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As described in this thread, the new version of dropbox backup is great but has a major downside: files stored via backups can no longer be accessed within the dropbox app!
Quoting @mbriney from the above-linked thread because I can't say it any better:
I understand the principle of having the major "backups" be in a different segment of dropbox.. but it shouldn't be that hard to access all the files. Maybe inside the regular current Dropbox app, feature a button that allows up to actually open the files that are in this "backups" section? OR maybe create another "Dropbox Backups" app that will allow us to remotely view these backup files without having to go thru the browser?
- I would love to be able to view my hard drives and files on my mobile apps. Feel this is an important feature for many users.
- Mark
Super User II
Dropbox have only just recently removed this as a feature 😞
so I signed up for Dropbox just to be able to access the backups anytime.. but it's obvious that I cannot do it via the app, and only via the browser.. Nope, canceling the free trial and not going to move fwd with Dropbox
I agree. The actual behaviour is a very stupid idea.
Originally you put stuff in dropbox folder to have it accessible, you put it outside and it was not.
This was ok as long as I could create symbolic links to desktop, documents, etc thet put them inside the dropbox folder and have them automatically backed up and usable. Required some tech knowledge, and some fiddling, but cool.Then you added automatically Desktop and Documents in Dropbox as backups and removed the use of symbolic links, and that was still ok, less cusomizable but no-effort and open to non tech savy.
Now you actually removed the backups from DropBox to a separate place, and readonly I guess, but symbolic links are still disabled so just tell us how can we have a file in Documents editable by all the connected devices?
It affects the whole way I run my business and various community groups.
The ability to access everything that’s on my office hard drive from my mobile phone, wherever I may be is the BEST thing about Dropbox.
i literally can’t believe they’ve removed this functionality.Hannah I just want to point out that one of the features of Dropbox Backup that you advertise on your website is that it's possible to access files from the mobile app. That is to say, we shouldn't have to vote on whether this feature should exist because you already claim it does. It turns out to be misleading advertising 😞
"View backups whenever, wherever. Just as you’d expect from Dropbox, you can easily get to your backed-up files anytime, anywhere – from your computer, through our mobile app or on the web." https://www.dropbox.com/en_GB/backup
This change has been absolutely horrible. Allow us to opt out or provide comparable integration to the backup files to the direct dropbox website and the mobile app. Whoever decided to segment these files and make it so unintuitive to access them should be fired. You essentially remove the basic files-on-demand functionality of the main windows system folders. I literally cannot fathom how you people thought this was a good idea. I will be taking my business elsewhere if this is not fixed. Im not paying $200 a year to have the functionality I depended on ripped away from me
Backup folders access using app setting should be definitely decided by user. if some users has concern, they can disable however disabling such functionality which has been available is a big trouble for current users who are accessing to Backup Computer's Desktop, Downloads, Documents folders etc. Please bring it back.
I couldn't agree more. I had the awful idea to switch to backups and the main functionality I used to have (access to all my files _immediately_ from all devices) is now gone. This sucks big time. And apparently it's been reported more than a year ago. Access via the app is paramount. The browser access is not really a substitute. A patch, maybe (?), but not even close to a substitute.
Considering switching to a different similar service (ANY other) that provides this *basic* feature.
This is really basic functionality so that anything backed up is easily accessible on a moment's notice without any additional planning or preparation. It is infeasible/insecure to have to log in to the website on my mobile device.
Additionally, competing cloud backup services already provide this functionality and from experience it is hugely useful to have easy access to one's backup on the go.
HannahThanks for the update! I really hope the dropbox teams figure this out because its a royal pain that currently, a user cant access all their dropbox files from within the mobile app. I understand the principle of having the major "backups" be in a different segment of dropbox.. but it shouldnt be that hard to access all the files.
Maybe inside the regular current Dropbox app, feature a button that allows up to actually open the files that are in this "backups" section? OR maybe create another "Dropbox Backups" app that will allow us to remotely view these backup files without having to go thru the browser?
