@Andy and @Don For the 5 attachment limit, it's only per record. In case it was not obvious, that limit is not for the account. If you were aware the 5 attachment limit was for each record, can you both describe how you use attachments in a bit of detail? This new limit was a discussed in detail before we implemented it, and we really did think it wouldn't be a problem. However, if it is, we are always open to change things in future versions of the app! But before we do, we like to get information on how the future is used by those customers who need the change.

Also @Don, there is now an account-wide size limit to attachments, and we had to do that for the sake of data usage. This too could be a temporary limit, or a limit that may be expandable. The reason it was necessary is because you can now add any file type, and certain files could be very, very large. So for 6.1, we implemented a 200 megabyte limit as well as these file-specific limits:

1. No video files greater than 20MB is size can be added. 

2. No non-image or video files greater than 10MB can be added.

3. No limit to image files, as was the case in previous versions, so nothing has been taken away.

4. A maximum limit of 5 attachments per record. If the user already has a record with more, they just can’t add more to that record, but they will not be required to remove any attachments to adhere to the limits.

Again, as we move forward with development, these limits can shift and sway as we get feedback from users, but we did need to add them when we made it possible to add any type of file to mSecure.

@Andy I understand your thoughts here, but not everyone of our users will be as responsible as you are with the files you need to add. If we had no limits, it's likely people would try to add video files a gigabyte or larger. One would be able to create a PDF or zip file filled with all sorts of data that may actually put a heavy strain on our servers. So in this case, it's not just about the user adding the attachments, it's also about protecting the system as a whole so that other users don't suffer various problems.

To be clear, we are not trying to limit the use of attachments at this point. We're simply trying to protect the system, and if the limits are too strict, we need to rethink and refine them. If we find that 5 attachments is too limiting for many of our users, we will change that as long as we're sure it's needed and doesn't harm the system in some way.

@Andy Ahhh, I wasn't aware you were not using mSecure Cloud syncing. The issue here then may be us getting into a very complicated situation if there are those that do use other forms of syncing and then decide to switch to mSecure Cloud syncing. In that case, it could be very difficult for them to fix up their data so that it is able to be synced. I'll discuss with our development team to see what they think.

Thank you both for your responses here. Whenever we have to do something like this, it always causes real problems. We know it's going to happen, so we do our best to fall on the side of smaller limitations, but there are always legitimate edge cases we don't foresee. I knew that was going to happen with the attachment feature in particular, but we had to start somewhere with the limits. I really do appreciate how you are both going about your requests to have the limits rethought. It's a breath of fresh air, really.

I do have this on the agenda for our development meeting on Tuesday, so I will have more information on what we decide to do then. The one thing I wanted to clarify for @Don is that there is both a record level limitation (5 attachments) as well as an account-level limitation (200 megabytes). It may be possible to remove the limits at the record level or at least increase that limit. I always think changes should be simple and then find out I'm sorely mistaken when I talk to the developers, so we'll see how the meeting goes.

If you guys don't hear back from me by Wednesday, please feel free to post here again asking what's up with the attachment limitations.

@Dan We have already decided to remove the 5 attachment limit for each record. The problem is, this change does have to wait until the next release, and I'm not exactly sure when that will be published. When it is, though, please check to see that the limitation has been removed.

@Mike The restrictions on the attachment size are in the process of being changed now. The first phase will be 2 changes: remove the 5 attachment limit for each record and we're also upping the overall limit from 200 MB to 500 MB. Phase two will be to remove all limits for Wi-Fi syncing. We may also be changing the limits for Dropbox and iCloud syncing, but I'm not sure about that yet.

The first set of changes are coming soon, so look for them in the next release published to each app store.