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Txt files now open in preview mode instead of the Dropbox Text Editor directly

My files are created as plain .txt files. In the past they would open directly with the Dropbox Text Editor as I had selected the Dropbox Text Editor as the default in the phone app.

Now the files only show preview mode! Now must select the EDIT icon to edit them – using the Dropbox Text Editor.

This occurred after my app updated to version 322.2.2. I have one device with version 320.2 – it still works as it should.

Having Preview Mode open files 1st is a PITA! Might be ok for people that rarely edit the files. But I edit them dozens of a day – major annoyance!

Dropbox preview mode - bug made out to be a “Feature”. Fix it!!

Don’t need or want the bloatware nor the added “Features” that make an app more cumbersome to use. Not to mention resource hogs. Yes, I've noticed Dropbox taking more resources with every "update" How many apps & software that have tired this before and are now extinct?

I now must find an alternative to Dropbox, then drop my subscription. Wow thanks - not.

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Hannah

Hey @Roadster1024, thanks for taking the time to post here.

We want to let you know that we really appreciate your feedback about this change.

I will make sure to pass your comments along to our developers.

If you need anything else, please let us know.

unknown

Hi, I'm having the same problem. Any update on a fix? Is there a way for me to downgrade by to the older version that was working fine? Thanks

Roadster1024

A web search for Dropbox 320.2.1 apk shows a few sources for this older version. And other versions.

The apkmirror site seems to be a good source. I downloaded but have not checked it out. I'll try it on an unused phone first.

As always there is some risk of hidden malware in the apk file so best beware.

Once you downgrade you will have to prevent Dropbox from updating to the latest version. Not sure you can do this for only one app. I currently have Android set to update all apps automatically. Must check this out also.

I'm not holding my breath on Dropbox changing the preview function. So many programmers think they know better than us serfs that have been using the software longer than that programmer has been employed.

Psychosys

I would like to second this request to have an option to turn off the preview mode for text files. I also edit a lot of text files in Dropbox daily, and I don't appreciate the extra step to do so (especially for something for which I pay real money). Hoping this 'feature' can be changed or disabled very soon, or I may have to consider alternatives to Dropbox and take my money elsewhere.
Thanks much,
Joshua

Suprdave74

I am another annoyed Dropbox user that HATES the default preview screeen!! At the moment it's merly an annoyance, but one that will drive me crazy after a while. UN-DO THAT "UPGRADE" I'll go back to *shudder* OneDrive....

Make the preview an OPTION not the MANDATORY default for opening text files PLEASE!!

Brian64

Hi Hannah,

Does Dropbox consider this action to be a feature or a bug? Said another way, are they happy the way it is or are they going to fix it?

mwallred

Another really annoying "feature" of the new version are that it uses a different size font in preview mode than it does in edit mode. Even worse than that is that if you scroll down in the file and then decide you want to edit it, going into edit mode will take you back to the top of the file and you have to scroll back to find the place where you wanted to make the changes. This annoyance is compounded by the first one since the line wraps all change when the font size changes making the file look different so it's harder to find where you wanted to be.

I have a hard time believing the people that write the code actually use the editor or it wouldn't be like this. Make the font size different if you're reading or editing? Seriously?

unknown

Hi, Hannah
Any update on this being fixed?

The last update removed the 3 dots next to the files forcing me to do even more steps to open files in txt:
1. Open file
2. Click 3 dots
3. Scroll down & click on "open with"

These are too many steps when I have to edit many txt files daily.
Please give us option to just open the files in txt file by default again.

Thanks,
Mike

BenDBX

Hi Everybody,

I looked into this change, and it is expected as part of the intended functionality. This came about as part of our increase in the number of supported file types and how they are previewed in the app.

There are no plans to revert functionality here, but if you would like to request this feature, I recommend that you post on our Share an Idea board. You can find some tips for posting a great idea here.

Regards,

Ben

Roadster1024

I think we all knew it was intended. We are saying it is infuriating!

If the "Default" for a .txt file was set to open in the Dropbox text editor, then it SHOULD open directly in the editor.

If not a .txt file then yes, there would be other parameters.

Although once a "default" was set for a certain file type - like .pdf, .jpg, etc, - then it should open directly in that Default editor.

No reason this cannot be done. Not rocket science.

rhut

Hi all,

I'm a product manager at Dropbox working on the mobile Previews experience. First off, sorry for the inconvenience that we've caused you re: your workflow. The original intent behind this change was to solve a complaint that users had around wanting to perform more Dropbox-related file actions like sharing - so defaulting to preview was intentional.

However, it seems like we introduced 2 new issues here:

1. We now default you to the Dropbox editor, and when you're in the Dropbox editor, there also a number of issues where pressing the edit button scrolls you back up to the top of the file, the font size is a bit different, etc.

2. We don't respect the default text editor that you use, so you have to click the 3 dots > Open with > the default editor everytime you want to edit a text file.

