ServicePlanner uses Dropbox to:

• Backup data automatically. This gives the user peace of mind that their data is safe. If you reinstall the app you can just sign back into Dropbox and it will automatically restore all your data.
• Sync between devices. If you use multiple devices, ServicePlanner will automatically sync data between them.

In the future more advanced features of Dropbox will also be used in ServicePlanner.

Why Dropbox?

Dropbox is simple to use, works on every platform, and specialises in just one thing – fast and secure cloud storage and sync services. It is easy to install on all your computers and devices, and is typically the first cloud storage option included in any mobile app. All in all, Dropbox is the cloud service that popularised cloud storage, and it’s been around for a long time. Most cloud storage and file sharing services try to emulate it.

Will you integrate with other cloud services?

There are no plans to integrate with other platforms such as iCloud, OneDrive or Google Drive at this time. However … never say never. Maybe one day.

Why does ServicePlanner need full Dropbox access?

In the near future ServicePlanner will include features that require the ability to share folders with other users, or conversely, to read folders that have been shared with you. This is the only level of access that Dropbox provides that supports folder sharing.

Note that ServicePlanner will create a folder inside your Dropbox > Apps > ServicePlanner. It will limit all activity to that one folder.

Can I play videos stored in Dropbox?

Some users have asked this question, and so I decided to store the answer here. Yes you can stream and download videos from Dropbox in ServicePlanner. When adding a Video in ServicePlanner, the URL of the file in Dropbox will need to be added to any of the 240/320/480/720p fields. You can use a Dropbox URL in either of the following formats:

• With ?raw=1 at the end of the file URL. eg. https://www.dropbox.com/s/ … .mp4?raw=1
• Replace the start of the URL “https://www.dropbox.com/” with “https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/”

What if something goes wrong during Sync and I lose data?

The unfortunate reality is that this can happen. The sync between devices uses Dropbox as the storage engine, but the actual sync logic was written by me. And just like I am not perfect, the sync logic will not be either 🙂

If you find that some data has gone missing after a sync, it is possible to restore the data. It is all about tracking down which file was affected. For example, if you lost some report data for the current month (eg October 2017) then the file in Dropbox is in Apps > ServicePlanner > Reports > 2017-10.json. You can login to Dropbox and view the Version History of this file, and you can restore a previous version. You can learn more about how to recover and restore older versions of files in the Dropbox Help Docs.