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Dropbox MacOS extension supporting > Monterey?

Hi. I've just upgraded my Mac to MacOS Monterey and received the warning below. Apple recommends that I contact Dropbox about this, and though I am a paying customer, the only support mechanism that I can see is a relatively naïve Chatbot that could not parse my questions. Hopefully the community (and Dropbox staff who monitor it) will be able to reply.

Does Dropbox offer or plan to offer an updated extension for MacOS? Apple indicates the current one I have will become obsolete...

Thanks!

oh my god, will my data be inaccessible or lost?

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Nancy

Hi @GregHutchings, thanks for reaching out.

First of all, please ensure that you're signed into your paid account in order to see all available support options.

This message is about how a component will behave on a future release of a macOS. There's no change in the way Dropbox will work on your computer (and your data will continue to be accessible, too).

We're hard at work on full support for online-only files on future macOS versions. In the meantime, if you have any issues opening online-only content, you can still do so by double clicking on your files in Finder.

Let me know in case you need something else!

All comments

Nancy

Anna R.5

I'm now getting the following warning:
"Your version of “Dropbox” uses a legacy system extension that is not available in the latest versions of macOS. Contact the developer for support."
I'm on Mac OS Monterey, 12.2.1 (21D62)

Dropbox version 142.4.4197

What should I do, please?

Mr Paul

Just installed macOS Monterey 12.2.1 on my 2022 - Macbook Pro M1 16 inch.

A message something like this came up after the update rebooted - "Dropbox architecture too old, see the provider"

Any word on the next Dropbox update that will address this issue?

Cheers, Mr Paul.

dcphoto

Received a similar message when I updated to 12.2.1. Everything seems to be working though. 2019 MacBook Pro.

Screen Shot 2022-02-25 at 7.58.02 AM.png

Anna R.5

This is what I got from Dropbox Support now:

1.Sign in to your account at dropbox.com.
2.Click your avatar icon (profile picture or initials) in the top-right corner.
3.Click Settings.
4.Scroll Down to Preferences in the General tab.
5.Toggle 'Early releases' to On.

Meanwhile, rest assured that your files shall of course remain intact

Me:

OK, so my understanding of beta is that I'm taking a risk. But if I don't sign up for beta Dropbox will not be compatible with my Mac OS. Is that correct?

Dropbox Support:

If there was a risk of some sort I would not recommend these steps.

ntauthority

I have a VERY hard time believing a beta version of software contains "no risk".

Anna R.5

That's why I'm saving the chat transcript 😉 + I posted the communication here.

ntauthority

Right on lol

If dropbox doesn't get this sorted out, our entire sales team is going to absolutely lose their minds if their process changes even slightly. I understand the challenges with apple though.

gmrudella

Got the same message as above. Will there be a Dropbox update soon?

janellekutz

Came here for this.

lorebett

Basically, you won't be able to open online-only files in third-party apps unless they’re specifically made available offline.

Pablo C.7

Same here,

If Beta has risks and Apple is not helping, will dropbox become a web/browser file sharing app in Mac OS? Gmail drive would offer the same, no?

Thoughts?

Pablo

drronmccoy

HI there,

I have already done that and still get this warning.

I'm not having any problems accessing my files though.

Thanks,

Ronald

bill-1234

If there were no risk, it would not be "beta".

To say that "If there was a risk of some sort I would not recommend these steps." is wrong.

FogCityNative

Early Access?

It isn't even a beta, it is a request to be considered for early access to a maybe someday beta that you cannot get right now.

I use PathFinder as my Finder substitute and enhancement. Because in general on the Mac, Apple makes good OS systems and very mediocre application software. I cannot stand Finder. It's has not be significantly improved since it was released with the first Mac in 1984.

Now that I stupidly updated to Monterey, all my Dropbox files show as 0 bytes. I sure hope if I deleted any on the Mac believing there was something wrong, I wasn't deleting them on Dropbox, and they'll reappear on the next sync.

But I cannot launch or use or view any Dropbox file that is online only. I must access them from the Dropbox web page, and download them. They are not usable from the Dropbox App on my Mac.

I think Dropbox has a lot of chutzpah, charging me full price for a crippled app. It isn't as if Dropbox didn't have access to Monterey beta software and developers notes for a year before it was released.

Why do Dropbox users need to wait for some future update to Monterey before this gets fixed?

I realize Apple is constantly shuffling the deck and changing the basic underpinnings of how their software works, usually with zero consideration to any third-party developers who products are seriously affected by anything Apple changes to "improve security" (translation: To make your Apple computer harder to use, more complex, with more processes running in the background and therefore more likely to perform poorly.)

When is Dropbox going to fix this?

Anna R.5

Wow, what a nightmare! What exact version of Monterey is it that you've upgraded to? Is it 12.3? I'm still on 12.2.1 for fear of something like this happening.

FogCityNative

All of Monterey is bad. Many new processes like triald that all use up CPU and Apple isn't telling users what they do. Still getting CPU Frequency throttling where the temperature sensors are not hot and the system throttles the computer by lowering the speed of the CPU and via kernel task giving the CPU lots of useless tasks to run to make the CPU too busy to respond to the user.

I am in the process of creating a new user, and moving over all the files in my Download, Desktop, and Picture folders. Every user has their own set and Apple has made to provision for easily creating a new user profile that duplicates your current profile.

I've installed TG-Pro to create my own fan curve which helped keep the fans from going screaming crazy at 6,500 RPM and monitor all 18 of the temperature sensors.