One solution we're thinking about is to still drop users into preview mode when opening a .txt file (to aid many users who do want to perform actions in Dropbox), but pressing the edit button would drop you into your default text editor. Would like to hear more feedback from you on this change before we make it.

Thank you for your input in making Dropbox better!

mwallred

My wish list would be to have a setting that says whether or not to open files in preview mode or not. Problem solved for everyone! I really wouldn't care if it went back to the top if I switched to edit mode, because I would have my default be edit mode so I'd never have to switch.

I only care about using a different text editor because there are these issues with yours. If you fixed yours I also wouldn't care if I could use a different one.

I will say that the text editor issues are enough of a pain point for me that I'm looking at my options for switching away from Dropbox altogether.

Roadster1024

Thank You for checking into this.

These issues are still driving me nuts multiple times daily.

Will be anxiously awaiting a fix.

rhut

@mwallred @Roadster1024 Appreciate the prompt reply.

In terms of the fastest & easiest thing we can do to get you up and running:

1) Allow you to choose your default text editor, so at least it's only 1 click vs. 3 clicks to edit a file in a tool that gives you the functionality you need

2) Add an "edit by default" which will requires us coming up with a design/flow.

3) Fix pain points around the Dropbox text editor, which we need to spend more time technically to ramp up and understand.

I'll investigate options 2/3 with the engineering team.

LongTimer

I spent over an hour trying to figure out if I had just imagined that the functionality had changed, and diving around my phone/app settings to try and figure out what I might have accidentally broken. After I felt like I had explored every option I eventually looked online and found this thread. At least I know I'm not losing my mind, but that was a really infuriating process. Please give us the option to edit by default. The font size change when changing to edit mode, the "losing the place you wanted to edit" and the extra steps necessary to get there are all not deal breakers but certainly very annoying, not to mention the time I lost trying to figure out what was wrong.

rhut

Thank you for your patience. Just wanted to give an update on where things are:

In the upcoming release this week (v346), we made a few small tweaks to make the Dropbox text editor a little less painful to use (modifying the font size and scroll position to get close to where the page you were looking at). Though any additional improvements will require significantly more work. In the release after that, for users that prefer another editor, we'll add an edit button (for Dropbox text editor) and "Open with" button and that should allow you to select another editor, with 1-click.

We recognize that this doesn't solve the problem that you'd like to open the editor by default, but these changes should ideally make things a bit less painful, while we try to make additional improvements that will take a bit longer to resolve.

Thanks! Let me know if you have questions.

Slangword

I have same problem with using my preferred option to open and view cbr and cbz files. Those are zipped image files commonly used to store comic book images. Until today, I could open them with my preferred viewer with one click. Now it takes going to sub-menu. This stinks, and has greatly decreased the usefulness of the service.

bonacello

Same here. Desperatly waiting for a fix! Anoying change. Please program a option to choose where one wants a preview or directly opend in edit mode. Thank you!

garringt

This issue is NOT just for .txt files. I have an app on my tablet (A La Mode) that displays .abc music files. In Dropbox, I have the default app for this kind of file set to A La Mode. Previously, I could just tap an .abc file in Dropbox and it would automatically open the A La Mode app on my tablet. Now, Dropbox tries to preview the file, which it can't do. I now have to tap the 3 dots to the right of the file and select "Open With". What's the point of having the ability to set a default app in Dropbox if you still have to select "open with"?

garringt

This issue is NOT just a .txt issue!

David S.178

I don't understand. I want to be able to edit text files on any device using Dropbox, but I can't find a way to do it. Please post detailed instructions for editing text files!

Roadster1024

For my convenience, I create files in Windows using Notepad or use a word processor (for spell check abilities), then paste the text into Notepad. Yes, other ways will work but that is how I do it.

Then in Notepad, Save the .txt file to a Dropbox folder.

Then when opening a .txt file in Dropbox on any platform, select "Use Dropbox Editor" to open the file. If you previously used another editor and it became the default, then you must change the default "Open With" function within Dropbox.

David S.178

When I open a .txt file, there is no "Use Dropbox Editor" or any other way to open Notepad to edit the file, either on Android or Windows! It's a really really stupid Dropbox limitation.

Suprdave74

So I don't understand the issues since some changes had been implemented (at least in the Android version). Now there is a small "edit" button in the lower left corner of the text file when opened in preview/read mode, pop that and the file opens in the editor mode and you can edit inside the app. It's still an additional step that is moderatley annoying, sure, but it's slightly less annoying than it used to be needing to go through a menu function to reach edit mode.

In windows I just navigate to the folder with explorer and open with whatever document processor you want (notepad/wordpad/Word/etc.)

David S.178

I don't understand why software doesn't work well these days. I had to keep trying to reply here several times before succeeding, and Android access to editing a .txt file in Dropbox was similarly frustrating. I think these are the instructions that work: 1. Click on the name of the .txt file to preview it in readonly mode. 2. Click on the text to popup up an icon, then click on the icon to enter a .txt editor. Who knows if there is any support for blind and visually impaired people, as this method requires touch interaction.