macOS Sonoma 14.4 Bug 'Destroys Saved Versions in iCloud Drive'

[jennyp]

That seems the right behavior, if I delete the local copy of a file it's not like I want 20 autosaved copies to stay on the local disk. Autosaved copies are not stored on iCloud, so at the moment that's the right behavior imho.

But it's not "deleting" that you're doing, is it? I don't use this feature, but I thought it was removing the download temporarily to ... save space? But you didn't know that doing that would delete your versions..

But I'm still confused: was it ever 'saving space' if the versions were kept on your local drive? 😕 Perhaps I have that wrong..

 

[Six0Four]

all my .gif files turned to .jpeg files...

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

They’re really asleep at the wheel, software wise. Still waiting on the fix for usb hubs being broken and now this. A major reason why my Apple purchases have dropped dramatically. Hardware may be great, the software is ruining the experience.

Few people want to write software pertaining to Apple anymore.

Historically, this pipeline existed:

Apple Fan -> Third Party Developer making Mac software -> Apple Developer

This briefly switched to:

Apple Fan -> Third Party Developer making iPhone software -> Apple Developer

But Apple has treated developers absolutely horrendously over the past decade since Jobs passed. Jobs had a vision for how to have rules for the App Stores that ensured high quality software. After he passed, the vision of high quality got replaced with a vision of maximizing short term profits. Squeeze developers as hard as possible to milk every dime from them. Kill the golden goose.

Nobody makes iPhone software anymore with a vision of turning it into a new business. They know that if they had a successful app, Apple would do everything in their power to (a) steal all their money and/or (b) compete directly with them, and use various monopoly tactics (ie, preinstall their competing software) to subvert their business.

So the pipeline has become:

Apple Fan -> Third Party Developer making a websites/web services -> Work anywhere but Apple

This has become:

1. Apple can't hire AI devs
2. Apple software quality has massively suffered
3. All of Apple's App Stores (except iOS), have pathetically little in them.
4. None of Apple's stores have anything worth installing.

Notably, Apple apparently can hire people for their hardware side still. But the software talent has vanished for Apple thanks to their horrendous App Stores.

 

[verdi1987]

That seems the right behavior, if I delete the local copy of a file it's not like I want 20 autosaved copies to stay on the local disk. Autosaved copies are not stored on iCloud, so at the moment that's the right behavior imho.

No, it seems like a bug. It is deleting versions in iCloud when you’re simply removing the local copy. And the fact that it only occurs when Optimize Storage is enabled further suggests it is not behaving as intended.

 

[6163621]

If only the company had a limited number of hardware configurations [compared to say Microsoft] to test against, and its own Cloud that it has full control over and...

Oh...

New emojis are coming. 500 new Emojis...

[fx: Craig, phew, that'll divert them]
[Cookie: Yes, they can always buy a new machine if they aren't happy. Don't we all have top-of-the-range machines with 24x7 tier support if there's a problem. I mean my assistant never has a problem sending my emails].

 

[abatabia]

Few people want to write software pertaining to Apple anymore.

Historically, this pipeline existed:

Apple Fan -> Third Party Developer making Mac software -> Apple Developer

This briefly switched to:

Apple Fan -> Third Party Developer making iPhone software -> Apple Developer

But Apple has treated developers absolutely horrendously over the past decade since Jobs passed. Jobs had a vision for how to have rules for the App Stores that ensured high quality software. After he passed, the vision of high quality got replaced with a vision of maximizing short term profits. Squeeze developers as hard as possible to milk every dime from them. Kill the golden goose.

Nobody makes iPhone software anymore with a vision of turning it into a new business. They know that if they had a successful app, Apple would do everything in their power to (a) steal all their money and/or (b) compete directly with them, and use various monopoly tactics (ie, preinstall their competing software) to subvert their business.

So the pipeline has become:

Apple Fan -> Third Party Developer making a websites/web services -> Work anywhere but Apple

This has become:

1. Apple can't hire AI devs
2. Apple software quality has massively suffered
3. All of Apple's App Stores (except iOS), have pathetically little in them.
4. None of Apple's stores have anything worth installing.

