Alternatives to Dropbox sync

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  • donmontalvo
    donmontalvo
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    @Niklas Agreed, what I meant was that I personally don't have a problem with Condoleezza Rice being a board member of any company. Is it really fair to paint someone in a negative light because we disagree(d) with their role in their previous company or government? Like the rest of us, it was a gig, she moved on to another gig, why not let it go? I love DropBox, and if there's anything sensitive I want to keep there, I'll keep it in a Knox encrypted file.

    You can't get away from the NSA, or whatever subversive entity(ies) might be lurking. So adjust how you manage your critical data. Don't empower Condoleezza Rice by giving her more power than she has. ;) With all that said, I totally get how we are free to spend our money how we like, patronize companies we like, avoid companies we don't like...I just don't let these kinds of things bring me down. If/when Condoleezza Rice is booted from DropBox, there will be another person who we many not like, maybe not as visible as her, to take her place.

    I choose not to stress it...I choose 1Password so I don't have to stress these things. :)

    Don

    We would like to take 1Password with us to an alternative to Dropbox, which is why we ask what other services 1Password support and might support in the future.

  • ThadB
    ThadB
    Community Member
    edited November 2014
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    I have a Samsung dropbox deal where they give you an extra 48gb. I was a lil disappointed that it was only 2 years. Don't wanna really have to deal with moving everything off there in 2 years. I was looking through another thread and someone mentioned "Copy" there, which is basically a dropbox alternative. I checked it out and I'm digging it. They give you 15gb free right away and I signed up through a referral from the guy's post and got an extra 5gb for myself. So 20gb immediately. Also for every person you sign up they give you 5gb! That's waaay better than 500mb w/ DB. Between the 6 email accounts my wife and I have we got our storage up to 50GB without even bugging anyone we know. And that's FOREVER not for 2 years!

    Another thing I like is that they split the file size between the number of people using a shared folder. With DB each person has the full size of the shared folder. So basically with Copy if you have 2 people sharing a 20gb folder it's only 10gb each. Or if it's 4 people then that's 5gb each. Since we had setup 6 accounts already, and each of those accounts have 20gb, I setup a shared folder between all 6 accounts. So even though my wife and I will really only be using 2 of those accounts, the load will be split 6 ways. So we could theoretically store 150GB right now in that shared folder (50+20+20+20+20+20). Hopefully that made sense.

  • Niklas
    Niklas
    Community Member
    edited April 2014
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    @‌donmontalvo

    You said: "Like the rest of us, it was a gig, she moved on to another gig, why not let it go?"

    You just used the Nuremberg Defence to defend her actions. Just because you say it was her job to support privacy violations, or it was her job to institute and support torture, or that it was her job to lie about the Iraqi WMD:s (with an absurd number of humans killed) does not make it ok. It does not give her a legal defence and it certainly does not give her any moral defence.

    "Following orders" or "just doing a job" is never an acceptable excuse.

  • crisbennett
    crisbennett
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    @donmontalvo:

    Like the rest of us, it was a gig, she moved on to another gig, why not let it go?

    Because to many of us, Rice's activities (actively conspiring in the deaths of 100,000 people and undermining one of the world's great democracies) should land her permanently in jail, not in 'another gig'. You may not see her in that light (and this is not the place to debate that), but if you've travelled at all you'll be aware that this is how she will be seen by millions in many parts of the world. I find her not remotely a fit business partner, and won't ever again have anything to do with Dropbox, which has proven itself (at a minimum) ethically tone deaf.

    If anything, this all highlights the vulnerable position it puts AgileBits in if it depends too heavily on any one external service for syncing. Anything could happen (and something just did) to render that service unavailable.

    As for those calling for AgileBits to announce what sync services may be supported in the future, honestly that puts them in the invidious position of being a hostage to fortune (as they explained very well above).

    For what it's worth, my requests to AgileBits would be that (1) they make wifi sync available across all platforms to free us from external dependencies as much as possible, and only then (2) support as many sync services as they can efficiently manage.

    Currently I use 1Password on Android and Mac, and having dumped Dropbox, I now have no automated means at all of keeping the two in sync, which is quite a pest.

  • StarDog
    StarDog
    Community Member
    edited April 2014
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    That will be nice if 1Password can sync with Google Drive.
    Dropbox isnt that cool anymore.

  • Stephen_C
    Stephen_C
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    Just as a matter of interest, there's been quite a discussion about alternative sync solutions here, in the Lounge.

    Stephen

  • roelseegers
    roelseegers
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    Hi there,

    Here's a humble contribution from Europe....

    For the past months I have succesfully replaced Dropbox by a self-hosted solution, a Synology NAS, using Bittorrent Sync and BTsync through the SynoCommunity package.

    I have my 1Password Vault stored on a fully encrypted USB (using KNOX), which starts syncing to my NAS ánd my Android device the moment I insert the USB stick in my iMac or MBP.

