The older version isn’t lost instead it becomes a previous version.Īpps have a second way to ensure your work is saved automatically.
At this point the app will automatically take periodic snapshots of the open document, saving them as a new current version. Once you perform the original save or save as, the saved copy is stored as the current version. Versioning occurs when you create a new document in an app that supports the Auto Save and versioning feature. And while they both allow access to earlier versions of a file, that’s where their similarities diverge. The two are often confused because the Version History viewer looks almost the same as the Time Machine interface. It’s not part of Time Machine, nor is it reliant on any feature or service of Time Machine. File versioning is built into the file manager, and is part of the Document Architecture that Apple provides. If an app is designed to support versions, then it also supports Auto Save. Think multimedia editing apps, where you don’t want the edits you’re working on to replace the original files until you’re ready to commit to the changes.įor just about every other type of app, Auto Save and versions can ensure you never lose a significant amount of work, and allows you to revert to earlier versions of a document.Īuto Save and versions are two parts of the file versioning system you need both for the process to work. Or, the developer’s app wouldn’t work well with Auto Save and versioning because of the way it forces saves to occur without the user’s request. In some cases, it’s just because the app developer chose not to use the standard file API provided by Apple, and instead rolled their own, likely because they needed some capability not included in the native file manager. The bad old days of the Mac are pretty much ancient history, swept away by bug fixes, better development practices, and features like Auto Save and file versioning. This fear of lost work convinced many Mac users to adopt a workflow that includes saving work often, and saving any work in progress before performing any type of system function, such as copying files, launching an app, or downloading files.
(The Revert To command in the File menu of most apps allows you to access earlier versions of the currently open document.) Back when it was not uncommon to lose a great deal of work because an app crashed or the system crashed. To understand its use, you need to go back to the earlier days of the Mac. If you’re wondering what file versioning is and what it does, you’re not alone. That’s a long time for a very helpful file versioning system to be available in the Mac, but it remains largely overlooked. Auto Save and versions has been a feature of the Mac OS since OS X Lion was released, in the summer of 2011.
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