In the previous version of OmniGraffle for Mac and iOS, some customers were unable to open files stored in sync with providers such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box. These sync services do not support file packages—a common macOS format that treats a folder as a single file—so some users received a message that their selected file couldn’t be opened. Instead, file packages appeared as a regular folder or compressed zip file with the same file extension. Even if users didn’t experience direct issues, this bug would sometimes result in data loss while editing files synced with these services.
To work around this sync issue, many customers chose to store their documents using our single flat-file format—but this method was inefficient for handling attachments. Files were encoded into XML data—a significantly less efficient way to store files—and rewritten on each save. In this release, we’re introducing a new, single-file format (so you can still choose a file package) that performs better than the previous version and is fully compatible with sync services. We’ve unblocked the UI earlier in the saving process with this new zipped format—attachments are separate from the OmniGraffle XML data, so users can focus on their work without being concerned about file formats.
OmniGraffle files will be recognizable due to the .graffle extension, but users with versions of OmniGraffle before 7.16 and 3.14 won’t be able to open the zip format. It’s important to note this change if you’re working in a shared file environment or sending files to colleagues using older versions of OmniGraffle. For these situations, all legacy formats are available from the export panel, and existing legacy files will have the option to continue saving in the legacy format. We’re working hard to provide compatibility across platforms and accessible options for all.
Download the app for Mac or iOS, and if you have any questions or feedback, email support@omnigroup.com—our amazing Support Humans are standing by, ready to help.
