Adobe Creative Cloud App Libraries Not Syncing

 If you have an error message in Adobe Creative Cloud App about libraries not syncing on macOS, you might need to grant CC Full Disk access.

In macOS Tahoe 26.3, Go to System Preferences, Privacy and Security, Full Disk Access.

It's likely that Creative Cloud .app is missing from the list of authorized apps, or the slider is off / not authorized.

Either turn the slider on for CC, or add CC (click the + button at the bottom of the list) and select Creative Cloud.app which is in Boot drive/Applications/Utilities/Adobe Creative/ACC.

CC needs to restart and now that it has Full Disk access your libraries files should sync properly.

Click on the cloud icon within CC to verify the proper syncing.

File Provider According to Google For Cloud Storage On macOS 12.1 And Up

  There is a good write-up by Google on File Provider which is used by macOS 12.1 and up explaining how it works with cloud storage services, including Google Drive.

 You can find it here.

 Among other things it stipulates that the streaming location is controlled by macOS and goes into: User/youruser/Library/CloudStorage.

 There is an extensive table comparing the File Provider and Legacy methods of streaming. The differences are sometimes subtle.

 In my observations, Google Drive, iCloudDrive, OneDrive and Internxt Drive are stored in the CloudStorage location.

 Mega Drive, Dropbox Drive, kDrive, Drime, Sync Drive on the other end are stored in a location of my choice, even though they too have extensions in File Provider:

 If you have an explanation as to why that is, I would love to know. Post in the comments. Thanks!

Google Drive Icon Missing, Or Annoyingly Blinking

  There an annoying bug with Google Drive icon on macOS Tahoe, where the Finder icon is missing, and when getting info (Command + I) the top icon is blinking like mad.

 Don't know what's causing this, but it's been a problem for a while, even on Windows as mentioned in this thread.

 This is Google Drive Version 122.0.1.0 on Apple Silicon.

Apple iCloud, What Works, What Doesn't - Part 2

  In Part 1 I explore Apple iCloud and share my findings.

 In Part 2, I dig further into the functionalities, or lack of thereof... Apple has a lackluster cloud storage solution for the advanced user.

 I get it, most people will be happy to simply log-in, pay the fee, and let Apple decide whatever to do with their iCloud, and Apple is all too happy to oblige! I'm not that person, I want CONTROL, OPTIONS, and FEATURES.

 One thing that's exasperating is the fact that there can only be ONE iCloud / Drive - linked to ONE Apple ID. That is such a maddening premise that I'm resisting iCloud.

 If you happen to use 2 Apple ID or more, you're out of luck as far as sharing a single iCloud Drive(s). No way to connect different Apple IDs to the same iCloud / Drive. Thinking of using Family for your multiple personas? Sure, only they are entirely walled off. Back to square one.

 This means that you must connect all your devices to the same iCloud to enjoy a true shared cloud space. Some people do not want that. They want a space for their phone, and a different space for their personal computer, and a third space for their work computer for example. And they want to be able to selectively sync, share and access these spaces however they see fit.

 Can't do that with iCloud/Drive. There is a single Drive and everything is synced to it, period. Same with the other apps: Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Photos, Notes, Reminders, Invites, Pages, Numbers, Keynote and Find My. Basically all or nothing, not exactly true, but in essence yes, it is all or nothing.

 The only app for which this rigid and immutable configuration constitutes a benefit is Find My. That is the only one for which it makes sense, and is not a limitation.

 If you have 3 devices, you have to either share everything under one common iCloud, or buy 3 different iClouds that won't talk to each other. Thumb down Apple.

 There is only ONE Drive in iCloud, there is no second or third or Nth drive that one could use to compartmentalize, organize, or sync separately as they see fit. Fine, only a few cloud storage providers offer that function. But damn it, Apple you're supposed to be the #1.

 There is no selective sync. This my friend is a HUGE drawback. Being able to select what folders you want to sync to your devices instead of the whole Drive is a power feature. Not available with iCloud.

   This is also what Microsoft OneDrive does unfortunately, single drive, all or nothing synced, no selective sync. I dont know who copied who in this case, but they are both fairly basic.

