Hello everyone, Our new iOS app for iPhone and iPad is finally here – and a lot has changed. From now on, Boxcryptor is fully integrated into Apple’s Files app. Thus, we have dropped our own, built-in file browser. Working with encrypted documents on-the-go is now easier than ever! Plus, we now support Security Keys and Microsoft Teams . Read more about this exciting news in our blog post and let us know what you think! Best regards, Florian

Dear Florian, as you asked the community in above post what we think, here is some feedback from me. The full Boxcryptor integration into the Apple Files app seems to make a very old Boxcryptor problem reoccur, i.e. all folder and files names, which incl. "+" within the name are not being recognized and the user gets a respective error message. In my case I will most likely have to rename plenty of files and use "&" instead of "+". Is this a problem within the Apple Files app or something, which could be fixed from your side? Another issue is the fact that no file is being found via the search function (by typing in part of the file name), unless same has been downloaded to the iOS device already. Same has definitely not been the case within the stand alone Boxcryport app before. Unless I do something wrong it seems that I will have to download ALL files on my respective iOS Devices now, filling up unnecessary storage space, in order to be able to seach for files. Appreciate if Boxcryptor could look into these things and let me have some feedback. So far the full integration of Boxycryptor into the Apple Files app is having certain drawbacks. In general I'm very pleased with Boxcryptor for a number of years, but on first glance the full integration is having some negative side effects. Best regards, Marc

marcse Dear Marc, could you please tell us, which cloud provider you are using, regarding the folder and files name issue? Best regards, Esad

Dear Esad, it is Magenta Cloud from Deutsche Telekom .

Hallo Florian Ich habe das Problem, dass von einem Ordner nur 100 Dateien angezeigt werden, obwohl es in dem Ordner sehr viel mehr gibt. Ich benutze die iCloud. Das Problem konnte ich sowohl mit iPhone als auch iPad mit der neuesten Version reproduzieren. Bin ich die Einzige, der das so geht?

Hi marcse , thank you for your feedback! The Problem with Magenta Cloud has been identified and will be fixed shortly in one of the upcoming releases. About the search issue: I presented your issue to our development team, and we will see if we can improve the situation a bit. Note that we will never be able to provide a full search in your provider since that does simply conflict with our encryption - a "shallow" search (when you already visited a folder) might be technically possible. We'll keep you updated on that. Best regards, Florian

Hallo fubali , vielen Dank für dein Feedback! Wir haben das Problem gefunden, dessen Lösung wird es in den nächsten Tagen per Auto-Update geben. Viele Grüße Florian

Dear team! Thank you for the great work you do, and for protecting our privacy! By chance, I just switched from MacBook and iPhone to iPad and iPhone, just when the Boxcryptor Apple files app integration occurred. So far, I am using the free version of Boxcryptor. I love it! So far, I shared a single folder with lots of subfolders from my MacBook. I’m using OneDrive. I now stopped doing that, and to be sure that it works after installing everything to my iPad, I deleted Boxcryptor from my iPhone temporary. I now have access to everything, using the new Boxcryptor files app extension on my new iPad. I logged out of Boxcryptor and oOeDrive on my MacBook now and still have access on my iPad, so everything seems to be working from the cloud. My questions: when I now open documents, how exactly does this work? It’s a local unencrypted version saved on my iPad? If so, for how long? To save space on the iPad, do I need to manually delete files locally at one point? And can I securely do so? And if I make changes to a file, will these be uploaded automatically? What if I open, say, an excel file with Axel, having autosave on, will it be uploaded to my secure box crypto space on my OneDrive account? I know these are kinds of questions of principle, but I could not easily find an answer in this forum. I hope someone can quickly answer and clear things up for me. Thank you so much for what you do! meytho

Are there any plans to somehow add a layer of protection (Face ID, password, etc) to prevent unauthorized access? Seems like a major issue as we can set passwords on all other platforms, and iOS may act as the weak link in security. While Files app integration is nice, I feel like preventing unauthorized access is also very important.

Everything New With Boxcryptor for iOS

rocketll

rocketll In addition, any files opened now show up in the “Recent” tab of the Files app. This, in my mind, is unacceptable, as anyone with can find and open the files extremely easily.

Florian

Hi rocketll,

Removing the app protection was a necessary step towards the development of a "Files app - only" Boxcryptor app, since there this is Apple's idea of how to provide a seamless file integration in their operating systems.

If Apple someday decides that an extra security layer is necessary for the Files app, they are probably going to implement it for the whole app themselves.

If you want to have more insights about how we decided which way to go with the new Boxcryptor iOS app, have a look at our CTO's thoughts commentary in our documentation here.

Best regards,
Florian

Florian

Hi meytho,

Thanks for the feedback!

meytho when I now open documents, how exactly does this work?

When an encrypted file is opened, we obviously need to decrypt and hand out a decrypted state of it to the Files app so other applications or the preview can access the files and show their content to the use.

meytho It’s a local unencrypted version saved on my iPad? If so, for how long?

This decrypted file will be removed automatically once the Files app notifies our app that it is finished working with it.

meytho To save space on the iPad, do I need to manually delete files locally at one point? And can I securely do so?

All downloaded files will be saved to a local sandboxed and encrypted cache. So there is no possibility but also no need to purge any local files. The system will take care of purging files on demand. If you think that this doesn't work as intended, feel free to reach out to us.

meytho And if I make changes to a file, will these be uploaded automatically? What if I open, say, an excel file with Axel, having autosave on, will it be uploaded to my secure box crypto space on my OneDrive account?