Notably, Apple apparently can hire people for their hardware side still. But the software talent has vanished for Apple thanks to their horrendous App Stores.

Makes sense to me. Still, it’s given me so much pause about upgrading or making any big apple purchases.

 

[nt5672]

iCloud has been a disaster since the beginning. It has been redesigned twice (users probably haven't see this) and has never worked reliably, without all kinds of developer workarounds. I still can't believe that anyone relies on iCould for anything important.

 

[6163621]

I had a similar experience, and it was entirely Apple's fault. The two upper-level support people I spoke with admitted so. And they told me I was out of luck, as there was no way for Apple to restore those files for me.

More and more companies show a F... You attitude nowadays for their own bugs in their own closed system.

Terminus (terminal app) had a bug, deleted my vault and synced the deletion everywhere. No chance to restore.

Support, after a **** response, when called out on Reddit for it, made a small noise, admitted the bug was at their end and then.... crickets....

I don't use Terminus anymore, and neither will they see my credit card.

 

[scrapesleon]

At some point u just have to stop updating the device

 

[GrenadeOconnor]

If only the company had a limited number of hardware configurations [compared to say Microsoft] to test against, and its own Cloud that it has full control over and...

Oh...

New emojis are coming. 500 new Emojis...

[fx: Craig, phew, that'll divert them]
[Cookie: Yes, they can always buy a new machine if they aren't happy. Don't we all have top-of-the-range machines with 24x7 tier support if there's a problem. I mean my assistant never has a problem sending my emails].

The unicode consortium, not Apple alone, determines the emoji standards. It's likely that graphic designers are creating emoji, as hiring software programmers to do that would be silly.

 

[ignatius345]

Another odd thing about the 14.4 update for me is that it hasn't triggered any update notifications on any of the three Macs I use. If I check manually, it's there -- but usually I get a notification when an update is ready.

Also, side note, Eclectic Light is generally a great site. All one guy. I have no idea how he finds the time to do all this in-depth writing and research, write software and also write a ton about art. Maybe he just never sleeps.

 

[mannyvel]

MacOS has file versioning?

 

[AAPLGeek]

Absolutely disgraceful.

We need a total freeze on ”new features” for at least two years, destroy the current bloated codebase, stop all the emojis and Memoji nonsense.

We need to fire Federighi along with every single marketing clown that keeps on pushing pointless feature fluff year after year.

And most importantly, we need to bring back Forstall and Serlet to make macOS great again.

 

[verdi1987]

MacOS has file versioning?

In most of its productivity applications that use iCloud, yes.

 

[6163621]

Absolutely terrible bug. One of the worst in recent memory. And kind of funny after reading Gruber's report card.



Wonder if there will be a subtraction next year because of this. Probably not.

"but their software reliability has been very good for me."

As he, who is often feted by Apple PR, no doubt can get support faster than mere mortals by using a little birdie/Apple PR contact if such is necessary. Hardly unique to some of the tech press and Apple's core squad of influencery types. Which, in the latter, is why each new product release has those oh-so-uncritical sugary videos... Say the Emperor's new clothes aren't fascinating and wonderful and, well you don't want to be in the shadows do you.

The tech press has always been so, but now it is even ******** with bloggers, YouTubers and influencers...

-former tech press person, thankfully not for a while.

 

[Jerry Fritschle]

I had no idea previous versions were kept anyway, and I wouldn’t have expected this. When I delete a file, I’d assume that it was fully deleted. If I wanted previous versions, I’d have named and saved them as such separately.

Don't confuse deletion with eviction from local storage. The latter is done by the system when space is tight, if the option is selected. This does not mean that the file, or its previous revisions, are no longer of interest.

 

[6163621]

MacRumors should straight up ban this trope at this point. Regardless of the buggy mess, it's the unicode consortium who sets the emoji standard, and Apple's software engineers are not sitting there doing graphic design.

Hmm, so you're telling me Unicode come to Apple and force them at gun point to put that shi-e in and force Apple to boast, breathlessly, in each release about the number of new emoticons. Wow, learn something each day.

