The only kind of revision history I am familiar with in apps outside of programming specific “versions” of code is automatic using some sort of algorithm. Mainly time based. I am uninterested in manual version control. I can do that on my own outside of bear. Automatic is what is needed because when you lose edits by accidentally overwriting them (as an example) the likelihood I saved a manual version of the note content I lost in or outside of Bear is essentially zero.
I see most requests in the Bear communities for version control because of an accident that just occurred versus going back to a version from a week or a month ago. Both scenarios are valid though. The accident scenario has happened to me many times.
I would like automatic backups. I can do manual. We run into this issue because we forget to do it manually, and it’s usually because of a cut and paste mistake then leaving the app. We return to Bear to realize it’s too late.
I see Bear creating local timed backups that are eventually purged to handle the space issue on most devices. To satisfy everyone’s space issue, the database is backed up by hours, days, or weeks in the Settings. Also the option to purge by hours, days, or weeks in Settings. Some users have more space than others on their devices. I could handle weeks of backups. If you can’t, I picture people handling at least a few days of backups to retrieve the recent accident.
See attached images. I love how OmniFocus handles local backups. A local copy is created after every cloud sync, launch, and exit. Most of the data is text, so it may be overkill for Bear. You can restore the backup or open up the backup and grab what you want instead of restoring the entire database.
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Upnote looks like a good reference.
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they do it reasonably well imo
I’m mainly looking to prevent data loss, so for me it would be enough to have the app automatically take a snapshot of a note when I leave or close it, and keep a limited history of those snapshots.
It seems to me that the majority prefer a backup solution, even if they call it by an inappropriate name. On the other hand, the name “version control” reveals that ultimately a complete backup solution is not requested. In Ulysses, for example, there is a complete backup function that even makes it possible to restore either entire folders or notes that were deleted months ago, as long as a backup still exists. At the same time, Ulysses also has a version control function that works as you would expect it to, namely manually. Both functions work independently of each other.
It is therefore completely unclear to me how the feature should be implemented: A half-baked backup solution with the UI of a version control, where an endless number of copies of all notes, even the rather unimportant and insignificant ones, are created? That’s everything, but not a sensibly implemented version control worthy of the name. The UI for proper version control - as found in filebased and non-shoebox apps, which offers the nice ability to view two versions side by side, copying and pasting parts of the text from one to the main version - is so compelling that it would be an extraordinary shame not to find it in bear as a mac app. What upnote offers is not nearly as convincing.
Version control and revision history are different. The OP asked for revision history with the ability to restore an older note. Upnote limits “versions” to 50 per note with the ability of the user to increase or decrease that. The Bear devs may choose a similar methodology or create one of their own but the requested feature is rather straight forward. I have used “revision history” many times in other apps and find it quite useful and easy to understand. I have also used “version control” in software development settings. I don’t equate version control with what is being asked for here.
I think revision history like either Drafts or StandardNotes implements in their pro version would be ideal
Ulysses as a so-called shoebox app has implemented an ui that mimics the native macOS ui for version control. For bear as a first class citizen of mac that would be more ideal
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I think iA Writer’s Backups and Versions are a great reference. It’d be great if Bear could consider something like that in the future. For sure. Looking forward to whatever cool ideas you folks come up with.
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Ulysses is not a good example because backups only exist on the device. It’s not possible to make changes on, say, an iPad and then undo them on a Mac
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Yeah, I think that’s a great model. Also adding my hopes to this.