iCloud Sync

[kewms]

@sidderke

BTW, I read today on Twitter that the new Files app in iOS 13 lets you pin files AND folders, which will stay offline available on your device, and download changes immediately when they happen (from any other device), now, which wasn’t possible before. You didn’t have any control of what iCloud kept downloaded on your device. Don’t know if again if this makes a difference for Scrivener, but it is interesting in the light of this discussion because I thought one of the problems with iCloud was that it choose what to download and what to keep in the cloud inside a Scrivener project, thus corrupting files. Don’t know if this new pin-option would help, if it would mean users should pin the whole Scrivener folder before using it with iOS. (a bit like now you have to make a Scrivener folder in Dropbox before using the iOS version with automatic sync)

You’re describing the iCloud “Optimize storage” feature, which is indeed an enormous problem for Mac-to-Mac sharing. But it’s not really relevant to the Mac-to-iOS synchronization issues.

Katherine

[sidderke]

@kewms

You’re describing the iCloud “Optimize storage” feature, which is indeed an enormous problem for Mac-to-Mac sharing. But it’s not really relevant to the Mac-to-iOS synchronization issues.

Bummer but thanks for the clarification.

[defjaf]

Dear Keith &c,

@KB

2. I would have to rewrite Scrivener from the ground up to support it. iCloud does support file packages - although I’m not sure how it would handle those of Scrivener’s complexity and potential size - but not the way Scrivener does them. And almost everything in Scrivener is built on its file handling. So it’s not something that can ever just be patched in - I’d need to take the very core of Scrivener apart and start again.

Thanks for this succinct (re-?) statement of your position. This helps clarify things, for me, at least. I’m disappointed, and I admit that I’m moving to Ulysses for my current book project — I still miss some of Scrivener’s capabilities, but fast and painless syncing, combined with enough multi-tasking on both iPad and Mac to enable the use of other apps to take over some of those capabilities, is a win for me and my workflow at this point.

But I’ll continue to support L&L (i.e., buy updates if and when they come along!) and hope that things do, indeed, move in this direction over the medium or at least long term.

[Brammy]

@defjaf

Thanks for this succinct (re-?) statement of your position. This helps clarify things, for me, at least. I’m disappointed, and I admit that I’m moving to Ulysses for my current book project — I still miss some of Scrivener’s capabilities, but fast and painless syncing, combined with enough multi-tasking on both iPad and Mac to enable the use of other apps to take over some of those capabilities, is a win for me and my workflow at this point.

But I’ll continue to support L&L (i.e., buy updates if and when they come along!) and hope that things do, indeed, move in this direction over the medium or at least long term.

I am not quite at your point, but I am taking a hard look at whether Dropbox is that important to me. Scrivener is the only app I use that requires Dropbox for syncing. However, the smart sync feature they moved out of Business into Plus is nice.

[Silverdragon]

Okay, I’m the odd person out, here. I loathe iCloud. I hope L&L never eliminate Dropbox support because I’m increasingly frustrated by developers who are moving to iCloud only. I don’t pay extra for more iCloud space, and I hope I never have to. Dropbox has always worked well for me with regards to Scrivener Mac <-> iOS syncing.

That said, I agree that it would be nice if Dropbox had an entry-level paid tier that was less than two terabytes and $120 USD per annum(!) Not that $120 isn’t a fair price for two terabytes, but 50 gigabytes would suit. Nonetheless, I’m revamping my cloud services and will go to paid Dropbox, eliminating Google Drive (which I like better than iCloud, but I trust Google less), and continuing to minimise my iCloud use as much as practical.

L&L, I hope I represent the silent majority, here. So far as I’m concerned, if iCloud sync never happens, that will be just fine with me.

[Brammy]

@Silverdragon

Okay, I’m the odd person out, here. I loathe iCloud. I hope L&L never eliminate Dropbox support because I’m increasingly frustrated by developers who are moving to iCloud only. I don’t pay extra for more iCloud space, and I hope I never have to. Dropbox has always worked well for me with regards to Scrivener Mac ↔ iOS syncing.

That said, I agree that it would be nice if Dropbox had an entry-level paid tier that was less than two terabytes and $120 USD per annum(!) Not that $120 isn’t a fair price for two terabytes, but 50 gigabytes would suit. Nonetheless, I’m revamping my cloud services and will go to paid Dropbox, eliminating Google Drive (which I like better than iCloud, but I trust Google less), and continuing to minimise my iCloud use as much as practical.

L&L, I hope I represent the silent majority, here. So far as I’m concerned, if iCloud sync never happens, that will be just fine with me.

My fervent hope is we get a choice: Dropbox for those who like it; OneDrive for folks who use that; iCloud for those who want that.

