Syncing icons on the files in the Dropbox folder have changed

rusdom
Collaborator | Level 9
3 years ago
100% agree. Dropbox, please go back to the old system with the icons. The new way of categorizing the icons is useless and actually makes things so much worse.

I'm working with so many files, and such large file sizes, and daily I need to switch around what files are local vs online only. So I need to quickly see at a glance what folders contain any localized/offline files. The old system worked beautifully, and made finding localized/offline files so simple. The new system makes it so much worse. Instead of seeing at a glance whether a root folder has any offline files in it or not, I now have to search through every single subfolder. This new system takes what was a really efficient and awesome feature, and turns it into a huge headache.

It baffles me to think that the Dropbox developers would see this as a positive change. And the reasoning behind the change—to be able to distinguish what files are offline because they were opened vs which files are offline because the "offline" option was chosen—I just don't understand how that distinction is useful at all. This new system with the icons solves a problem that didn't exist, and creates a new much worse problem.

I don't want to come across as mean or snarky with any of this. I appreciate the Dropbox developers and I use (and appreciate) their product every single day. It's just that this change came out of nowhere, seemingly fixing a non-existent problem, removes crucial functionality, and literally makes my job a lot harder now. I just have to hope that Dropbox will revert back to the previous and far superior icon categorizing system.
- rusdom
  Collaborator | Level 9
  3 years ago
  Just for clarity for anyone skimming through... when I reached out to Dropbox support about the icon issue, this was the explanation they gave:
  
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  Dropbox Support Response
  ---------------------------------
  
  We’ve recently updated our sync icons to give you a more accurate idea of what sync state your files and folders are in.
  
  For example:
  A file with the available offline icon
  
  green background with a white tick) means that the file is downloaded to your PC/Mac. Files in this state have been made available offline by right clicking the file and selecting Make available offline.
  A file with the available icon (
  
  white background with a green tick), means that the file is downloaded to your PC/Mac. Files in this state have been made available by opening the file with a double click or using a 3rd party app.
  A file with the online-only icon (
  
  grey background with a white cloud), means that the file is online-only and is merely a placeholder file which takes up close to zero bytes on your PC/Mac
  
  A folder’s sync icon will depend on what files are contained within that folder.
  
  For example:
  If a folder contains at least 1 online-only file then the folder’s sync icon will be online-only
  
  If a folder contains zero online-only files and at least 1 available file then its sync icon will be the available icon
  
  If a folder contains only available offline files then its sync icon will be available offline
  
  ---------------------------------
  - johnrinek
    Helpful | Level 6
    3 years ago
    Thank you for sharing the explanation from Dropbox Support rusdom
    
    This issue makes more sense now.
    However, the new system does not make any sense.
    
    The Old System makes complete sense and it was easy to identify the state of all files and folders:
    Cloud = All Files and Folders Online Only
    White Circle Green Check = Mixed Online Only and Available Offline
    Solid Green Circle White Check = All Files and Folders Available Offline
    
    New System:
    1. Having a Cloud Icon on a folder that contains 999 files that are Available Offline and 1 file that is Online Only is not helpful at all and makes no sense.
    2. The White Circle Green Check was a great indicator of mixed status files/folders. In the new system, knowing that there are zero Online Only files in these folders is not helpful at all. If there are zero Online Only files, the previously used Solid Green Circle White Check should be used.