    The only one not cooperating is the iPad.... I have to sync that one manually over Wifi every now and then, as iOS won't let me specify a sync folder.

    Believe me, I haven't got any real networking skills, nor do I know command line queries. This is pretty easy stuff!

    Good luck.

    Roel

  • lurchi
    lurchi
    Community Member
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    Support for Synology CloudStation APP on iOS would be cool!

  • MikeT
    edited April 2014
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    Hi guys,

    @StarDog, I've merged your request in this thread since it is the same request that everybody in this thread want as well.

    We do plan to provide additional sync solutions to 1Password in the future, as to which one, we don't have that information yet. It all depends on the services' ability to allow iOS and/or Android apps to access the data via its API securely and quickly. Many don't have that option yet.

    Additional local sync options such as Wi-Fi sync, WebDAV/SFTP to NAS, and so on, are included in the same plan as well. These options are a little bit more difficult to support than cloud-based solutions but we are aware of all the benefits they provide over the cloud solutions.

  • wolfspyre
    wolfspyre
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    +1 for ownCloud support. I'd really like to see this happen. I understand it's challenging. The option of moving away from dropbox is important.. to me at least.

  • khad
    khad
    1Password Alumni
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    Thank you for letting us know that you too are interested in this, @wolfspyre‌! Your feedback on this is very much appreciated.

  • fxrvza
    fxrvza
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    Hello to all,
    I totally agree, in our case we are working on a cloud storage service and would like to suggest to bundle it with a password manager (1password is an option because I'm using it for many years right now and I am very satisfied with the app). But because it only syncs with dropbox we will probably have to look for another solution. That is too sad. We should be able to sync with any cloud storage server via webdav. Please implement that feature ASAP you will have another competitive advantage on other password managers because even datavaut password manager that claims to be able to sync via webdav only supports five providers (box, swissdisk, mydisk, GMX, mydrive). We want to be able to sync with our private webdav servers !

  • Megan
    Megan
    1Password Alumni
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    Hi @fxrvza,

    Thanks so much for adding your thoughts here! As Mike has said, we're working on these features, but they're certainly not a simple thing to implement.

    We really appreciate your patience and your feedback. :)

  • ilsa
    ilsa
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    I wish to add my own +1 for the ability to sync via mechanisms that we ourselves control. Webdav, owncloud, etc.

  • Megan
    Megan
    1Password Alumni
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    Hi @ilsa,

    Thanks for adding your vote! :)

  • salnet
    salnet
    Community Member
    edited September 2014
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    Any news? Last post containing info is from 26 Apr 2014 (MikeT).
    Our company policies will drop Dropbox-support as end of December and so sync of data is impossible after that date (FolderSync and iCloud Sync are Mac OS only, iTunes Sync is not very comfortable as it requires dumb iTunes - no option).

  • khad
    khad
    1Password Alumni
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    @salnet, there is nothing I can report at this time on that front, but Wi-Fi Sync is only getting better every day. Would that work for you?

  • crisbennett
    crisbennett
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    @salnet: I'll second khad on the Wi-Fi sync. I use it to sync with iOS, and have found the current incarnation to be flawless.

    To anyone else who wants to sync with both Android and iOS devices, by the way, this is a good solution if you don't want to use Dropbox. I sync with my Nexus 5 using folder sync (using BittorrentSync to sync the folders between my Mac and Nexus), and with my iPad over WiFi.

  • loveycllove
    loveycllove
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    1password, Why don't add other sync method? such as Google Drive ,skydrive ...

  • Megan
    Megan
    1Password Alumni
    edited November 2014
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    Hi @loveycllove‌

    I've merged your question with an existing discussion on alternative sync solutions. The short answer is we are considering options. We know how important sync is to users, and we want to ensure we provide you a variety of options that allow you to get your data to your devices your way. Unfortunately, sync is no simple task and there are several things that we need from a sync provider (such as an available API, and the ability to sync to all of the platforms that we offer 1Password on) before we can even consider it as a solution for our users. From our post Alternatives to Dropbox cloud syncing: iCloud, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.:

    The short answer to “Have you considered X as an alternative sync solution” is “Yes” for every value of X that people have asked about. We have considered them, and have had to reject them for various technical reasons.

    Each item in your 1Password data is stored in its own, separate, file. This is great for syncing in that it means that only the changes need to sync and this can be done by file and folder syncing. This not only makes syncing faster and cheaper, it also makes it much more reliable and robust against potential data corruption. But this also means that 1Password needs to read lots of different files quickly as it runs.

    ...

    Both Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive appear to meet a very important technical requirement we have of a syncing system (native file system access), but we need to make sure they satisfy other requirements as well. We're checking out these cloud file storage and sync services to see if they can be an option for syncing your 1Password data file.

    I hope that gives you an idea of what goes into adding a sync alternative to 1Password, and I'm happy to pass along your request to our developers. Thanks for taking the time to write in!

  • Irene
    Irene
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    +1 for Google Drive, by the way.

