There are so many Dropbox integrations available that the service seems essential, or at least difficult to imagine doing without. Over the years I’ve hooked numerous apps and services into my Dropbox account, which is why I started paying for the professional plan seven years ago. And yet each year, at renewal time, I think a bit more deeply about the question of whether Dropbox is in fact so indispensable… It’s not.
Last month, Dropbox’s unique value was even further diminished for me when Apple announced that folder sharing would soon be coming to iCloud Drive. This replicates fully the most compelling reason I had to stick with Dropbox: the ability to give other users access to my select folders directly in the macOS Finder. That, combined with Dropbox’s recent announcement that it would be increasing the annual cost of my pro plan by US$20 at renewal time, convinced me to finally cancel my subscription.
MacDailyNews Take:
[Dropbox is a] feature, not a product. — Steve Jobs
I was ‘upgraded’ … for a substantial cost, without any offer to remain at the current level of storage or any option but more. So now I am decided which alternative . So long Dropbox. It was nice to know ya.
For me the benefit of Dropbox is it can work offline. When travelling I ensure I have made all my important documents ‘available offline’ and I’m food to go.
As far as I’m aware, iCloud does not offer that option.
So I’ll stick with Dropbox for the important stuff.
good
iCloud can sync your desktop and documents – so it essentially accomplishes the same thing as dropbox – allowing offline access to your data.
Synology for the massive win. Host tour own data securely to yourself and your associates anywhere in the world. Know where your data resides and stop paying somebody else a monthly subscription for half assed services.
I have a QNAP server. Pretty much a full hosting account in my house.
I’ve hacked into it. Nothing special at your house, just some random pr0n, documents, videos, downloads. Disappointing – your digital life is as boring as your real life.
Only problem with Apple services is that their history shows they could just drop the service (or application) at any given time. I love Apple products but avoid their applications and services where ever possible.
that is also my concern.. It’s the same concern that ultimately pushed me away from yahoo.
I started dropping stuff into DropBox on MacOS, Windows, iOS and Android quite a few years ago and haven’t looked back.
I’s all still there and easy to find and work with. Extra folders on all my devices constantly available. Full stop. Whereas Apple’s transitioned how Photos works, moves stuff around without my asking, deprecated my earlier work on Pages and Keynote, while Google dumped my stuff in a number of programs, Flickr deleted my account, etc., and iCloud’s certainly not cheap.
And forget my misadventures with Time Machine.
But if for no other reason, being effortlessly cross platform keeps me on DropBox, Google Photos and Evernote.
I’ve never used Dropbox except to try it out way back. Seems to me this is something Apple should have done way back too. And made it Just Work©.