When you open a file from your Dropbox folder in Android, the file will be downloaded to your SD card and you can then view/edit the file with a file manager. However, after you have made changes to the file, the Dropbox app does not automatically sync it back to the server. The only solution is to manually upload the file. This is definitely not a good solution. A good solution to overcome this is to use DropSpace, another app to do the stuff that Dropbox suppose to do, but didn’t. DropSpace allows you to create a link between a folder in your SD card and a sub-directory in Dropbox. Once the link is created, it will auto sync the files from/to your Dropbox. Download DropSpace from the market (it’s free) Connect your Dropbox account to DropSpace.
Tap the “Manage Sync List” button to set up the sync.
Navigate to the directory on your SD card that you want to link and long tap on it to add to the sync list.
Next, it will show your Dropbox folder and you can do the same thing (long tap on the folder) to complete the sync configuration. Lastly, go back to its main screen and tap the “Sync Now” to start the sync.
By default, you have to manually tap the “Sync Now” button everytime you want it to perform a sync. However, you can set it as a service and get it to run at a regular interval. You can also configure whether to remove the remote files when the local files are deleted.
Syncing notes to Dropbox
If all you want is to create notes on your Android phone and have them synced to your Dropbox, Epistle is one such app that allows you to do so. With Epistle, you can create simple notes and it will automatically synced to the Epistle folder in Dropbox. I have found this to be extremely handy, especially when I need to jot down some ideas while on the move.
Epistle also supports two-way sync. That means, if you create a text file on your desktop and drop it into the Dropbox Epistle folder, it will show up in your Android phone as well. Until the Dropbox team implements the synchronization feature in their mobile apps, we will have to make use of the above mentioned apps to get things done. They might not be the most feature-complete app, but they get the jobs done. What you say, Dropbox? Will you ever implement the synchronization feature to your mobile app? We are waiting…
