| Cult of Mac

Dropbox Transfer makes sharing huge files from your iPad a snap

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Dropbox Transfer
Dropbox Transfer simplifies sending and receiving up to 100GB of files.
Photo: Dropbox

iPhone and iPad can now take advantage of Dropbox Transfer, which allows users to more easily send and receive up to 100 GB of files.

It doesn’t have the size restrictions of email, and is simpler than Dropbox’s traditional system for sharing files.

This is what happens if you try to put a folder named ‘Dropbox’ in iCloud Drive

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A dropped box
A dropped box.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Dropbox is getting increasingly bloated and annoying — on the Mac, at least. When iOS 13 ships later this year, you’ll be able to share whole iCloud folders with other people, so you can ditch DropBox altogether. But how will you switch?

One thing you can’t do is just drag your Dropbox folder into iCloud Drive. iCloud just won’t let you. In fact, you can’t even create a new folder and name it “Dropbox.” WTF?

Dropbox Transfer makes sharing huge files easier

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Dropbox Transfer
Rather than store or share files, Dropbox Transfer is about distributing them.
Photo: Dropbox

The latest update to Dropbox for iOS is the first with with support for this company’s new system for sending files up to 100GB in size. The goal of Dropbox Transfer is to simplify handing off these huge files, without having to deal with the 25GB limit of many email systems.

Dropbox overhauls its Mac app, adds a bunch of awesome features

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Dropbox-overhaul
Try it out today.
Photo: Dropbox

Dropbox wants to be the only app you use on your Mac to access your most important files — wherever they are stored.

Its overhauled desktop client brings all your favorite cloud services together inside an all-new design with a bunch of awesome new features. It’s more than an app, Dropbox says, “it’s a completely new experience.”

Make your own iPhone Safari download manager with Shortcuts

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Who doesn’t enjoy a well-managed download?
Who doesn’t enjoy a well-managed download?
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

One of the biggest shortcomings of mobile Safari is downloading files. It’ll do it just fine, but it loads everything as if it were a web page. PDFs, ZIPs, MP3s: They all get loaded right there into the current page, whereupon you have to use the Open In… feature to save the file.

Perhaps even worse — you don’t have any idea how long the download is going to take. All you have to go on is the loading progress bar up in the URL bar, which creeps along and really only offers two states: “not done yet” and “done.”

Today we will fix that by whipping up a download manager using the Shortcuts app. Let’s go.

How to create Dropbox-style links in iCloud Drive

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Cloud storage.
Cloud storage.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

If you keep your stuff in Dropbox, it’s easy to grab a link to a file or a folder. Then you can send that link to another person or store it in, say, your to-do list so you can quickly open it with a click. You can even grab the link inside the iOS Files app.

But if you use iCloud, this simple task is no longer simple. In typical Apple style, a clean UI comes at the expense of hiding almost everything behind multiple taps and cryptic pop-up boxes. But all is not lost. You can actually grab a link to any file stored in your iCloud Drive — and use it in any app you please.

Use Shortcuts to download YouTube Videos on iPhone

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download youtube videos
Shortcuts has no problem ripping and downloading YouTube videos.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Editor’s note: As of Feb. 10, 2010, the tip outlined below no longer works. However, we published a new post about an iOS shortcut that currently does work: “Finally — a YouTube download shortcut for iOS that actually works.” Enjoy.

Using Apple’s amazing new Shortcuts app, you can rip a video from YouTube, download it, and store it in a folder on your iPhone — all without using a computer.

Maybe you want to watch some clips on your commute without burning through your cellular data. Or perhaps you’re a language or music teacher, and you want to keep teaching materials offline instead of relying on your pupil’s Wi-Fi?

This shortcut can be triggered in Safari, and will save the YouTube video to your Camera Roll, iCloud Drive, Dropbox or other location of your choice. Let’s get started.