[peregrineay]

And they should make it so that Dropbox can be set on the media card!

BTW can anyone confirm or deny that a sideloaded android Dropbox app will enable Camera Upload on BB10 ???

[BigBadWulf]

You can download your entire Dropbox on BB10 - it's the Pin Dropbox feature. You can't auto-sync though as far as I know and I really hope this feature is coming soon. I also would love it if you could set it so that camera photos are saved onto the Dropbox drive.

BTW, I wholeheartedly disagree with your statement about "defeated point of cloud storage". I want my Dropbox on my phone like it is on my laptop and desktop, updated everytime I change a file anywhere, so that I can work on all my devices seamlessly. Downloading and uploading every time I make changes to my files defeats the point of Dropbox. Cloud storage has existed for a long time e.g. FTP but the main point of Dropbox is not just cloud storage, but it's the seamless synchronization that makes file access truly convenient.

This is the strangest conversation I've ever had.

[mediaman09]

Peregrineay - thank you for more eloquently expressing what I was trying to say.

BigBadWulf - it's not strange at all. If Dropbox "truly" synced like the screen shot implies, you would be able to open and read your files in airplane mode. Right now you can only do that if you previously manually downloaded and stored a every file, one at a time, to the device and access them via File Manager.

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[mediaman09]

Also,pls note per my OP, pinning does not work for me.

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[peregrineay]

http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps16ec60ee.png

This is the strangest conversation I've ever had.

Yes we see what the Dropbox app screen says, but it seems it doesn't function the way I (and many other users) interpret and expect it to, for some reason or another

One reason is that neither BlackBerry or Dropbox ever explained what "Pin Dropbox" means or how it works. I never encountered any message asking me if I wanted to enable this when I first logged onto Dropbox. It's still unclear to me what it does, given there is little documentation on it (only a broken link to a tutorial in the official BlackBerry help, and Dropbox official help mentions "Favoriting" for iOS and Android - is this BlackBerry's version of "Favoriting"?)

Another reason is that "upload" "sync" and "immediately" seems to mean different things to you, me, and other users. For example, see Dropbox official help https://www.dropbox.com/help/84/en : "The Dropbox mobile app will allow you to upload files from your mobile device to your Dropbox. Once you do, these files will automatically sync to your other computers and mobile devices." So then how is this any different from the Dropbox website? What is the automatic part if I'm already having to manually upload? I guess when they say sync, they mean they'll push the update to the other devices, but I also want it to pull my update from where I made the change.

Let me try to explain again what I and many other users expect when we hear "upload" "sync" and "immediately":
We want Dropbox on our device like it is on our computer (hopefully able to be on SD card and not on device storage), not just "cloud storage". We don't want a separate "upload"/"sync"/"download" process.

Here are three illustrative examples:

Example #1 (upload)
Camera Uploads - need I say more? (I want to be able to snap a photo on my phone, and WITHOUT any other steps, have it available on my computer via Dropbox, automatically and immediately synchronized. None of this nonsense of "Upload a photo". Are you kidding me? I might as well email it to myself (or email it to Dropbox to be technically accurate if that is even possible)...)

Example #2 (download)
I am headed to the airport and I'm reading a PDF on my desktop. I want to continue reading it on the plane. I want to be able to simply save or move this PDF into my Dropbox and then be able to access my document on the plane WITHOUT having to make the effort to manually retrieve/download/sync it from the cloud.

Example #3 (download and upload)
I want to edit a document on my BlackBerry Q10 that I've been working on from my desktop that is in my Dropbox folder, so that the new edited version can be accessed by collaborators and myself on any of my devices immediately after I press "Save". I do NOT want to have to Download/Sync (requires connection), Edit, Save, Upload/Sync (requires connection). I just want to access it whenever I want anytime after I've saved it from my desktop, and I want to be able to just Edit and Save on my Q10 and then be able to access it from my desktop again anytime after I've saved it on my Q10. I want Dropbox to do all the work (like it does on desktops and laptops). Why? BlackBerry users are always on the go, sometimes on the subway, on the airplane, or we don't want to use up our data plan, or we have a slow connection.

In fact, this functionality falls under the same theme of "push" email and instant connectivity and seamless immediate communication that BB is known for - remember the Dark Ages when you had to press Send to download your email and to take your email from the Outbox to the Send folder?

That said, I have been having trouble with figuring out Dropbox on my BlackBerry. I've pinned it but things don't seem to work consistently. Anyway, I'd be delighted to hear if I am mistaken in this post and Examples 1 2 3 are actually possible with BB10, or perhaps they are possible on the Android app (which gives BB users some hope), or it is in development and will be ready for BB 10.2 (this would be awesome!)

[mediaman09]

Bravo on that last post.

I in fact just came back from a trip, and wanted my travel docs with me, so your scenarios are quite real. My only workaround for now was to go old school ; Before i left, connected myZ10 to my computer and copied my Dropbox folder to the device. Only then was I assured I would have access to my docs while on vacation.

[BigBadWulf]

Ok, I've mucked around some more, just for y'all.

First and foremost, if you pin the entire Dropbox, or any portion of it, when synced it is indeed available when there's no data, aka it is stored locally when pinned.

You can also through file manager move the entire box, or any piece within to local storage, if you prefer that to pinning. Pinning certainly makes it easier.

Example #1 (Camera) - There's no option to have shots save directly to Dropbox, but you can quickly move them there. Again, through file manager. Yes, the BlackBerry version is missing the option for automatic upload android has. Shame, and certainly something sideloading the android version won't resolve, but an opportunity for a creative developer to fill the void, if someone hasn't already.

Example #2 - Anything you're viewing on your PC outside Dropbox would of course not be available. Anything within, so long as it's been pinned and synced would be available instantly, with or without data access.

Example #3 - Pray tell, if you were editing a document on your PC, and it wasn't connected to data, exactly how would it be available to anyone else? There is no solution for the impossible.

If you want things synced always, have it sync on cellular too. Just be prepared for the data hit, if you move a sizable file(s) while off Wi-Fi.

Caveat - the pin function I tested on Z10STL100-4/10.2.0.1047. I never felt the need to fully experiment while on 10.1, so it may or may not work on that. 10.2 is working damn well. I highly recommend the upgrade. A new leak is coming soon too.

[BigBadWulf]

Ah ha! Mixed reviews, but......

Check out Photo Sync in BlackBerry World! You can find it at BlackBerry World - Photo Sync

[mediaman09]

Well, it doesn't work that way for me at all,

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[mediaman09]

...as I have the failed-to-pin issue. And I cannot move the entire Dropbox using file manager ; can only move one file at a time.

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[peregrineay]

Update: Android Dropbox via Snap has the auto upload feature but I still had to open the app everytime to get it going. Today the native Dropbox was updated to include auto upload of photos and videos. Hurray!

Now they need to fix it to include true auto sync e.g. auto-download / changes pushed to my BlackBerry!

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