Problem with Android 13

I forgot for a moment we're both using a Samsung product. My security patch level is from January 1. If yours is newer, and Samsung introduced a new security feature in the middle of the same Android version, that that would be peculiar.

After some more poking around, it dawned on me that Samsung's Secure Folder could be where the problem lies. If Dropbox is installed into Secure Folder and Joplin isn't, or vice-versa, that might cause the problem you're describing.

It should not be relevant here - Joplin does not use Dropbox app, in fact you can sync without the app installed at all.

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This looks pretty normal to me. Are you sure the sync runs to completion? What if you create a note on the tablet and sync, can other devices see it?

You can sync to Dropbox without its app installed? I just wanted to confirm that's what you mean here.

Yes, I don't have Dropbox installed anywhere. Only use it online. It seems to me that Dropbox is not part of the problem.

I think the only problem here is that I can't give Joplin permission to access the storage in the tablet.

What would happen to everything I have on other devices? It seems to me that I would delete everything.

I do not have the Samsung secure folder enabled. I never used it.

I am very grateful for all the suggestions. Now I can't stay connected. I will come back to the topic later.
Regards.

That's right, Joplin call dropbox API directly without using the app.

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Hard to say as it's not clear to me what the issue is. If you decide to try it, make a backup.

Make sure "Fail-safe" is checked in all your instances.

Thank you very much for your patience with my basic English.

In this image I tried to summarize the situation. I hope it is clear.

And Joplin says:

image

If you're using Dropbox for syncing then storage permissions aren't required.

I'm a bit late to this conversation but thought I might provide some input as I have two Android devices sync to Dropbox.

One is OnePlus 8T phone with Android 13 Mar 5,2023 update. App permissions are: Camera, Location, Music & Audio, Notifications and Photos & Video. There is no "File" related permission. No permissions are denied. It will sync but it take a very very long time. This is strange because despite a large number of notes, it has a fast processor and 12GB RAM so should be quick. I get a message a few times a day that Joplin is using lots of resources and should be "optimized".

The second Android 13 device is a Samsung S7 FE tablet. Security update is Feb 2023. App permissions are the same: Camera, Location, Music & Audio, Notifications and Photos & Video. There is no "File" related permission. No permissions are denied. Sync to Dropbox is much quicker than the phone.

Thanks @roman_r_m . The problem then comes from somewhere else.

Thank @bunk3m you for the information. On my tablet, the permissions are the ones you mention and there are none rejected. Evidently the problem is not there, as I thought.

What remains for me is to find out why I get an incompatibility message when I toggle permissions to Photos & Video. Maybe that incompatibility is the source of the problem.

I have a feeling there's some basic issue here but you got sidetracked by this permissions thing.

If you still experience an issue can you try this. I am assuming here you have an Android device and a desktop that sync using the same dropbox account,

  1. On desktop export your notes to make a backup. Or install backup plugin and use it (in fact I'd recommend it even if you had no issues)
  2. Create a note on desktop and sync. Make sure the sync is successful.
  3. On Android create a new note, sync. Wait for the sync to finish, keeping the app running and the screen on. This might take a while.
  4. Check if the note from step 2 is visible on Android.
  5. Sync on desktop again and check the note from step 3.

@jolufe I have the same message when I unselect the Music & Videos permission.
In English it says: "This app doesn't support the latest version of Android. If this app can't access music and audio files, it also won't be allowed to access photos and videos."

Confirming/accepting the permission doesn't stop me from file sync. So this shouldn't be stopping you from getting a sync of text files. Perhaps it will disable download of images but I haven't noticed that it is a problem so far.

I don't download images by default. I set to manual in the preferences so it is possible that I haven't seen this because I have so few images on the Android device that it doesn't cause a problem.

There must be something else that is stopping your sync.

But, there is also a bug/enhancement here based on the warning you and I see for Photos and Music permissions. I don't know where to report that. Do you?

You are right @roman_r_m . I think I went the wrong way.
I did the test with a note on the pc (Windows) and a note on the tablet.

  • Syncs fine Android --> Dropbox --> Windows. I get the note from the tablet on the pc.
  • Does not sync Windows --> Dropbox --> Android. I don't get the note from the pc on the tablet.

I tried several times with the same result.
No error messages.