Even if it takes one programmer day, use that programmer day for fixing core, useful, everyday stuff. Giving me 28 skin colours of a dog cocking its leg up at a signpost [slight poetic licence] is obviously more important than system reliablity.

 

[verdi1987]

Thank goodness I use OneDrive on my Mac's (and PC's). 1TB for practically free.

I use OneDrive as well, but iCloud has the edge for me due to EE2E encryption. I just make sure I regularly backup iCloud.

 

[6163621]

The unicode consortium, not Apple alone, determines the emoji standards. It's likely that graphic designers are creating emoji, as hiring software programmers to do that would be silly.

Presumably a QA tester is still engaged to make sure these uber-critical features of emojis work "as intended" in the various apps/display modals etc? If so, that same QA tester might be better deployed looking for slightly more important bugs.

Life goes on if emoji #2343323 doesn't display. Life might not go on if iLok is borked, your files are deleted, your USB hub doesn't work...

 

[WiiDSmoker]

That's where I am right now. I surely wanted more storage but it was out of my price range. This is why they need to increase the base storage, we don't want our data to be a mercy of a server.

Since introducing iCloud they've been extremely slow to increase base storage because they want that sweet sweet subscription monthly fee. They're screwing their customers over twice.

 

[ksec]

I hope this really did not affect iOS. Especially for iCloud Photos.

 

[6163621]

Next WWDC. Announcing iCloud Backup+ - a new service from Apple to seamlessly backup your iCloud service. Only 24.99/a month for up to 500Gb of data.

 

[Mr_Ed]

MacRumors should straight up ban this trope at this point. Regardless of the buggy mess, it's the unicode consortium who sets the emoji standard, and Apple's software engineers are not sitting there doing graphic design.

Yes, programmers don’t design emojis.
Yes, the consortium determines which new emojis get put into a production pipeline.
Yes, Apple is big and can do both software development AND emojis at the same time.

The problem is Apple clearly isn’t doing both well enough. As long as that is the case, get used to seeing this “trope” thrown out in MR whenever critical software issues are identified. While the trope is a simplistic reaction, the underlying feeling that priorities within Apple have been way off is very real. How frequently you come across the trope here in MR is probably proportional to the software issues reported by users.

 

[Jim Lahey]

iCloud in general is a calamity waiting to happen. Some years ago, only foresight and a dose of serendipity prevented it from literally annihilating every single video and photo I'd ever taken. Took ages to repair the damage from locally exported files. Had I not had those as a fallback, I would have lost everything forever. Since then I've disconnected from almost everything 'cloud' except keychain passwords, and I even have those exported onto an encrypted USB stick.

'The Cloud' is someone else's computer. It cannot, and should not, ever be trusted with anything. Ever. Especially with bug-infested software on the local machine.

 

[Delgibbons]

Apple's latest macOS Sonoma 14.4 software update appears to be guilty of another bug, this time affecting saved versions in iCloud Drive.

Versions are normally created automatically when users save files using apps that work with the version system in macOS. (To check if your Mac is using the past versions system, look for a "Revert To" option in the app's File menu.)

According to The Eclectic Light Company's Howard Oakley, users running macOS 14.4 that have "Optimize Mac Storage" enabled should be aware that they are at risk of losing all previously saved versions of a file if they opt to remove it from iCloud Drive local storage.
Oakley said his own tests confirmed that this behavior does not happen in macOS Sonoma 14.3 or macOS Ventura, so it is exclusive to macOS 14.4. For users who have already updated, he suggests either not saving files to iCloud Drive at all, or turning off Optimize Mac Storage.

To perform the latter in System Settings, click your Apple ID, select iCloud, and then toggle off the switch next to "Optimize Mac Storage." You may need to perform this action twice – reports suggest it can turn back on by itself. For a more exhaustive account of the problem, see Oakley's subsequent post.

There are several bugs reported in macOS 14.4, and we have recorded some of the most prominent issues in a dedicated article that we have updated since this story was published. Have you been affected by the latest bug? Let us know in the comments.

Article Link: macOS Sonoma 14.4 Bug 'Destroys Saved Versions in iCloud Drive'

The perfect symbiosis of software and hardware strikes again