Dropbox + AudioBox integration.
Dropbox is a versatile cloud platform to store and share your media files with ease.
AudioBox score:
6/10
The score is calculated taking into consideration how many features the remote platform has to work with media files, including streaming/sync speed, reliability, API and how well it integrates with AudioBox.
Requirements.
- A valid Dropbox account.
- An AudioBox account with a valid subscription.
- Media Files on your Dropbox account in the /Apps/AudioBox2 folder.
First steps.
Preparing the sync.
For security reasons Dropbox let application developers create a sandboxed folder in your Dropbox account.
AudioBox will automatically create and use the
Apps/AudioBox2
folder in the root of your Dropbox account.
This is the only folder AudioBox will "look" into. Make sure to copy or move all the media files you want to sync in this folder, otherwise the synchronization will come up empty and no files will be imported.
Do not delete this folder. If you delete the folder by accident you should re-authenticate your account.
Gotchas.
- It is not recommended to perform file/folder operations on your Dropbox account Media folder while a sync with AudioBox is in progress.
- The sync operation has been tweaked to be very fast but it may take a while. Do not attempt to resubmit the same job if you know one is already running.
- If something is not working check your notifications or your e-mail inbox. Make sure your email is working and up to date.
Metadata Support.
Dropbox does not extract metadata out of your media files and thus this information is not returned to us.
In this and other cases AudioBox works around this limitation by examining the file path: if it follows the iTunes convention AudioBox is able to write metatags during the sync.
| AudioBox Tag |
Dropbox |
Workaround available* |
| Artist |
NO |
Path extraction by AudioBox |
| Album |
NO |
Path extraction by AudioBox |
| Genre |
NO |
NO |
| Title |
NO |
Path extraction by AudioBox |
| Duration (seconds) |
NO |
NO |
| Duration (formatted) |
NO |
NO |
| Year |
NO |
NO |
| Position |
NO |
Path extraction by AudioBox |
| Disc Number |
NO |
NO |
| Loved |
NO |
NO |
| Album Artist |
NO |
NO |
| Composer |
NO |
NO |
* If you are interested in automatic tagging, make sure your media files are organized this way:
Apps/AudioBox2/Artist/Album/01 Title.mp3
or use AudioBox Cloud.
Artworks.
Artworks are supported as long as your meta tags (artist/album) are correct and will be automatically downloaded and applied in AudioBox on file import.
- AudioBox will not physically parse your files to extract an embedded artwork.
- Artworks might be attached to the files on the AudioBox platform at a later stage after the sync.
About further synchronizations.
AudioBox will not attempt to overwrite the already existing data in your AudioBox account if you change a file on Dropbox. The policy is to preserve the custom edited metadata between syncs.
However it is entirely possible to delete and replace a file if Dropbox flags the file as completely changed (moved to another folder, etc.).
What kind of files will be imported.
- aac (audio/aac)
- mp3 (audio/mpeg)
- m4a (audio/mp4)
- flac (audio/flac)
- mp4 (video/mp4)
- flv (video/x-flv)
- webm (video/webm)
This list will be expanded as we can reliably support other formats. Hidden/garbage and other files types will be discarded silently.
For more information about Apple Lossless encoded files check out the FAQ.
Common Special Operations
Removing all the synced media files.
Sign in your Dashboard and find the Actions button for this cloud drive. You will find the Empty button in the Actions dropdown.
This operation will not cause any harm to the files stored on the remote platform. It is recommended for the operation to finish before attempting another sync.
Unlinking accounts.
In order to unlink your remote account from AudioBox you need to visit the related permission page of the service.
Sign in your Dashboard and find the Actions button for this cloud drive. You will find an Unlink Account button in the Actions dropdown.
This will bring you to the dedicated server page where you can un-authorize the AudioBox app.
Once done, further operations (stream/sync) that interacts with this cloud drive from within AudioBox will fail and your authentication token will be deleted.
Re-Authenticating accounts.
You may need to re-authenticate your account with AudioBox in case of problems. For example when the service tells AudioBox your credentials are expired and re-authentication is required.
Sign in your Dashboard and find the Actions button for this cloud drive. You will find a Re-Authenticate Account button in the Actions dropdown.
Using the same remote account for multiple AudioBox accounts.
Multiple AudioBox account are against the Terms of Service. In any case AudioBox won't allow to link an already in-use service account into another AudioBox account.
