Ditching Dropbox

[Rich]

So, there have been a number of threads on Dropbox about people's frustration with it (from their deceptiveness, anti-consumer behavior, and security issues — easily found all over the internets).  With the recent moves by Dropbox to require a paid account if you connect more than three devices (say, like a phone, a tablet, a laptop and a desktop) to their ongoing forced software rollout where they are trying to replace the Finder (see the article on Arstechnica today), I just can't keep this software on my devices any longer. 

 

At this time, there is only one app that I use that requires me to use Dropbox to sync, and that is Accordance.  I understand the reasoning for a non-platform solution and I'm not trying to cause any issues here, but it's honestly a bridge too far for me at this point and I need to find a workaround.

 

My question:  what exactly does Dropbox syncing provide and is there any mechanism to replicate this (even including just manual syncing while connected to a Mac).  I can use rsync or a manual mechanism between two computers, but I need to be able to share bookmarks and highlights between iPad and Mac, even if I have to do it manually.  What exactly are my options at his point?  Does Sync with Mobile Device replicate everything that would normally occur through Dropbox syncing?  If so, this may be completely sufficient.

Edited July 23, 2019 by Rich

[Paul Meiklejohn]

I no longer use dropbox.  The price increases compared to many of the other 'cloud' competitors was becoming an issue.   I only use iCloud for syncing and pCloud for my larger storage needs, that means I've had to forego any syncing benefits with Accordance.  It was a personal choice, but I would love to have it back using another another syncing platform.  It would seem that iCloud and OneDrive would be the obvious choice for the the two big platforms.

[OSchrock]

... Does Sync with Mobile Device replicate everything that would normally occur through Dropbox syncing?  If so, this may be completely sufficient.

 

That is a good question and I'm not sure the answer when syncing from desktop to mobile. However, unless I'm mistaken, one major limitation for me is that there is currently no way to sync highlights and user notes from mobile back to desktop without using dropbox.

[Randy Cue]

Won't sync with wifi work?

[Rich]

That is a good question and I'm not sure the answer when syncing from desktop to mobile. However, unless I'm mistaken, one major limitation for me is that there is currently no way to sync highlights and user notes from mobile back to desktop without using dropbox.

 

This is what I'm afraid of — and what I was really hoping to get a definitive answer on.

[Rich]

So, I did a little digging and found this about Mobile Sync / Wifi which looks like it will meet my needs.  Syncing of modules is only one way but it appears that syncing of notes and highlights are two ways.  I'll run tests to confirm tonight.  It does appear you have to disable all the dropbox functionality first.

Edited July 24, 2019 by Rich

[lesterchua]

Hi, I"m really interested in how to do this as well. 

 

My problem is compounded by having both 2 Macs and 1 Windows tablet on which I use Accordance on. Please let us know how your investigations turn out!

[Rich]

Hi, I"m really interested in how to do this as well. 

 

My problem is compounded by having both 2 Macs and 1 Windows tablet on which I use Accordance on. Please let us know how your investigations turn out!

 

 

I haven't done two way testing yet but the synchronization to both my iOS devices seemed to work great — although obviously a bit more work than Dropbox sync.  I need to look into building a pretty dumb rsync'ing script for my iMac and MacBook Pro - which I actually had at one time before I did the dropbox sync'ing.  I don't usually use both in parallel but serially (like, I use my desktop until I take a business / or school trip, then I switch to the laptop) — which means I can get away with something fairly simple.  I'll post back what I come up with.

Edited July 25, 2019 by Rich

[_Ricardo_]

Hi, I"m really interested in how to do this as well. 

 

My problem is compounded by having both 2 Macs and 1 Windows tablet on which I use Accordance on. Please let us know how your investigations turn out!

 

In your case, in which you have three computers (the tablet running a full version of Win, thus running a computer version of Acc), you may be able use iCloud to sync. Many of our customer use iCloud Drive to sync between Macs, and it seems to work fine for them. On Windows, you will need to install iCloud for Windows: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204301

 

Move the Accordance Files folder into the iCloud folder once it is installed on your computer, and all your computers should sync. 

 

Quit Acc before you move the Acc folder. When you open Acc, it will ask where the folder is or where to create it. Point to the iCloud folder where the Acc folder is.

 

It may be a good idea to create a backup of this folder before you start the process, just in case.

 

A potential issue with this set up is that from time to time iCloud removes the local copy from the Mac. So there should not be a small cloud next to this folder in the iCloud folder when viewing it in Finder. Not having a local copy will cause Acc to consider the files missing. Click on the cloud next to the folder/files to create a local copy.

 

If you do try it, please report your findings.

 

You should be able to do the same with other cloud services, in theory.

 

This will not work with Accordance Mobile, only with the computer version, Accordance 12.3.4.

 

Be advised that these other syncing services options (iCloud drive, Google drive, etc.) are not Accordance products. For any support regarding any of these services, please contact the corresponding support department.

[Rich]

In your case, in which you have three computers (the tablet running a full version of Win, thus running a computer version of Acc), you may be able use iCloud to sync. Many of our customer use iCloud Drive to sync between Macs, and it seems to work fine for them. On Windows, you will need to install iCloud for Windows: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204301

 

...

