macOS Sonoma 14.4 iCloud Drive bug is another reason to skip this update

Macworld

Did you manage to avoid the Java bug in the macOS 14.4 update? Dodged the macOS 14.4 USB problem? Welp, your luck may run out because there’s a third major issue with the macOS 14.4 update, and this one may have serious repercussions on the work you’re doing.

Howard Oakley of The Eclectic Light Company blog provides details on a serious bug where iCloud Drive no longer preserves saved versions of a file. Oakley has tested for the bug, confirmed the issue, and provided an in-depth explanation of what’s going on. According to Oakley, the problem occurs if you do the following:

Install the macOS Sonoma 14.4 update, which was released on March 7.

Use iCloud Drive for files with saved versions. One way to check for this is if the app you use has a Revert To function; many image editing tools such as Apple’s Preview app and Pixelmator support this, as well as Apple’s iWork apps.

You’re using iCloud Drive with the Optimize Mac Storage setting on and you use the Remove Download function on a file saved to iCloud Drive. Remove Download removes the file from storage on your Mac, which means the only copy is on iCloud.

Oakley was able to reproduce the bug and points out that backup software cannot restore the lost versions, since versions always stay with the storage volume they are saved to. We were also able to reproduce the bug with a Pages file. Oakley has reported the bug to Apple as FB13691058.

If you value the ability to revert to past saved versions of a file, you should turn off Optimized Mac Storage if you’re saving files to iCloud. However, this means that all your iCloud Drive files will be in the cloud, thus requiring internet access to retrieve said files.

Oakley’s free Revisionist app can be used to preserve file versions. It allows for these versions to be archived for future reference. Also, be sure to check out Oakley’s The Eclectic Light Company blog; it has lots of excellent in-depth technical info on Mac-related issues, and it also covers the art of painting.

iCloud, MacOS