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Can I use the Dropbox desktop app on Linux without AppIndicator?

I'm using dropbox desktop on archlinux without desktop environment. I'm using a window manager directly (in specific, awesomeWM).

Recently when I start the dropbox desktop, it has a popup message saying I new version of dropbox will not work without AppIndicator, and it said my current environment doesn't support it. And I will not work after May 27.

In fact I've already installed libappindicator-gtk2 and libappindicator-gtk3.

I've two questions:

How can I make it detect and use the installed AppIndicator?
Can I stay with the current version of desktop desktop, even after May 27?

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Neal

Hi @Tung L.

Sorry to hear that you're running into this issue!

My understanding is that on the target date, Dropbox will still work "headless" (no tray icon / UI). https://help.dropbox.com/installs/system-requirements#linux-operating-system

If you want a tray icon, then you might be out of luck with "awesomeWM", which does not support appindicator: https://github.com/awesomeWM/awesome/issues/2995

If you want to continue without a tray icon, it looks like there's a hidden feature to let the user silence the notification if they first click learn more then restart the app.

All comments

Neal

Hi @Tung L.

Sorry to hear that you're running into this issue!

My understanding is that on the target date, Dropbox will still work "headless" (no tray icon / UI). https://help.dropbox.com/installs/system-requirements#linux-operating-system

If you want a tray icon, then you might be out of luck with "awesomeWM", which does not support appindicator: https://github.com/awesomeWM/awesome/issues/2995

If you want to continue without a tray icon, it looks like there's a hidden feature to let the user silence the notification if they first click learn more then restart the app.

Tung L.

Thanks for the reply. If I keep the current version of dropbox, without updating it with pacman. Will it's UI stop working since May 27 due to API changes or scheduled update on the server side?

Neal

Hi @Tung L.,

I have followed up internally with our team for an exact answer. As soon as I hear anything specific, I'll let you know!

Neal

Hi @Tung L.,

Unfortunately we can't say for definite but you can still use it in headless mode if you can't update their environment.

sarana

Hi. Not sure if I should post separately, but I have a similar question using Dropbox on a Chromebook (not in developer mode). It doesn't really have a proper desktop environment. I'm also getting the warning. I'm hoping I can still use it! Thanks!

Neal

Hi @sarana,

I'm assuming you're using Crostini on your Chromebook, we do not officially support this, but if you never really had a tray icon showing up in this environment before, then things should continue to work as is.

sdepro

Hi @Neal, thanks a lot, my machine has a similar message too: "Unsupported desktop environment ". When you wrote "...you can still use it in headless mode" it means when I´ll do any changes to any file it will keep perfectly syncing to the dropbox´s server once the date has passed (May 27, 2025)? is it right? . P.S. Sorry for my English. I´m a Spanish speaker.

Neal

Hi @sdepro,

Don't worry, your English is great!

Can you send me a screenshot of the message that you're seeing?

Also, what OS version are you running on your machine?

NateAnderson

I get the same error message on Fedora 42 Workstation running Wayland and a standard Gnome desktop.

Neal

Hi @NateAnderson,

Dropbox does not currently support Fedora 42 and that is why you're seeing this message. We are currently working on this issue and you can learn more from this thread.

Please follow to keep posted!

Nancy

Hey everyone! Please make sure to check out this post for more info.

sdepro

sdepro

Hi @Neal , I have attached a screenshot. My machine is running Loc-OS Linux Con Tutti 23 with LXDE such Desktop Environment. This OS is a fork of Debian 12.10. P.D. This time i believe I had quoted to the other user Nate by mistake, sorry. From already: many thanks!

Neal

Hi @sdepro,

Can you confirm if you're still having issues?

To my knowledge, the functionality should still exist and you shouldn't be experiencing any issues since the 27th of May but I wanted to double check.

Tung L.

After the cutoff date (27th of May), dropbox still sync the files, but the tray icon is not showing up. While other app (e.g. rescuetime) can still shows up. It seems possible to still make it work technically, if the team would make another version of implementation, that would be great. Otherwise, we cannot do any settings on the dropbox client.

I guess there are some settings that can be only done on client side, not via the dropbox web UI, e.g. which folder to sync or skip.

If making another version of tray icon is too demanding for the team, it would be helpful if dropbox can do settings via config file (like .gitconfig), then we can still use it in "headless mode" with ability to configure it.