MacOS causing incompatibility issues with dropbox and google drive
I avoid iCloud for good reasons and back up my files with Dropbox instead. That is not an excuse for Apple or Dropbox to break basic backup functionality.
On macOS with the new File Provider framework, I discovered a serious problem. I’m on Dropbox Plus, with the desktop app installed on the latest macOS. I don’t use Smart Sync — all my files are set to be fully local. During a manual copy/paste backup to an external drive, I found that copying my Dropbox and Google Drive folders only created alias folders instead of real data, even though Finder marked them with green checkmarks as offline. This means a backup could look correct while being completely useless.
The worst part: once copied onto the external drive, Finder reports these alias folders as having the same size as the originals, so you think the data is there. Only Disk Utility revealed the discrepancy (the backup size did not match expectations). From a user’s perspective this is broken: if I copy a local folder to another drive, it should always copy the real contents, not a managed alias. I understand those folders are actually treated like aliases, so technically this is right, but it was not my decision to do so, when those cloud services were installed. If a power user like me can easily fail to notice this, imagine a non-savvy user.
To make it worse, Time Machine backups don’t include Dropbox data at all under File Provider. If all my files live in Dropbox, Time Machine becomes essentially useless as a safety net. A backup solution that ignores a user’s main file storage is not a backup system. This means I can rely on Time Machine only for a backup of my macOS configuration, including OS-wise settings and installed app, and that's it. This is a shame because the incremental backup feature would be very useful, and add an extra layer of security on top of Dropbox.
Dropbox and Apple need to fix this. If the user copies an alias folder, the system should prompt to copy the real contents. Otherwise, the File Provider migration creates a huge risk of accidental data loss. Don’t mess with user data. Also, don't make macOS a walled garden, where things are only going to work if you use Apple software. I value the fact that I can choose, and don't have to stick with software and solutions provided by Apple, which are, in the vast majority of cases, mediocre at most.
Mac mini (M4)