 OK, back to iCloud, how about sharing a folder with x number of people? Yes you can do that, only they have to SIGN-IN (or UP) to THEIR OWN iCloud, and the folder is then ADDED TO THEIR iCloud Drive. No way to access the folder anonymously.

 What? That's forcing other people to use iCloud, I will never do that. That a big NO-NO Apple.

 Compare this failing to OneDrive impeccable anonymous sharing (by default):

 And with OneDrive you can even allow anonymous people to edit, great implementation:

 How about sharing a single file with iDrive then? That at least must doable without signing in... Yes it is, when selecting share with "Anyone with the link", and "Can view only":

 

 Finally a direct, anonymous link to download the file.

 Again, you cannot do this with a folder. Really Apple? With folders, the recipient must sign-in into their iCloud account.

 Do you think you can batch share files with iCloud? NOPE. If you select more than one file, the share option is greyed out in the menu. You cannot drag files to the permanently featured Shared folder either.

 Again Microsoft beats Apple as OneDrive does have batch sharing:

 Apple why are you so lame?

 I realize this Part 2 only deals with things that do not work. Sorry Apple, that's how it is, my opinion.

Cloud Storage Compared - Part 1

  Here is a fantastic tool to compare cloud storages offers from the myriad of providers around the world: https://comparisontabl.es/cloud-storage/

 In addition to the very useful information in this online spreadsheet, I encourage you to test for yourself as each provider has unique functions, or lack of thereof, that will only reveal themself through testing. Note that I'm on Apple Mac Silicon, what applies to me doesn't necessarily apply to your situation, so test away! Most if not all providers offer free trials.

WEB SEARCH

 For example did you know that the iCloud Drive web app doesn't have a search function? I didn't either, and it's a big annoyance. It's also linked to your AppleID which is another huge gotcha. What gives Apple?

OFFLINE / ONLINE (FREE LOCAL SPACE)

 How about the ability to free storage space on your device by storing files in the cloud only, but still listing the offline files on your devices, visually signaling the difference between offline and online? Some do it (iCloud, Internxt), some don't (Mega.)

(*) pCloud mounts a virtual drive that's always offline and downloads files as needed (if you want to edit them.) When you save the edited file back to the virtual drive, it gets transferred to the cloud. pCloud virtual drive takes a minimal amount space on your computer.

MULTIPLE WORKSPACES & SELECTIVE SYNC

 (**) Drime nor FolderFort have Selective Sync, but they have multiple workspaces, which work like semi exclusive root level folder. You're either in one workspace or another. Search for example will only look into the current workspace, which might be seen as a limitation. That said, you are able move files and folders between workspaces. Drime also has Vault which is a separate space with fully encrypted files, however Vault doesn't get synced.

 Drime sync on macOS desktop is currently broken. At this point I'm waiting for them to issue a new version. So far they've been busy shipping updates for Windows, no love for macOS.

 Mega, kDrive, DropBox, Jottacloud and pCloud have Selective Sync, where you are able to select which files and folders get synced to your device, and not sync other files that you only care to have in the cloud. Of course you can change that selection at any time, which makes it quite a powerful functionality.

That's also useful when your cloud storage gets large. This way you can only sync a current files folder for example and not sync all the rest of your arborescence and clutter your local space.

 (***) Google Drive has a selective sync of sort via Backup, which is separate from GoogleDrive per se, and allows users to select which folder from their computer gets backed-up and synced. Since these folders are not present on other devices synced via the same GoogleDrive, I don't consider GoogleDrive to have selective sync.

BLOCK LEVEL SYNC

 Only Dropbox, OneDrive and pCloud have block level sync, or delta sync.

Provider	Web Search	Local storage offline/online	Multiple Workspace	Selective Sync	Block Level sync
iCloud	No	Yes	No	No	No
OneDrive	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Mega	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
GoogleDrive	Yes	Yes	No	No (***)	No
Internxt	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
kDrive	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
DropBox	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Drime	Yes	No	Yes	No (**)	No
JottaCloud	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
pCloud	Yes	Yes (*)	No	Yes	Yes
FolderFort	Yes	N/A	Yes	No (**)	No

M

MAC SPECIFIC NOTE

 Drime on macOS syncs and displays every ".DS_Store" file (normally invisible), which is a real pain. Another thing they have to fix with their macOS desktop app.

 More discoveries in subsequent posts.