I also got iStat to monitor CPU load and frequency. There are hundreds of online requests for help relating to Monterey running poorly on Intel hardware. So far, Apple is blaming the users and not accepting any responsibility. They're happy Intel users are suffering poor performance on their computers, so we will all be so dissatisfi

Remember Apple accidentally on purpose made sure that iOS updates made users phones run worse than before the update. Apple got sued over that one and lost the case.

So, now on top of all these problems, I have to deal with Dropbox not being fully compatible Monterey.

ntauthority

@fog what method are you referring to when you said you can duplicate user profile?

pelmered

Is this still not released in the stable version? I still get this message.
Is there an ETA for this fix?

Edit: I see now that I already have early releases on in my preferences. How come I haven't got the update yet?

FogCityNative

I am considering dropping Dropbox for iCloud. Dropbox is designed for Windows. It has stopped syncing and as a result is using excessive CPU spinning its wheels. I turned it off

I do use Dropshare as a fast way to upload files and get a share link so I will keep the free version only for Dropshare which does not interface with iCloud.

moerangi

I am having this EXACT issue, and have already been on with Dropbox Support for two hours! The first hour, they kept saying it was the other apps (that I couldn't open the DB files on) that had the issue. Then they said 'oh wait, yes you are right'. The second hour was 'It's Apple's fault' with absolutely no way to help me. They're still happy to charge me $150 per month though!

pelmered

This and the weird limitation of the backup feature(you can't select any folders you want) made me cancel my professional account and I'm now looking for alternatives.
From what I can till Apple announced these changes long time ago which means Dropbox had a lot of time to react, but they did almost nothing. Now they have had some kind of beta software that I don't get even if I have selected early releases for months.

You really need to step up your game Dropbox.

d_inmetrowest

Apple reports that it informed third party developers of the need to update their software to accommodate Monterey 12.3

IN 2019!

What is taking Dropbox so long to roll out a production solution?

Is this what we're paying for?

d_inmetrowest

Austin B.1

I understand that software is hard. I'm a developer myself. However, these changes that Apple is making in macOS are not coming out of the blue. Monterey has existed and been available to developers since June of last year (2021). There are several developer talks about new APIs around file system extensions and other tech that Dropbox needs to adopt to continue being supported. Similarly, the new Apple Silicon platform has been out for even longer, and we just now hear how Dropbox is working hard to bring an app that runs native on M1. To be fair, many companies have struggled to release M1 compatible apps. If available, I'd love more insight into what the engineering challenge is to bring Dropbox up to compatibility with the new file system APIs from Apple.

I really want Dropbox to win. There are so many things I love about it. But the amount of time it takes to even keep up with macOS from a year ago doesn't inspire confidence that Dropbox prioritizes the core experience that users like me are paying for: an awesome, lightweight, always works Desktop integration for file storage. I'm rooting for you, Dropbox! Now go and do the thing.

bill-1234

When Dropbox arrived on the scene, the way they synchronized files across computers was like magic! But these days, that's old hat, and there are lots of competitors. With so many people moving to mobile, and to web based applications, there is less need for synchronization, or even "files" (!). Dropbox, the file synchronizing product, is no longer new, innovative, and exciting (it remains extremely useful, just not "new"), and Dropbox, the company, is struggling to find a way to stay relevant.

So they don't seem to care about the "old" product, even though that is really their bread and butter. They're grasping for some reason, any reason for people to still care about them. So we get ridiculous things like "Paper", while the core product slowly rots. And we are left to wonder if we should stick with Dropbox, or look for alternatives.

Diane K.15

Hi I am still running Big Sur and thought this issue would be resolved by now. With Monterey, are you able to see Dropbox files on the most recent version of ios? Any update on this issue would be appreciated.

d_inmetrowest

Diane, there is an inconvenient workaround, as noted below, and Dropbox has not provided any updates beyond what is noted above.

The issue for me is that, under Monterey 12.3 I have lost the ability to open files that are held remotely on Dropbox through third party apps such as MS Word. I can't click on them and open them within the app. They are listed as zero byte-length files (which of course they are, since they don't reside on the Mac), so the virtualization function of Dropbox in presenting cloud-stored files as locally-stored and accessible has been lost. To open them, you have to go to Finder and trigger the file to load locally. It is an inconvenient workaround if you are in and out of MS Office files frequently.

I would shift all my storage to iCloud if I didn't have the PC desktop, since three of my four devices are Apple. I use Dropbox precisely because it has historically been operating system-agnostic. Unless this issue is fixed, I will drop Dropbox when I decommission the PC.

FogCityNative

I am in the process of moving all my Dropbox files to iCloud. 22 GB and it is taking forever.

Dropbox had a year to prepare for Monterey and they ignored the situation and did nothing.

They claim their engineers are working on it for a future release. Meanwhile there is no beta in testing.

Dropbox had turned their backs on Mac OS. I am not part of a team. I don’t need collaboration on file creation. I don’t need a signature collection tool.

I am a single user that needs cloud storage and the ability to share files that are too large to send as e-mail attachments.

ICloud will meet my needs and I will be leaving Dropbox soon.

FogCityNative

In other words, Dropbox Online Only files appear in the Finder as Zero Bytes and must be downloaded to a local file to be useful.

So, no, Dropbox has a kludgy workaround for their total lack of integration and support for Mac Monterey.

FogCityNative

Except you are showing interest in a future beta that may be developed sometime. Maybe months, maybe longer.

At the moment THERE IS NO BETA. There is only a rough plan for a future integration with Mac Monterey.

How long will you keep giving them your money for a seriously flawed product?

I am migrating to iCloud.