Direct Shot for Dropbox

Direct shot was sorely missing from my iOS devices. Now instead of my camera roll (and subsequently photo stream) being filled with photos of receipts, sketchbook pages, whiteboarding sessions, mind maps, photos of documents and temporary info images, I can shoot all of those and drop them into specific folders in Dropbox without cluttering up my photo collections. You open the camera view, and pick which folder you're shooting to - then take your image and confirm. It uploads, and you're done - you can set up a number of locations saving yourself time filing images to the right place in future - or like I do having some folders that are for temporary info and get cleared out every so often. The app has barely suffered from any bugs, and I have found the developer very receptive to feedback and tackling minor issues with the app. This is well worth your money and a space on your home screen.

The app would be great if you could lower the resolution of the photos. I take a lot of photos for work and do not want to waste my storage space with full resolution photos.

I love that this app lets me keep my random archiving pics out of my Camera Roll... cool idea.

First of all, this app is super slick, very visually appealing, and very simple to understand. The concept is powerful, and I cannot find anything like it on the App Store (believe me, I tried). The thing that I was expecting to be a disappointment but wasn’t was that it wasn’t *necessarily* tied to the same Dropbox account as the app on my phone. After syncing with the Dropbox app, you can switch accounts in the Dropbox app and this camera app will stay in whatever account you left it, which is great. It would be great to have the option of manually selecting a Dropbox account, independent of the app, but what can you do, right? I got it to work, and that’s important for separating business and personal use. You see, I manage the IT side of a damage restoration company, and the workers need to take LOTS of documentation photos to a shared business drive... but that’s where the problem happens with this app... you can only upload one photo at a time. It’s honestly a dealbreaker for what could have been an essential app, but the process of only taking one photo, then pressing “Use Photo”, then waiting eight seconds until it finishes, then pressing “Done” (for some reason), then pressing “Maybe Later” when it offers you Direct Shot iCloud for the millionth time (it happens every time you do this), and THEN pressing “Take a Shot” to start the process all over again!! It’s WAY more work than is necessary. The app (I think) could have been designed to have a camera window which is always on and fills half the screen, with a little filmstrip below it to show photos that you’ve already taken (with X’s to delete them if you want), and then a little button at the bottom that says “Upload”... ALL on the same screen. Snap-snap-snap-upload-DONE! It would transform the app entirely. Sure you can take videos, but our office doesn’t have time to watch an entire movie for every project. And then (and this would just be a nice touch) it would be great to have slo-mo video. But we can’t have it all, can we? Overall, it really is a great app, with just one tragic, crippling flaw for me. Direct Shot, just allow multiple uploads, and you’ve got my loyalty (and maybe even my money if you turn it into a paid feature).

..but ran into a couple of issues: 1. On iPhone 6S Plus with iOS 9.0.2, the selection buttons in camera mode, overlap the camera interface, I had to fiddle with it a bit, even just to cancel taking the shot, to get back to previous menu. 2. after taking a shot, the only options available, are selecting a folder, retake or cancel. These are fine, but I wanted to use it as a note taker, and for that, I don't need the maximum resolution, and image size that comes with it. The problem is, there isn't any option to lower or adjust it, so it will fill up my free Dropbox storage quickly, and data (if syncing over cellular network). 3. (I may be wrong, but) Dropbox allows 3 levels of privacy, allow access to all files & folder, only folders assigned by the user, or only app specific folder. the app is asking access to all files, and I don't see a reason why I should allow it to access all my files.

Create your destination folders (aka drops) but do NOT do as I did (silly me) and think you chose the folder, then take the photo. You take the photo FIRST and then choose the destination. One star off for the confusion potential confusion. But: one star added for a super helpful developer. Verdict? 5 Star app!

This is a great app for organizing receipts. My only complaint is that if you have two-factor auth setup in Dropbox, you have to disable 2FA to link the app and the re-enable 2FA after you've linked the app.

Files are not exactly direct to your cloud folders. Video still stores on your device until the upload has completed to your cloud folder. When taking photos and video the entire list of options is not available. Slow mo and time lapse are the main points of an app like this for a lot of people. If i could do these two things this app gets a five star: stream direct to an open folder with video and use the photography and video options and tools to their full extent.

OK - I found out why Dropbox would not sync Direct Shot photos to my Windows folder. Direct Shot names the photo file with comma and colons. Windows OS does not take such file names. Please patch the app for this issue then all is good! Thank you. File check tool Incompatible files and folders /TEST/DirectShot Aug 27, 03:48:33 PM.png Filename contains an invalid character __________ This is an update to my previous review. Finally I found the photos (PNG format) when log in to my Dropbox online. So the app does what it is intended to do. Still problem - strangely, these photos don't sync to my PC desktop Dropbox - whereas JPG photos from the iPhone uploaded via the Dropbox Carousel app sync everywhere just fine. I have tried recreating Dropbox folders, but still have not cracked this problem. Will update review with new status. ____________ Nice looking app. But is not yet doing what it is meant to do: load photos to Dropbox. Using the app, I was able to create folders on my Dropbox account. That is nice. But the photos I take with the app did not get to Dropbox. The Dropbox folders are there, but empty! And yet, every photo I took the app said it was loaded to Dropbox. Am I missing something or is this a bug?

This does exactly what it says it does and with a great interface. Shoot a photo and goes to the Dropbox folder you've selected and no place else. I had another app that used Dropbox, but deleted it - this app is far better and current (supported). I like paying for it too - means the app will continue to be supported. If you need a photo app that saves directly to Dropbox, this is the one!