[lunk]

I use ghe Agenda app. It initially only had iCloud sync and users were for Dropbox syncing.

[RorydEon]

Dropbox has become, for many users, unfriendly, bloated and restrictive. If there was a Dropbox lite that simply did sync I’m sure many would still not mind it so much. As it’s evolved, I’ve begun to steer away from it.
Maybe it’s time to consider rewriting scrivener for iCloud sync.
Rory

[rayl]

Well, a lot of other users are finding Dropbox works perfectly for them. Rewriting the software to accommodate a particular synching platform seems … overkill?.

R

[lunk]

@RorydEon

If there was a Dropbox lite that simply did sync I’m sure many would still not mind it so much.

There is. The free basic version.

[xiamenese]

@RorydEon

Maybe it’s time to consider rewriting scrivener for iCloud sync. Rory

@KB

I would have to rewrite Scrivener from the ground up to support it. iCloud does support file packages - although I’m not sure how it would handle those of Scrivener’s complexity and potential size - but not the way Scrivener does them. And almost everything in Scrivener is built on its file handling. So it’s not something that can ever just be patched in - I’d need to take the very core of Scrivener apart and start again.

I’m not saying (2) is never going to happen - but it’s not something that could be done in a few months.

And of course, KB wouldn’t have time to update Scrivener for iOS, or Scapple, or have time to think about Scapple for iOS …

I’ve been using Dropbox for about a decade and have never had a problem with it; I built up 6.2GB of Space on my free account, and have 3 computers, an iPAD and an iPhone hooked up to it. Although I have Scrivener for iOS on the latter 2, I hardly ever open it, as most of what I do is in collaboration with a Windows-using friend in China, where dropbox is blocked—which is not Dropbox’s fault—so we use Sync, and I am happier with the UI on my MBPs, like another poster.

If I change any of my iOS devices, so that I’m restricted, I’ll simply not bother with iOS Scriv.

Mark

[derick]

seriously what is “bloated, unfriendly and restrictive” about dropbox?!?

[Brammy]

@derick

seriously what is “bloated, unfriendly and restrictive” about dropbox?!?

They have added some new features: GoogleDocs, Office, Zoom Slack interaction that are probably more appealing to enterprise customers than consumers. As a result, the app now consumes 500mb of memory. I have 16gb on my Mac so that’s not an issue, but for others it might be.

They also raised the price and knocked the free device limit to 3. You can grandfather in more devices, but as soon as you add a new device the 3 device rule comes into affect.

[xiamenese]

@Brammy

@derick

seriously what is “bloated, unfriendly and restrictive” about dropbox?!?

They have added some new features: GoogleDocs, Office, Zoom Slack interaction that are probably more appealing to enterprise customers than consumers. As a result, the app now consumes 500mb of memory. I have 16gb on my Mac so that’s not an issue, but for others it might be.

They also raised the price and knocked the free device limit to 3. You can grandfather in more devices, but as soon as you add a new device the 3 device rule comes into affect.

On my !3" MBP, I have 8GB memory, of which Dropbox consumes 194Mb; it’s more than Sync, but is hardly “bloated”.

Mark

[kewms]

I’ve got the Pro version of Dropbox and it only consumes 190 MB on my system.

I would expect that most of the new features are implemented on the server side, which wouldn’t affect local memory usage at all.

Katherine

[Silverdragon]

Mine jumped to 500Gb with the latest update…

[xiamenese]

@Silverdragon

Mine jumped to 500Gb with the latest update…

GB or MB

Mark

[AmberV]

RAM usage is going to vary based on usage and other factors that have to do with how the operating system itself manages it. But here are some numbers for perspective:

• Firefox: 2.5gb
• Scrivener (editing a few large projects): 1.25gb
• MailMate (my email client): 605mb
• Scapple (who would call that bloated): 294mb
• Sublime Text (a simple coding editor) 179mb.
• SpiderOak ONE: 160mb.
• iCloud (difficult to say, because it is coiled all over the placed and takes a dozen processes to do what other programs do with one, but on a test account, I don’t let this monster anywhere near my real data to be clear): 145mb (280mb with the iCloud System Preference panel open, for some reason).

Moral of the story: software running on a Mac is pretty expensive. I wouldn’t get too hung up over it unless your system is slowing down, and then there are probably going to be a good list of things worth restarting first, before worrying about Dropbox.

But hey, at least you can restart it, or shut it down if need be. Good luck trying to do that with the “simple” iCloud.

[Silverdragon]

@xiamenese

@Silverdragon

Mine jumped to 500Gb with the latest update…

GB or MB

Mark

MB.

[devinganger]

I don’t think it is unreasonable for someone offering a free service subsidized by a premium paid service to put more limits on the free service as time goes by.