    For us, it's not really fears about the NSA, so much as that Dropbox seems untrustworthy as far as actually not losing or tampering with our data. Also, we just like Drive more, and aren't willing to switch the other things we keep in it back to Dropbox (we moved in the other direction not long ago). And of course, we aren't thrilled at the prospect of paying two subscription fees.

    We are kind of stunned at the acrimony people are displaying here, but ... we don't want to say too much for fear of attracting attention! This is just a feature request, there's really no need to make it personal! But we wanted to weigh in, in case you're keeping a tally. :)

  • RichardPayne
    RichardPayne
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    @Megan‌

    there are several things that we need from a sync provider (such as an available API, and the ability to sync to all of the platforms that we offer 1Password on) before we can even consider it as a solution for our users.

    That simply isn't true. You offer iCloud sync to your Apple based customers without worrying about those on Windows and Android.

    I remember that someone said that the current problem with GoogleDrive with some sort of API incompatibility. Does that apply to Windows or Android? If not then why not release GoogleDrive support on those platforms?

  • @Irene‌ Thanks so much for your words and thoughts on the issue. <3


    @RichardPayne‌ The problems with implementing Google Drive were explained to me by a colleague a while back. The biggest hurdle is how it handles conflict resolution. The AgileKeychain format was more or less tuned for Dropbox in its design, and it is not an easy task to change it to handle the way each and every sync service operates, especially with conflict resolution, which is an important part for sync.

    It is my understanding that this is something we hope to address in the future as we graduate away from AgileKeychain and onto newer data formats. Now, moving on to the next format is a long process, as we have to get all of our apps ready to support it at once. This is something we want to do right.

    It is my impression that in the future it will be easier to support other services, but that does not necessarily mean they will be supported.

    As for iCloud, we do support that as most of our user base uses Apple devices. And to be honest, iCloud is the first testing ground for our next-generation format, as iCloud only works on two platforms, it is easy to start small with seeing how it performs.

    When possible, we want all sync services to be on all platforms to avoid confusion. iCloud is more or less a special case as it is insanely popular and product specific. We'd certainly prefer it if iCloud were available for everyone, but that is not the reality. Regardless, its popularity among the majority of our user base necessitates its inclusion. Any possible future sync services we aim to support are desired to be available for everyone.

  • RichardPayne
    RichardPayne
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    @chrisj‌
    What are the platform demographics of your user base?

  • Megan
    Megan
    1Password Alumni
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    Hi @RichardPayne‌

    As members of the support team, we don't have details on the demographics readily available. But, regardless of what those details are, from a support perspective, it easy to see why a sync solution that works on all platforms is preferred. :)

  • RichardPayne
    RichardPayne
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    As members of the support team, we don't have details on the demographics readily available.

    ok, then treat that as a request for you to speak to whoever does have that information and report back.

    But, regardless of what those details are, from a support perspective, it easy to see why a sync solution that works on all platforms is preferred

    But surely you understand that by ignoring that preference for iCloud but not ignoring it for GoogleDrive you're making your non-Apple customers feel like second class citizens; a feeling that is already there due to the myriad other missing features compared to iOS.

    Obviously I'm not demanding your support GoogleDrive if, as @chrisdj‌ said, there are technical hurdles but to say that you're not going to bother until you can support it on all platforms is a little off. I would expect support to come if GoogleDrive on Android and Windows (I would guess the most common combination for Android) can be made to work, even if it can't be made to work on Mac and iOS.

    The reason I asked for demographics was because of @chrisdj's commment:

    As for iCloud, we do support that as most of our user base uses Apple devices.

    I was simply curious as to what degree that was true as it affects our expectations. If the Android user base is 1% of the iOS user base then we should not expect the same level of development. If it's 49% then the current lag is completely out of order.

  • Megan
    Megan
    1Password Alumni
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    Hi @RichardPayne‌

    I understand why you requested demographics, but I'm not really sure that's something that we want to share in a public forum. Ultimately, the decision about whether or not 1Password will support a sync service is subject to many factors, and demographics is just one factor that our development team has to consider. :)

  • hawkmoth
    hawkmoth
    Community Member
    edited November 2014
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    If I recall correctly, 1Password was, until comparatively recently, an Apple-only product. If that is correct, it isn't hard to believe that a large majority of 1Password users are still Apple users. It also seems obvious to me, given the development of the product for Windows and Android, that AgileBits is hoping that the balance will change as users of the other platforms move to 1Password. I'd judge that they are attempting to expand their business beyond their original core.

    But I have no access to anything other than my own observations and inferences, both of which could be flawed. :wink:

  • RichardPayne
    RichardPayne
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    Oh, I agree @hawkmoth‌. I didn't think otherwise; I just wanted an idea of to what degree that is the case.

  • DaveFL
    DaveFL
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    There is no mention of Amazon S3 on this thread. Has this service been considered at all?

This discussion has been closed.