped supporting the desktop app for mac?! Even though I can open and modify my files over the finder, the new way is not as convenient as it is used to be. The properties provided by the app were very useful to me. I could monitor easily the last modifications in the documents drafted by me or my colleagues, as well as who did the modification. And the search results provided by the desktop app were more convenient than the search results provided by the finder as I could sort them on the app by relevance which is not available on the finder. I am aware that I can use DB from the web and can get similar results, but it is still not the same as the DB desktop app. To modify the documents I need to open the documents with Word for web or Google Docs which are not as convenient as modifying files by directly opening them on my computer with the DB desktop app. And the DB for the web does not let me modify the forms in PDF format, I need to download and work on that then delete the old version and upload the modified version again. So, it turns out I need to use DB from finder and DB for the web at the same time to get the same result with the DB desktop app for mac.

I first would like to ask - is there anyone who knows why DB decided to stop supporting the desktop app for mac? Then would like to request from DB to make the DB desktop app for mac available again.

Thank you!

Phil37

Yeah, I have a question: Who's brilliantly terrible idea was it to discontinue the desktop app window?? That is literally the only instance of this app that I like to use at all. Dropbox in windows explorer is a steaming pile of garbage and the webpage version of the app is a pain and doesn't work as good. I want the old dropbox back now!

Sambosam

Thank you for the reply Hannah. I'm disappointed by the answer and really don't understand the logic behind the decision. While it may have simplified my Windows desktop (which wasn't really ever an issue to me) it's now made the process of using Dropbox much more complex. I suspect many with have the same opinion and hope that Dropbox reconsiders reinstating the app.

CarleySue22

We need the DROPBOX App to act as an application. Opening up all the files in FINDER makes organizing much more difficult.

slvs

This does NOT makes sense at all, the Dropbox app made everything so much easier. The File explorer is way harder to use. this is definitely a step back! Not happy at all!

Harpo

Something has changed in my Dropbox.

Previously when I clicked on the Dropbox icon the icon would appear in the taskbar and the top folders or files in Dropbox would appear.

Now the Dropbox icon no longer appears in the task bar and additional folders such as .dropbox.cache. Dropbox.ini and .Dropbox appear.

I don’t know how this change happened but wish to get my Dropbox back to it’s previous view.

Megan

tdeboer

Hi Megan,

Thank you for response and for acknowledging the comments. I just want to make sure we are on the same page and that I’m not missing something. The desktop app is gone, correct? I can’t gain access to this feature any longer. Or is there some way to? I’m only asking because you stated that “no feature was removed”. The app operated completely differently than the finder integration and offered large visible captions that describe what is in a given folder. I believe all of those features are gone?

Thanks again for the response,

Mark

@tdeboer you can do everything you could do via the app on the website instead, hence, no features have been removed. They are just accessed in different places now

G13

This is a non-answer. With the already poor communication on this, users deserve more information. There are still directions everywhere on how to install the app but no further explanation on why you are not making it available anymore.

Please do better Dropbox.

Jenny15

As of 1/17/22 the dropbox app does not exist. Using a Mac and only being able to use Finder is not efficient or user friendly.

It is not ideal for users who have a lot of folders within folders to only have Finder be an option because there are no more starred folders. Every time I click on the Dropbox icon it opens a new finder window unless I click on the on the one that is already minimized. It also does not automatically sort folders from other files (PDF, Excel, etc) I have to manually select it to organize them this way unless all files are sorted alphabetically and looks like a mess.

This makes Dropbox a lot harder to use when trying to be efficient at work.

BRINGBACKTHEAPP

Well, this is absolutely ridiculous. Bring the app back so I can actually use Dropbox in a meaningful way.

Lara Siewert

Apparently, as of January 17, 22, Dropbox decided to make an "improvement" and only open through File Explorer when you click on the app. From now on, Dropbox will only be accessible through Dropbox.com or by the little icon in the task manager (which brings up a tiny pop-up in the lower right of your screen that you can barely navigate).

I don't like File Explorer, it is not as user-friendly, I liked my Dropbox app. Someone should reverse this unnecessary change, please! I am not the only one in these forums that dislikes this.

Saqib

Hi there,

I think Dropbox should restore the Dropbox App. It was hugely convenient for accessing files and making comments on folders. Finder is not that intuitive as compared to the Dropbox app which gave the option of making certain folder favourites for quick access.

Regards,

Saqib

troubledyute

The Dropbox desktop app appears to have merged with File Explorer. Now it is less streamlined to:

-see who edited a file in File Explorer

-when a file was last edited

-when a file was added to a folder in File Explorer

-the list of people who have access/permission to a folder in File Explorer

-how to invite someone to a folder in File Explorer

tdeboer

Completely agree!

tdeboer

Hi @Mark ,

I disagree. The logic you are using is saying that because a flip phone makes phone calls and an iPhone makes phone calls they have the same features. It's just not the case. In the web browser version is VERY clunky and hard to navigate (very Window 95). Especially when we are brining on new people remotely, it does not serve the purpose of helping our organization stay organized. We had just built our entire information infrastructure in the desktop app and then DB removed that arm of their services. It is a completely optional task to download the desktop app, and the reason that I was given by DB as to why they got rid of it was because "a lot of people complained about the app." When I asked if they had sent out surveys to make sure that their dataset wasn't just biased by unhappy users that are usually much more vocal than those who are happy with a service, the reply was no.

JuliaScruggs

I totally agree!!! Removing the app has made my work double!!! I work on a Mac and can no longer comment with out opening in the browser and I cannot open a file via the browser (except for "preview" only) so I'm having to switch between the browser and file manager.... This is more than a headache for me.

lcollier

Agreed! My work is now doubled. Bring back the desktop app!

Harpo

Okay, my message has been answered. There is no fix other than hoping the people at Dropbox will realize the change they made is very unpopular and should be changed back.

BRINGBACKTHEAPP

I know have to download any file I want to email onto my Mac. Unlike before where I can just drag the file to an email for instance. This is so ridiculous. The app cant be much work for DB to keep running. BRING IT BACK! PLEASE