DropBox external drive no longer supported on MacOS... WHY!!!

GiosBronti wrote:

but most of what Im reading is, even if the 3rd parties get the new macOS API working properly with their apps, it still can not store onto an external drive. With your understanding and knowledge on the issue, is this a correct statement or is the ball in the 3rd parties court to make this to happen?

Those are all correct statements.

I'm just saying that there is no requirement to use Apple's APIs. 3rd party apps are happy to avoid using Apple's APIs for years when it is a an inconvenience and hassle for the end user.

I'm certainly not saying there is anything wrong with using Apple's APIs. It's just that if I decided to add cloud sync to my app, I would probably take use Apple's APIs because I have no idea how to do that. This would be a new feature for my users, so nobody loses anything. They would only gain new capabilities.

But if I were already a large corporation with many years of cloud services experience across many different platforms, and a large install base, it would be an entirely different scenario.

Last question, do you think an "alias" link could be used back to a external drive?

You definitely don't want to try that. Never try to hack internals with aliases. There are legitimate, supported ways to either move your account to an external drive, or possibly expand your home directory. But you'll never see those methods mentioned anywhere on the internet. If you want to try, I try it out and give you more information. But from past experience, many people don't want that. I'm just letting you know there may be better options. They may require more advanced techniques and they might not eliminate all risk with respect to breakage in current or future operating systems. But literally anything is better than aliases.

This is a user forum, you are not addressing apple here just fellow users

you can try contacting apple Support ->  Get Support (apple.com) / Contact - Official Apple Support

and or give them feedback -> Product Feedback - Apple

GiosBronti wrote:

New macOS API limits how Dropbox and other cloud apps work

Just to clarify that this is not true. There is a new macOS API that provides cloud functionality. This new API requires that files be stored inside the user's home directory. Apple is discontinuing many legacy aspects and behaviours of macOS, and replacing them with iOS-friendly behaviours.

However:

1) There is no requirement that any 3rd party app use Apple's new API. 3rd party developers ignore Apple APIs all the time. Then, when their software doesn't work properly, the blame Apple. That doesn't mean Apple broke anything. That only means that Apple provides some functionality, the 3rd party developer chose not to use Apple's functionality, and the 3rd party developer is unwilling, or unable, to implement their own version. In most cases, it doesn't matter whether a 3rd party choses to use an Apple API or to ignore an API, the choice is the 3rd party developer's to make.

2) Advanced users can put their entire home directory on an external drive, or host just a portion of their home directory on an external drive. This is an advanced option. Most users can, and should, just use the defaults. But the option is always there.

You should voice your concerns to Dropbox, as it is their product that is the issue. Dropbox has struggled with adapting their product to macOS Monterey for over a year already.

Contact Dropbox Support