Dropbox over iCloud
On Mac Power Users Episode 345 David, Katie and David Chartier talked about cloud storage, with a focus on Dropbox and iCloud. Chartier has abandoned Dropbox for iCloud. Thinking about it a lot, I’ve can’t abandon Dropbox for iCloud for a few reasons.
Developer-Friendly
First off, Dropbox has an excellent API for data stores as well as file sync. This allows apps like DevonThink to work really well. Despite the movement toward supporting many different providers, some apps still only support Dropbox. On top of that, the classic pre-CloudKit iCloud + Core Data implementation sucks. Some great apps like Due have the option of syncing with iCloud using this methods and I’ve found it to be a disaster compared to using Dropbox.
More Transparency
Dropbox integrates with the filesystem paradigm, giving more control to the user. Symlinks work really well (as long as you don’t clash them with locations syncing with iCloud. It’s easier to know that Dropbox is syncing. The menu bar app is excellent, and it’s easy to pause and resume syncing. I feel like iCloud is a black box in comparison.
A Great iOS App
In the past couple weeks, the Dropbox team has drastically improved their iOS app. It was great even before these updates. As David Sparks mentioned, managing iCloud Drive on iOS is terrible, showing a list with all folders expanded without a search box. Sure Dropbox may use more CPU cycles and had coded around macOS’s security measures, but nothing comes close to beating it.
Want More Posts and Apps? Support Me!
Dropbox really helped me organize my thoughts for my CBT app, Moodsmitten, which came out in August. If you’re interested in improving your outlook on life or just want to support me, consider downloading it! Did I mention that it’s already on the App Store? It’s free-to-download with a $4.99 in-app purchase to unlock all functionality.
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