Is syncing DT3 with Dropbox faster than with iCloud (CloudKit)?

DEVONthink
1

My answer would be yes, Dropbox syncing seems much faster than iCloud syncing using CloudKit.
But, before switching to Dropbox I’d rather know several opinions of DevonThink staff and experienced users.

Just a simple example of my own experience : when I send a 20-minute YouTube URL (bookmark) to a DT database syncing with Dropbox, it’s fast. After sending the very same bookmark to a DT database syncing with iCloud, I have to wait much longer in order to see my bookmark in my DT database Inbox.
This is extremely time-consuming when you send several YouTube bookmarks to DevonThink.

Please note I always see that my recently sent bookmark has actually been uploaded to iCloud or Dropbox before leaving my device. I need to make sure the bookmark has been sent to the remote location and actually synced to the desired “Cloud”.

Please let me know your suggestions. Are you experiencing a significant sync speed difference between Dropbox and iCloud?

2

Your mileage might vary but during our testing iCloud (CloudKit) was about 2 times faster than Dropbox. However, iCloud is frequently experiencing temporary issues which can slow down the actual speed a lot whereas Dropbox & WebDAV are the most reliable cloud sync locations.

3

I have been using Devonthink for over 10 years now and have been very satisfied. In the first years I synced via Dropbox but when Cloudsync came along I switched because it was more economical. But I got tired of the continuous CK Error Domain 15 message plus that even when I needed documents on the go, I couldn’t sync. I am now back to Dropbox. It took me half an hour to change the settings both on the Mac and on the iPad and iPhone and re-sync everything. And it’s back to business as usual: Devonthink runs like clockwork!

3 Likes
4

Welcome @Ronald
Thanks for sharing your experience! :slight_smile:

5

Same here.

1 Like