Dropbox sync only happens when I have the Dropbox iPhone app actively open, and even then it takes about 5 minutes to upload a single photo. This is for camera roll sync.
Hi there, I’m Antonio, a member of the Dropbox Mobile team. I wanted to talk about our upload process on iOS and address its current constraints:
If you are manually uploading files into your Dropbox using the plus (“+”) button, keep in mind that uploads will only run while the app is in the foreground. When the app is backgrounded, Dropbox can only run for a few minutes before the device will stop the process to save battery. To remedy this, we recommend keeping the app open while an upload is in progress.
If you are using the camera uploads feature to automatically upload photos from your Camera Roll to Dropbox, you can turn on “Background Uploading”. This will allow your photos and videos to continue uploading even if you don’t have the app open. Additionally, this feature uses location changes to trigger uploads as you move around throughout the day (this is why we ask you to enable “Location Services” when you enable this feature). Keep in mind that if there isn’t a significant location change after a few minutes, the device will stop the process, and photos or videos will no longer upload in the background.
Syncing can be slower if you have “iCloud Photo Library” enabled on your device, and have enabled “Optimize iPhone Storage” in your iCloud Photo settings. This feature stores high resolution versions of your files to the cloud, and keeps optimized versions of the files on your device. When Dropbox attempts to automatically upload these files, we have to first connect to iCloud’s servers to download the high resolution photo, and then sync that photo to your Dropbox. This can be a slow process that is dependent upon the strength of the server connection to iCloud. Additionally, this process is limited to WiFi-only (even if you have the camera uploads feature enabled over cellular data).
With these constraints in mind, here are some recommendations when uploading your files:
We’re always working on improving the background upload experience and greatly appreciate your feedback. We'll keep monitoring this thread and will do our best to reply to any other questions not addressed by this explanation.
I've found that if I plug my iPhone 5s into power source and open the Dropbox app, the app will at stay open whilst it uploads, I had 300+ pictures and short videos which It managed to clear in one night. Poor show to need such a workaround though, especially for the premium price.
Same here in the Netherlands with Iphone 6s and 4g or 20Mbps cable upload connection, it takes minutes before 1 photo is uploaded to Dropbox :-(
Things are finally working properly for me. Much better now uploading from my phone
Same as everyone else... For what seems like more than a year I can't upload anything but a few photos to Dropbox. I currently have 1300+ photos/videos waiting in que. Can't back anything up on my iPhone. What's up?
I'm using google photos and Dropbox. Google app uploaded 250 photos in less than an hour, Dropbox has uploaded 40 photos in 4 hours. Terrible speed
Hi everyone, this happened to me as well. Only mine is really slow only on Wi-Fi, the moment I turn off my Wi-Fi and change to LTE, it uploads reasonably fast. As my home Wi-Fi is at least 30Mbps, this does not makes sense.
Come on Dropbox, if Google Photos can do it - then you can do it! Heck, your Carousel app did it too - brilliantly!
upload seems to really start everytime only after actually opening the dropbox app. very very annoying
Same problem here This is one of the longest thread I have ever seen where the moderators don't even bother replying... sad
Same problem... have tried everything mentioned but it still remains painfully slow.
Even more frustrating is that Dropbox doesn't care to address this issue. Disappointing.
maybe the problem is that this is a closed thread. I will post the link on dropboxes facebook account so the world can read. maybe this could them going? At least a statement would be sth one could expect. The problem must be iphone related, Adroidphone linked with dropbox works fine
So are you going to fix this issue? or even answer?
Why do they continue to ignore these issues?
So whats the latest? You cant really mean that this is the way it should work. I just got an iphone from work so I am stuck with it. Please fix this issue!!
I am pro user and considering to switch to onedrive unless they answer to this issue soon.
Hi, it doesnt help. I am using iphone 7+ and when syncing photos and videos its very very slowly. I try to connect my device directly to computer, app is open, but 30 second video is syncing about 12 minutes. I am using the newest iMac 5K, last firmware, original cable etc. Then please fix it cause this is impossible for normal use..
Hi, thank you for the solution. i will try to do it that way. in my case i have been trying to upload the same picturs for over 2 years. i am holding on as I may break a record for the longest uploading of a photo. Avergae of 1 every 2 weeks. 300 more to go.
Hey @Moopel,
Sorry to hear about your slow uploads, let me send over some steps for you.
If the issue is not located on your network or connection and this persists on various networks, could you please make sure that you are running the latest version of your mobile OS, as well as the Dropbox mobile application? Please reference either of the links below:
I had the same issue with slow upload. I was using Dropbox Professsional on my MacBook Pro running High Sierra and uploading my 500GB of data was at least 19-days long. Like many users, the harddisk storage was limited and I needed a solution to store my documents so I could access it anywhere (I had been using external harddisk but I wanted to try out a cloud solution). So I consulted the helpdesk who were nice, helpful and all. I also tried various recommendations from the web forum but nothing worked for me. So I tried something I should have done a long time ago- upgrade my router.
Where I live, Internet speed was high and I subscribed to a high bandwidth package. Realising that the download and especially upload speed with Dropbox were significantly lower than the reported speeds using some Internet Speedtest app, I only had one thing to do. I replaced my existing router with Asus rt-ac68u. And glory! Not only did my upload complete is less than 4 hours (which is still long), my Internet speed on all my devices and Internet TV improved significantly!In summary, you may want to consult your local Internet Service Provider and community of users to design your own strategy. Note that thes service providers, user community and Dropbox staff will tell you different things and rightfully so. You will have to discern what may work for you better. I'm just happy that my local forum provided a simple advice that did it for me.
I didn't provide all the necessary data and information to rule out other intervening possibilities. I just wanted to get straight to point and that is to check your Internet access, especially your router capability. Hope this helps!
No help at all... still tortuously slow. and videos.... not a chance!
Dropbox, please fix this issue. This slow upload along with failure to upload overnight with auto-lock turned off and not properly uploading photos in the background on iOS is really going to push me to use Google Drive instead.
