File type permission: access just the files your app needs

// By Andrew Twyman • Jul 11, 2013

Update: The Sync and Datastore SDK has been deprecated. Learn more here.

To use the Core or Sync API, your app first needs permission to access data in a user’s Dropbox. When you create your app, you get to choose what permissions your app will request. At DBX, we added a new way to access just files of a specific type (text, videos, images, etc.) from a user's Dropbox. Simplify your code and boost performance with the new File type permission.

Increase adoption

Users are more likely to authorize an app that asks for minimal permissions. By requesting access to only the files your app needs, you can increase adoption of your app.

Simplify code

When you use the File type permission, your app will only see files of that type. This means you don’t need to write code to filter out the files you’re not interested in.

Increase performance

Because your app receives a filtered view, less data needs to be transferred when using the File type permission. This will increase the performance of your app, particularly when a user is on a spotty or slow Internet connection.

Get started

To get access to the File type permission, create a new Sync or Core app. Read the full details of what file types are supported in the developer guide.

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