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Forum Discussion
How to speed up Dropbox uploads on iPhone
Dropbox sync only happens when I have the Dropbox iPhone app actively open, and even then it takes about 5 minutes to upload a single photo. This is for camera roll sync.
Hi there, I’m Antonio, a member of the Dropbox Mobile team. I wanted to talk about our upload process on iOS and address its current constraints:
If you are manually uploading files into your Dropbox using the plus (“+”) button, keep in mind that uploads will only run while the app is in the foreground. When the app is backgrounded, Dropbox can only run for a few minutes before the device will stop the process to save battery. To remedy this, we recommend keeping the app open while an upload is in progress.
If you are using the camera uploads feature to automatically upload photos from your Camera Roll to Dropbox, you can turn on “Background Uploading”. This will allow your photos and videos to continue uploading even if you don’t have the app open. Additionally, this feature uses location changes to trigger uploads as you move around throughout the day (this is why we ask you to enable “Location Services” when you enable this feature). Keep in mind that if there isn’t a significant location change after a few minutes, the device will stop the process, and photos or videos will no longer upload in the background.
Syncing can be slower if you have “iCloud Photo Library” enabled on your device, and have enabled “Optimize iPhone Storage” in your iCloud Photo settings. This feature stores high resolution versions of your files to the cloud, and keeps optimized versions of the files on your device. When Dropbox attempts to automatically upload these files, we have to first connect to iCloud’s servers to download the high resolution photo, and then sync that photo to your Dropbox. This can be a slow process that is dependent upon the strength of the server connection to iCloud. Additionally, this process is limited to WiFi-only (even if you have the camera uploads feature enabled over cellular data).
With these constraints in mind, here are some recommendations when uploading your files:
- If you have a desktop with the Dropbox desktop app installed, you can use the desktop camera uploads feature. This automatically transfers any new photos or videos to your Dropbox when you plug your device to your computer (read more about this feature here).
- If you don’t have a desktop, ensure that your Dropbox mobile app has “Background Uploading” enabled for your camera uploads. You can do this by going to the Recents tab, selecting the gear icon, selecting Camera Uploads and toggling the “Background Uploading” switch on.
- When uploading files using the plus (“+”) button, keep the Dropbox app open while the upload is in progress.
We’re always working on improving the background upload experience and greatly appreciate your feedback. We'll keep monitoring this thread and will do our best to reply to any other questions not addressed by this explanation.
upload seems to really start everytime only after actually opening the dropbox app. very very annoying
AntonioC
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHi there, I’m Antonio, a member of the Dropbox Mobile team. I wanted to talk about our upload process on iOS and address its current constraints:
If you are manually uploading files into your Dropbox using the plus (“+”) button, keep in mind that uploads will only run while the app is in the foreground. When the app is backgrounded, Dropbox can only run for a few minutes before the device will stop the process to save battery. To remedy this, we recommend keeping the app open while an upload is in progress.
If you are using the camera uploads feature to automatically upload photos from your Camera Roll to Dropbox, you can turn on “Background Uploading”. This will allow your photos and videos to continue uploading even if you don’t have the app open. Additionally, this feature uses location changes to trigger uploads as you move around throughout the day (this is why we ask you to enable “Location Services” when you enable this feature). Keep in mind that if there isn’t a significant location change after a few minutes, the device will stop the process, and photos or videos will no longer upload in the background.
Syncing can be slower if you have “iCloud Photo Library” enabled on your device, and have enabled “Optimize iPhone Storage” in your iCloud Photo settings. This feature stores high resolution versions of your files to the cloud, and keeps optimized versions of the files on your device. When Dropbox attempts to automatically upload these files, we have to first connect to iCloud’s servers to download the high resolution photo, and then sync that photo to your Dropbox. This can be a slow process that is dependent upon the strength of the server connection to iCloud. Additionally, this process is limited to WiFi-only (even if you have the camera uploads feature enabled over cellular data).
With these constraints in mind, here are some recommendations when uploading your files:
- If you have a desktop with the Dropbox desktop app installed, you can use the desktop camera uploads feature. This automatically transfers any new photos or videos to your Dropbox when you plug your device to your computer (read more about this feature here).
- If you don’t have a desktop, ensure that your Dropbox mobile app has “Background Uploading” enabled for your camera uploads. You can do this by going to the Recents tab, selecting the gear icon, selecting Camera Uploads and toggling the “Background Uploading” switch on.
- When uploading files using the plus (“+”) button, keep the Dropbox app open while the upload is in progress.
We’re always working on improving the background upload experience and greatly appreciate your feedback. We'll keep monitoring this thread and will do our best to reply to any other questions not addressed by this explanation.
- So, if I start the upload, turn on background app feature, and go to sleep, it will stop since the location remains the same? If so, that sounds like a major flaw.
No help at all... still tortuously slow. and videos.... not a chance!
Hi, it doesnt help. I am using iphone 7+ and when syncing photos and videos its very very slowly. I try to connect my device directly to computer, app is open, but 30 second video is syncing about 12 minutes. I am using the newest iMac 5K, last firmware, original cable etc. Then please fix it cause this is impossible for normal use..
Hi, thank you for the solution. i will try to do it that way. in my case i have been trying to upload the same picturs for over 2 years. i am holding on as I may break a record for the longest uploading of a photo. Avergae of 1 every 2 weeks. 300 more to go.
- Jane
Hey Moopel,
Sorry to hear about your slow uploads, let me send over some steps for you.
If the issue is not located on your network or connection and this persists on various networks, could you please make sure that you are running the latest version of your mobile OS, as well as the Dropbox mobile application? Please reference either of the links below:
