Alternatives to OneDrive for cross device sync Mac <> Windows <> iOS

[DrCC]

Hello everyone.

Following the discussion in the Disastrous update of OneDrive coming for all macOS 12.3 users thread, I am realizing the writing is on the wall on my end when it comes to OneDrive usage. Like it or not, I am forced to move on and find alternatives that I can reliably use to sync files over Mac, Windows and iOS devices. But which one to choose? The big 2 choices that I know are Dropbox and iCloud.

I have used Dropbox in the past, but only on Windows and it was OK, I only switched to OneDrive because it was free with Office 365 and it worked well with Windows when I was still using Windows on my main machine.

iCloud is pretty good on Apple products, how does it behave on Windows especially with large amounts of data (>1TB). Is it a reliable product, are there any sync issues? My preference so far is iCloud because of the integration with Apple products, if it works well on Windows too, it would be my favourite. Any feedback from users that use iCloud to keep a Windows PC in sync ?

EDIT: I guess Google Drive could be included as an alternative for some, for me personally it is an absolute no go for privacy reasons, I just don't trust Google anymore. I have been an Android user for 10 years and I am fully aware of how much they scan your data.

 

[MacGizmo]

I cloud is a fantastic solution... at least, it is on the Mac. They do offer a Windows version, but I cannot comment on how well it does or does not work. If you're in a mixed environment (Windows/Mac), it may be the best solution for you. That being said, everyone in the business world (more or less) has settled on Dropbox – and even the people who don't use it at work probably either use it at home, or at least know what it is. It's probably the best solution overall, but it does have issues.

I use iCloud and Dropbox heavily, and both have their pros and cons. But as a "Mac-only" home, I trust Apple with stability and security more than Dropbox - so Dropbox is pretty much for file sharing with clients only. However, the company I work for uses it heavily as a backup solution and file sharing – and they have the unlimited storage enterprise plan where we have countless Terabytes of files stored – with no problems at all.

 

[DrCC]

With the changes required by Apple and the OneDrive change to use the Apple’s File Provider platform, I wonder how Dropbox will be affected. If Dropbox will work the same way OneDrive is working now, Dropbox might not be a long term viable solution.
As of right now Dropbox is the best bet for a mixed environment, but only if the change to Apple File Provider platform is done right. Are there any Dropbox users that can give more insight?

 

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

For some time now, I have been a fan and user of MEGA.

Now, you may have some concerns because it was associated with a bloke called Kim Dotcom, but that is no longer so.
MEGA is now owned and supervised by the New Zealand government with utmost probity.
I will leave it up to the reader to check out its features.

However, for me, this is why I use it --

1. 20 Gbytes storage for the free account, and you can buy up to 16 TB of storage.
2. It simply synchronises your nominated folder(s) to its cloud servers. That means you always have an up-to-date copy of your data on your computer and in the cloud. Synchronisation happens automatically within seconds of a save.
3. If you have it set up on several computers, each computer will have a current copy. The only way you can lose all your data is if a giant meteor takes out your house, and New Zealand. If that happens you probably have more important things to worry about.
4. It works with
   1. MacOS up to and including Monterey 12.3
   2. Windows, up to and including Win 11
   3. iPhone and Android
   4. Various Linuxen, including, but not limited to, Ubuntu, Fedora and Linux Mint
   5. Even the Raspberry Pi.

The last point is especially important with me because my Internet went down for a week. The only way I could keep a synchronised set across MacOS, Win and Linux was to use that folder on my RPi server and then update when the Internet came back.

 

[MacGizmo]

@DaveFromCampbelltown Thanks for reminding me about MEGA. I used it way back in the early days. At that time, it was slow and basically just a file sharing service. After installing and testing some uploads/downloads, I see that the service is really, really nice. I kind of like it better than Dropbox already. And I already have 30GB of free space just for installing the apps to try it out.

 

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

@DaveFromCampbelltown Thanks for reminding me about MEGA. I used it way back in the early days. At that time, it was slow and basically just a file sharing service. After installing and testing some uploads/downloads, I see that the service is really, really nice. I kind of like it better than Dropbox already. And I already have 30GB of free space just for installing the apps to try it out.

Don't forget that the extra free space you get for doing stuff does expire.

 

[Jeffois]

Thanks to the suggestions here, I'm trying MEGA. Liking it very much. May have solved my problem very nicely.

 

[sgtaylor5]

The other thing that MEGA does is you can set it up initially for "selective sync" and not "full sync" of your cloud account. That means that you can upload to your MEGA account data that does not reside on your local system at all. Pseudo backup of important information. For instance, I only put into iCloud Photos the small portion of my total digital photo set I want to have on my phone. The full set is on MEGA for safekeeping.

The only problem with any cloud service is copyright. From what I can see in my research, if you haven't created the data you can't put it in the cloud storage legally. I would love to be able to put a copy of my music into MEGA for safekeeping because I have spent a long time getting it set up properly, but I don't think I'm allowed to. Apple Music or Spotify and the like are different because they have purchased the storage rights to the record companies collections.

Therefore I have one directory that has information that I have copied off the Internet that I have not created. I have to back that up a different way.

 

[Yassan]

I also use Mega, and I find it good for file sharing.
I chose because it seems to work fine on different platforms (Mac, Linux and iOs, in my case), and supports E2EE (end to end encryption).
Unluckily it doesn't support DAV services, but it seems to be quite difficult to have both E2EE and DAV services at the same time.

So for note-taking and to-do's I use Joplin (which has its own E2EE) and sync it via DropBox.

I tried with NextCloud, since it was advertising both DAV services and E2EE; I installed version 24 on my web service host and soon found out that E2EE was not yet available for version 24. Then I read a bit more around and found out that E2EE never worked reliably on that platform. Finally, a couple of weeks after having installed it, any mention of E2EE was gone from the nextCloud home page...

 

[sgtaylor5]

The only thing I wish I could have with MEGA is the ability not to be able to share files to other people, but simply use it as a device sync utility. Then I could get around copyright legalities.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Dropbox is great for cross platform. Been using it for at least a decade and everything it does, it does well. No problems from Macs to Windows and back again.

 

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

The only thing I wish I could have with MEGA is the ability not to be able to share files to other people, but simply use it as a device sync utility. Then I could get around copyright legalities.

As far as I know, you don't share files with other people unless you give them the link. Not even the MEGA people can access your files, only you.