Dropbox limits free accounts to 3 devices

[barryem]

I just got a notice from Dropbox that they're now, as of March, limiting us to only 3 devices. I read on a lot of devices and keep ebooks there and I use it to sync between devices with Moon+. They've just made Dropbox useless to me.

I checked and it seems that I have 53 devices registered on Dropbox. They aren't removing devices but till I get it down below 3 I can't add any more. I don't own 53 devices and most of the ones I do own don't have Dropbox installed, so I'm guessing they're counting every device I've ever used with Dropbox over the years. I've been a Dropbox user since they began.. I have no obvious way to disconnect older devices. I've been looking for ways to do that but I don't find any. I could probably live with 3 devices if I knew how to get rid of the old ones.

I did send an email to their support asking about that but if it's like most email supports it'll take a few back and forths to get resolved, if it ever does.

I'm pretty upset about this. I had thought of Dropbox and one of the stable things in my life. I guess I was wrong.

I tried syncing with Google Drive, which Moon+ also supports, but it's extremely slow. Syncing with Dropbox was so fast I didn't notice it. I just closed the app and it recorded my position. With Google Drive it takes from 30 seconds to a minute. A couple of times it took over a minute.

To make matters worse I've been reading on my phone a lot lately and Moon+ is a bit hard on the battery so I bought a second phone, a cheap one that'll be a decent one for reading, I hope. I don't plan to have a carrier for it. I was just going to use Wifi and make this my reading phone. I'm waiting for it to be delivered today but when it gets here it's not going to be very useful now. I'm not sure I would have bought it if I'd known about this.

Will some nice person please tell me to relax because things are never as bad as they seem at first? I know it's not true but please tell me anyway.

Barry

[barryem]

Well, even though you didn't tell me things are never as bad as they seem at first, you were right. Turns out that's a limit on devices linked only and doesn't apply to apps such as Moon+. Whew!

Barry

[haertig]

I don't use DropBox. I use NextCloud, which I host myself on my own server. Not for the faint-hearted, you do have to know something about computer, database, webserver, and complex application administration. You can simplify things a bit by running NextCloud from a Docker container. But then, uhm, you have to know about Docker administration. I don't know your level of system administration experience - the NextCloud solution may or may not be for you.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by barryem

I have no obvious way to disconnect older devices. I've been looking for ways to do that but I don't find any. I could probably live with 3 devices if I knew how to get rid of the old ones.

Barry

I can see my connected devices under Settings -> Security when I log in to the Dropbox webpage, and I can also unlink them there.

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by haertig

I don't use DropBox. I use NextCloud, which I host myself on my own server. Not for the faint-hearted, you do have to know something about computer, database, webserver, and complex application administration. You can simplify things a bit by running NextCloud from a Docker container. But then, uhm, you have to know about Docker administration. I don't know your level of system administration experience - the NextCloud solution may or may not be for you.

If you don't know anything about system administration, the only secure way to setup NextCloud, is on an internal network that your Internet Router knows nothing about.

If you know anything about network administration, you probably don't want your Internet Router to know anything about the network that NextCloud is on.

[stumped]

When I read about the three device limit I replicated all my Dropbox content in pcloud, who happily give out multiple 10gb free ,one to each email you have.. it was simple to do, but I don't like their UI. I keep finding things that Dropbox does better after using them side by side. It's lots of little things, like Dropbox on android has an excellent built in text editor, pcloud has nothing comparable.. and adding stuff to Dropbox from my tablet is easier.
With all my devices, Dropbox syncs very fast and is very reliable...I can upload a gigabyte and not have to fret about will it ever get there... Which is what happens with big uploads to g drive and Amazon drive
I don't have any plans for new hardware purchases, so I can live with only having Dropbox on everything that is already set up. If they start to limit that though, I will look at making pcloud my main provider .

Alternatively could work around the three limit by having several different Dropbox accounts, each for a single purpose.e.g. an ebook Dropbox for calibre backup and moon reader sync? I only need that on three devices... A separate "gaming" Dropbox for game saves,, game guides , three is enough for that.... My reading devices are separate from my gaming devices...

Best outcome is that the backlash forces Dropbox to rethink, or to introduce a budget range .

Google one looks tempting for a family deal but it is confusing when you are already in other Google family products.e.g. can I run a Google one family AND still be part of my son in laws Google play music family?

[Sirtel]

For me the choice is easy. No free storage plan, no matter the provider, is enough for my data. And after Copy went out of business I no longer trust any other providers than the big players - Dropbox, Google, Microsoft, Amazon. Well, I have a paid Google plan (my Gmail inbox alone is about 40 GB), but Google Drive doesn't play nice with Calibre. For a while I had a paid OneDrive plan, but OneDrive didn't play nice with my Calibre library either (it started to delete random books totally out of the blue). So the best option for syncing my data between different devices and really the only option for syncing my ebook library is a paid Dropbox plan. As it's not the cheapest option out there, I resisted for a while, but eventually I had to get it. And I have had no complaints.

[Tarana]

Do post when you find out how to delete devices from Dropbox. I can't even find where the list is for devices that are linked!? I have actually never used it on my tablets, but I do use it to send photos back and forth to my sister.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Do post when you find out how to delete devices from Dropbox. I can't even find where the list is for devices that are linked!?

On the Dropbox website, it should be under Settings - Security.

[Atunah]

I just don't understand why they don't have a lower end plan. I'd gladly pay, but I don't need that much space and its too expensive for me what they have available.

I found where you see whats connected, but I kind of have to guess what is what. Android and windows devices just have generic numbers. I went by time which I assume is when last used so I deleted some older ones. But I can't get it down to 3 without possibly getting rid of something current as they are called the same.

I still wish they had a lower end plan with less storage.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Atunah

I just don't understand why they don't have a lower end plan. I'd gladly pay, but I don't need that much space and its too expensive for me what they have available.

I found where you see whats connected, but I kind of have to guess what is what. Android and windows devices just have generic numbers. I went by time which I assume is when last used so I deleted some older ones. But I can't get it down to 3 without possibly getting rid of something current as they are called the same.

I still wish they had a lower end plan with less storage.

I can somewhat understand why they don't offer cheaper plans. However, I think they can probably convert a lot of free accounts to paid accounts if more competitively priced tiers were offered (enough to offset folks who don't need all the space and would downgrade their accounts). I can easily understand not offering $1 per month plans like Google, Microsoft and Apple do but something like a $5/mo or $50-60 annual only plan for 10-50GB wouldn't be amiss.

Also, really wish they'd offer a family plan. I've actually had a paid Dropbox account (with packrat) since 2012. I use just around 15GB of storage. Unfortunately, unless I share my entire account with family members (ergo all files as well), I can't share the storage. It sucks that files in a shared folder count against each user's account quota.

I wouldn't mind paying $15-20/mo (or annual equivalent) for a 1TB family plan. What I don't want to be doing is pay $50/mo (5 * $10) for multiple accounts.

[Deskisamess]

I agree with the comments about the pricing tiers. If they would offer one at half the monthly one, or a year plan with a savings for paying for the entire year. But $8.25 per month is just too high a price for an average user like me. I don't need that much storage, nor can I spend that much per month on it.

I'm trying to switch to Google Drive, but must say, I'm a bit baffled by some of the details, especially how to use it on a PC. It keeps trying to sync every folder on the computer, and I haven't had time to sit down and try to figure it out.

[DiapDealer]

I figured something was coming down the road. After years of silence, I was suddenly getting regular (and rather annoying) emails from Dropbox about various things I already knew. At least this reminded me to turn off those promotional notices while I deleted all the retired devices I'd linked over the years.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

I agree with the comments about the pricing tiers. If they would offer one at half the monthly one, or a year plan with a savings for paying for the entire year. But $8.25 per month is just too high a price for an average user like me. I don't need that much storage, nor can I spend that much per month on it.

They already do offer savings for annual plans. The 1TB Plus plan is actually $10/mo if paid monthly and it gets discounted to $100/year ($8.25/mo) if paid annually.

[stumped]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

I agree with the comments about the pricing tiers. If they would offer one at half the monthly one, or a year plan with a savings for paying for the entire year. But $8.25 per month is just too high a price for an average user like me. I don't need that much storage, nor can I spend that much per month on it.

I'm trying to switch to Google Drive, but must say, I'm a bit baffled by some of the details, especially how to use it on a PC. It keeps trying to sync every folder on the computer, and I haven't had time to sit down and try to figure it out.

i find the best way to use g drive is via a browser. do not install any of their sync software. that way you are in full control. you can upload/ download to & from G drive via the browser interface, and via the android app on android devices.
its pretty good on android as it is very well integrated. it will offer to upload copies of stuff to G drive for you , when you download certain things to tablet, and if you combine it with google docs you have a workable and free solution for a lot of basic office stuff