There is at present no way to prevent Dorico from auto-saving the project. I’m still unsure whether that’s an option we really want to introduce. I will think about it some more and discuss with the team.
It’s not only that the autosave is not always useful in professional apps, it’s also that there’s no way to manually trigger the saving, which has caused several times that I lose part of the work when the app crashes (which doesn’t happen a lot, but enough to be worried about it) In my opinion, a manually saving button is indispensable in a creative and professional software. It could have autosave AND a manually saving button.
Hi Daniel,
I hardly use Dorico-For-Ipad anymore because of the Auto-Save function.
It prevents me in my creative workflow. Going back to a previously saved version is very awkward in the practice, so I use Dorico Pro on the computer and no longer on iPad.
My creative process requires that I can experiment. I want to be able to go back to my last saved version. I really don’t want a computer program to determine for me what or how I will store my files.
Moreover, this problem also exist with files that you open via Dropbox, iCloud or on your own network. Only opening a file already overwrites it and therefore changes, for example, the editing date. Moreover, that awkward auto-save function also works here.
And, of course, you can make a second version and start experimenting with it, but that is much more work.
I think it is a shame, and would really like to work with Dorico-For-Ipad. But as long as Auto-Save cannot be switched off, I will not do that.
There are apps for the iPad that do have a manual save function. Why doesn’t Dorico-For-Ipad have this?
Groet, Marien
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Thanks for your feedback, Marien. You can of course already manually save on iPad provided you have a keyboard attached and can type the Command-S shortcut. In general I don’t think it’s a good idea to disable auto-save on the iPad version, but I do hear what you’re saying, and I will continue to think about it.
Thinking is always good 
I am using Dorico Pro now for a year, and I am very happy with it.
The problem for me is not how to save a file but how not to save a file
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The same happens to me
Hi @Marien,
I find that it is the compulsory overwriting of previous work that is the problem. If AUTOSAVE created a new altered version, preserving the original file, then at least the user could decide after exiting to the hub which versions to keep. Granted this would take a little time depending on how often AUTOSAVE operates, but it would avoid the sinking feeling you get when you’ve made a real mess of something and you know there is no way of preventing Dorico from writing over your original file.
How does Dorico treat Autosave compared to Apple’s own software, f.e. Pages for iPad?
Hi Eagle2,
I don’t understand what you want to say. Maybe a small clarification?
Groet, Marien
Hi K_b,
I don’t know, but I don’t think that’s that important either. There are apps for iPad that have autosave and there are apps that don’t have it. I prefer the apps that let me think for myself and therefore have no autosave. (for example: iReal Pro, Forscore, and Graphpad)
Groet, Marien
I think Eagle2 is saying something similar to my post #19 above.
Hi Mark & Marien,
Yes I was proposing a compromise solution. Autosave has it’s place, especially as the iPad version still has a tendency to crash quite regularly in my experience.
@k_b has asked how Dorico treats autosave, which in my view is crucial to understand in order to have any sensible discussion on this subject. In particular how often does Dorico initiate an autosave?
Maybe each version could be written to an “Autosave” folder in the hub with an option to overwrite the original with the chosen version after closing the app.
I’ve just lost my work from the last week on one of my files only because I misclick and open older version of the file on Ipad. Dorico autosaved it immediately after opening the file and overwrote my latest version. I didn’t even make any changes!!
It would be nice if the first autosave wasn’t on the first second after opening the file…
Martin, it would be worth a try to use the Files app and search for possible other versions of your project.
I personally avoid to open directly from Dorico’s project launcher, instead I use the Open or Import button and navigate to my file.
I continue to wish that the iPad version did not automatically save. I want the date of the file to reflect when I last modified the file, not (effectively) when I last opened it. Maybe I am continuing to miss something here…
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I think there is something quite fundamental in Apple’s ipadOS guidelines.
The user is never supposed to do a save— they should not even think about it.
Something like an os for Dummies…
OK, but I wish I could prevent it doing a save. I feel I could/should be making the files read only, but I never had too much success with that when I tried a few years ago.
I notice Daniel you said you would think about this. It’s not that I want to be able to save on demand, it’s that I don’t want Dorico to save when I don’t want it to.
Thanks,
Geoff D.
When I first got Dorico for iPad I too often noticed small unintended changes to my files resulting from the touch interface, such as when I scroll quickly through a piece. Now and since shortly after its release I virtually never use Dorico for iPad even though I have a lifetime subscription. I would become a regular user and advocate tomorrow if I could disable autosave.
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New to the Dorico forums.
About Autosave………would it be possible to implement something like the following
(assume opening an existing work piece)
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The first time autosave is performed it asks for a new file name so the user can either allow autosave to continue or the user can add a version number/character so they can separate original work from new autosave.
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Autosave has a means of setting how often it saves (every x minutes) and whether it overwrites previous autosave or adds 1 to the preceding autosave file name.
2a. At the end of a work session have a selection where you can choose to save the current work or one of the last x autosave pieces. However by choosing 1 of the above (current or x version) ALL OTHER versions except Original and your selection are deleted to save space.
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OR if there is a way to “read” the data in the “undo/redo” buffer and highlight that with a one button selection so you can quickly see what changes have been made?