Yes - this is exactly why we decided to go all-in with the Files app. You can seamlessly work with your files and all changes will be propagated back automatically through the Files app integration.
This works with all apps that usually save their content using the Files app - including Excel.

I hope this answers all of your questions - if not, don't hesitate to ask!

Best regards,
Florian

meytho

Florian, thank you for getting back to me! Sorry for being a bit late with answering, I must have overlooked you reply so far. And sorry for the autocorrect typos I now found with my message… All answers were as I hoped for so again: Thank you very much!

bizmatters

After having updated the Boxcryptor App on my iPhone 11 Max under iOS 14.5.1, the app no longer starts. It opens for a second and then disappears. When I try to access one of my cloud providers through the file app, either no content is found (MagentaCloud as someone has already noted) or the the contents remains encrypted (iCloud). I was not under the impression that this rollout was only a beta. Does the Apple Store really allow developers to replace a running application with an automatic download of a beta release? I have never seen that before. Very poor software quality management, Boxcryptor.

bizmatters

Let me update my last post:
After rebooting the iPhone and removing and reinstalling the app Boxcrypltor, it now works. I am not used to re-installing an app for an update. I thought that was the domain of Windows…
In any case thank you for the update. Now on to the test phase…

Robert

If you are experiencing an app crash on start or a "Content Unavailable" error, please see my post here:
https://boxcryptor.community/d/17163-can-t-access-my-files-on-ios-with-boxcryptor-v3-05/7

tl;dr: Reinstallation the app as described by bizmatters resolves the issue with version 3.05.

cipherneo

Robert updating to the latest version 3.0.8 is causing a content unavailable error in the files app. The fix to delete the Boxcryptor app and reinstall did not resolve the issue. Prior to the update I was not having any issues with the files app integration.

Phil

Hi Florian,

The latest version of Boxcryptor's iOS app claims to add support for security keys like YubiKey. Is there a list of specific YubiKey devices that support has been added for? I have the YubiKey 5 NFC and I suspect that the new app doesn't support NFC and only supports direct connection security keys like the YubiKey 5Ci with a Lightning port.

Can you clarify? It would be disappointing if there was no NFC support.

Best,
Phil

Robert

Phil

Hi Phil,

Boxcryptor for iOS is now using the installed Safari browser to perform the sign in process. I.e. all Security Keys working with Safari on iOS should also work to sign in to the Boxcryptor app. Based on Yubico's documentation, the YubiKey 5 NFC should work with Safari on iOS:
https://support.yubico.com/hc/en-us/articles/360016648979-Getting-Started-on-iOS

Best regards,
Robert

darth

Hm, seems as if login with a local account is not feasible anymore!? Can you confirm?

lipo2lipo

To be honest I can see mainly steps back with the new version. First-removed security layer. Second removed possibility to take a photo directly within the app (on iPhone). I was using it when I needed to acquire a photo and immediately have it saved encrypted. Now this option is gone - I have to take the photo with camera app and then send to Files->Boxcryptor. Which means photo leaves track in Photos and Photostream.

Robert

darth Local accounts should work in the new version just as before. You can find information how to sign in to a local account using a key file here:
https://www.boxcryptor.com/en/help/boxcryptor-account/ios/#local-account

If you experience a problem signing in to you local account, please contact us via support@boxcryptor.com.

lipo2lipo Unfortunately, the Files app does not have a "Take photo" feature. I'm sorry if this change disrupts your workflow and have forwarded your feedback internally.

Matthijs I'm sorry, but Boxcryptor for iOS only supports remote storages and cannot be used with external storage devices at the moment. I have noted this request internally.

darth

Hm, seems as if login with a local account is not feasible anymore!? Can you confirm?

tispoon

darth I could not figure out how to add the keyfile to the Boxcryptor app to set up and retrieve my files using a local account on IOS. It has not been working across all the versions that have been published over the last 2 years. I could not find a way to "Send" the key file to Boxcryptor. This means that, should the Boxcryptor servers be down, you will not be able to retrieve your files on an IOS device. This is a big big drawback. So, basically, the instructions at https://www.boxcryptor.com/en/help/boxcryptor-account/ios/#local-account used to work in the past, but not anymore. Iphone 7 with 15.x IOS version

Matthijs

Florian Hi, I have an iPad Pro with an external SSD that contains files and folders encrypted using my MacBook. The Boxcryptor app on iOS does not allow me to add an external SSD or folder on an external SSD as a location. How do I open these folders and files on iOS?

nahpetsM

Hi, have you recognized that the IOS File App is not able to sort ? This was at least my best hope to find my relevant photos (since there is no immediat preview) .. .but now I'm totally lost .. even the search-function doesn't work 🙁 .. very annoying !! it takes me many miuntes to find my photos ... (I always need to remember to create a new specific folder) .. I hope that will be fixed soon - at least the sort-function (I know, you don't have that IOS-feature in your control . .but there must be a reason for that ...) . and Long filenames can't be recognized .. not even in List-Format..

nahpetsM

hmm .. no reply ?

darth

@Robert Local accounts should work, but they don't. Having logged in the iOS app says

"Signed In. You are currently logged in as Boxcryptor Boxcryptor (local@boxcryptor.com). Please sign out first to open a new local account."
You can repeat endlessly, loops forever. Very disappointing.

darth

Hm, this is obviously a forum where user can entertain themselves. Don't expect any professional support here. Bye, guys ...

Peter2

darth

I agree sadly 🙁