Dropbox Sync options make no sense

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drtimhill
drtimhill
Community Member
in Mac

OK, so I've been bitten by the mess Apple made of shipping iOS 8 and Yosemite a month apart and breaking iCloud sync. Simple fix .. go back to Dropbox sync .. well, turns out it's NOT so simple. because none of it makes any sense to me any more.

Once upon a time, Dropbox sync was easy. You put your 1password file (ok, bundle) in the root of your Dropbox folder and that was pretty much it. Apparently, not any more.

Here's what I did (on my Mac)...

  1. Disabled iCloud sync in 1password
  2. Exited 1password
  3. Moved my 1password file to my Dropbox folder.
  4. Started 1password, which still found my 1password file
  5. In 1password Preferences -> Sync, chose Dropbox as the sync method

And 1password asks me for the location of my Dropbox. Right away, I get uneasy. It's already magically found my 1password file (located inside my Dropbox). Now it wants to make a COPY of my 1password file, and the copy will ALSO be in Dropbox? Eh? This makes no sense to me at all.

So I quit out of 1password, and move my 1password file into a "1password" folder in my Dropbox. Hoping that 1password will skip creating extra copies (which make me very uneasy).

Again, 1password finds my 1password data file, but NOW when I try to setup Dropbox sync it starts warning me that my master vault and the dropbox vault are different. What? They are the SAME file .. so far as I can figure out.

So what is the "official" way to use Dropbox sync now? Why is this such a mess?

Why does 1password provide NO mechanism within the app (anywhere) to tell you what 1password file you have open?

Incidentally, the only reason I upgraded to iOS8 this early was because the new version of 1password is not compatible with iOS7 (apparently). So Agile Bits have pushed people to upgrade, even though iCloud sync is broken.

This is NOT impressive.

Comments

  • khad
    khad
    1Password Alumni
    edited September 2014
    Options

    Hi @drtimhill,

    Thanks for taking the time to contact us. I'm sorry that you are having some trouble. I'm sure we can get things working well for you.

    Step 3 that you listed above has me a bit uneasy myself. When you say, "Moved my 1password file to my Dropbox folder", can you tell me exactly which folder you moved? I suspect you may have moved your local 1Password data store (which is not intended to be altered under normal circumstances — including when setting up syncing of any kind).

    Normally, if you were syncing via iCloud, you would just click the "Change Syncing" button and then click "Dropbox" from the list of available sync options. Nothing needs to be moved manually (in Finder or in the Terminal). Everything would be done for you. I suspect that whatever you moved may need to be moved back, but I'll get a better sense once you let me know exactly what you moved. :)

    Thanks!

    P.S. While 1Password 5 for iOS does require iOS 8, the previous version of 1Password is still completely functional in iOS 7. In fact, if you are running iOS 7, Apple's App Store won't even make 1Password 5 available to you. You will only be able to download the most recent version of 1Password that is compatible with the version of iOS you have installed. There was no need to upgrade to iOS 8 if you were not ready to. This applies to all iOS apps, not just 1Password. It is a feature Apple has built in to the App Store. Just a heads up for the future.

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