 

Be advised that these other syncing services options (iCloud drive, Google drive, etc.) are not Accordance products. For any support regarding any of these services, please contact the corresponding support department.

 

Hmmm... I'm going to give this a try for my iMac and MBP.  I don't remember having the option to choose a new location for this folder before or I feel like I would already be using this (or maybe I just never tried).  My only concern is if syncing is incomplete before I open on one device after closing on the other (although usually for me they are fairly separated in time).

[Paul Meiklejohn]

 

Move the Accordance Files folder into the iCloud folder once it is installed on your computer, and all your computers should sync. 

Quit Acc before you move the Acc folder. When you open Acc, it will ask where the folder is or where to create it. Point to the iCloud folder where the Acc folder is.

 

 

Ricardo, I  realise that Accordance haven't officially developed this as official syncing option.  However can I ask what do we do in the other machines that we are syncing with.  Do we simply repeat the same process for each machine, or do we delete the Accordance File folders in the other machines and then point Accordance to our iCloud folder?  Bearing in mind that we need to make sure that the working folder we want to keep is the last folder we drop into iCloud.

 

It should work in practice.  It's whether Accordance can cope with the folder and files being being moved to a new location?

Edited July 26, 2019 by Paul Meiklejohn

[_Ricardo_]

Ricardo, I  realise that Accordance haven't officially developed this as official syncing option.  However can I ask what do we do in the other machines that we are syncing with.  Do we simply repeat the same process for each machine, or do we delete the Accordance File folders in the other machines and then point Accordance to our iCloud folder?  Bearing in mind that we need to make sure that the working folder we want to keep is the last folder we drop into iCloud.

 

It should work in practice.  It's whether Accordance can cope with the folder and files being being moved to a new location?

Paul,

 

If you rename or delete the Accordance Files folder on your computer, when you open Accordance, it will ask to point to it or the place to create a new one. This is when you point to the folder in iCloud where the main Accordance Files folder resides.

 

It is best to quit Accordance before you move any folders is it working with. Also, I like to rename the folder instead of deleting it because that gives me a backup, which you can delete later if you don't need it.

[Rich]

Finally had some time to spend on this today.

 

Since I had Dropbox syncing setup before, for some reason I thought all the Accordance files were in Library/System Preferences and were being kept up to date with the Dropbox syncing / folder.  Apparently, they (at least highlights and notes) are in the ~/Documents/Accordance Files folder already — meaning my iCloud Drive syncing which automatically syncs Documents was already keeping that in sync between my Mac desktop and laptop.  I've tested and verified this is working perfectly — without me having to do a thing.

 

I also finally had a chance to confirm what the Accordance Help was already telling me — Mobile Sync is two way syncing of my notes and highlights properly.  

 

So, for me, I'm now completely off Dropbox and have a fully workable solution for syncing across my two Macs and iPad.  It's a tad more work to remember to manually sync my mobile devices occasionally, but it's not onerous and a reasonable solution!

Edited July 27, 2019 by Rich

[wido27]

Hi there,

 

I have noticed that this thread has not been active for a while.

However, I would love to see Accordance work on a solution to sync files via a folder from any cloud, for example, OneDrive, pCloud, iCloud, ... you name it.

 

Thank you Accordance Team for considering such a change!

Blessings,

Olivier

[lesterchua]

In your case, in which you have three computers (the tablet running a full version of Win, thus running a computer version of Acc), you may be able use iCloud to sync. Many of our customer use iCloud Drive to sync between Macs, and it seems to work fine for them. On Windows, you will need to install iCloud for Windows: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204301

 

Move the Accordance Files folder into the iCloud folder once it is installed on your computer, and all your computers should sync. 

 

Quit Acc before you move the Acc folder. When you open Acc, it will ask where the folder is or where to create it. Point to the iCloud folder where the Acc folder is.

 

It may be a good idea to create a backup of this folder before you start the process, just in case.

 

A potential issue with this set up is that from time to time iCloud removes the local copy from the Mac. So there should not be a small cloud next to this folder in the iCloud folder when viewing it in Finder. Not having a local copy will cause Acc to consider the files missing. Click on the cloud next to the folder/files to create a local copy.

 

If you do try it, please report your findings.

 

You should be able to do the same with other cloud services, in theory.

 

This will not work with Accordance Mobile, only with the computer version, Accordance 12.3.4.

 

Be advised that these other syncing services options (iCloud drive, Google drive, etc.) are not Accordance products. For any support regarding any of these services, please contact the corresponding support department.

Sorry for replying late. I only saw this reply yesterday.

I tried the sync using this method successfully by setting up odrive with my MS OneDrive account. It work in transferring folders.

 

There are some stuff that would be really nice to have.

 

1. The library sorting and categorization is not synced as they are store in separate location I guess.

2. The Custom Tools in MyTools are not synced as well and have to be reimported.

 

This is a bummer in terms of "perfection" when it comes to sync. But it's good enough. Hopefully, the sync scope can be increased to include these in the future.

 

[rcdeacon]

Would there be someone who could post or point me to some SIMPLE easily understood instructions on how to make the switch? I have a MacBook Air (2017) with Big Sur, a Surface Pro 6 with Windows 10 and an ipad air. 

 

Bob