ChronoSync 11.0 and ChronoAgent 11.0 Released

by Frank · Published November 2, 2023 · Updated November 27, 2023

We are pleased to announce the release of ChronoSync 11.0 and ChronoAgent 11.0!

There have been quite a few changes made to ChronoSync and ChronoAgent. Below, we have highlighted just a few of the major features that were added.

Table of Contents

ChronoSync 11.0

New system requirement

ChronoSync now requires macOS 10.14 or later. For those that are running older versions of macOS, please visit our Archives page to download a compatible version of ChronoSync.

File Provider support

The File Provider mechanism was introduced by Apple in macOS 11 and refined over subsequent OS releases. In macOS 13 it has become the defacto standard mechanism for implementing integrated cloud storage services on macOS. Major vendors such as Box, DropBox, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive are implemented as file provider extensions. Apple has made it clear that this is the only approved mechanism for offering this capability, so eventually all cloud storage services will be implemented as file providers.

ChronoSync v11 is explicitly aware of all file provider extensions installed on a system. It identifies each cloud “drive” as a separate volume that can be selected as a target volume.

To learn more about using File Providers in ChronoSync, take a look at our File Providers guide.

Task Groups

The ChronoSync Organizer window is the main user interface for creating and organizing Sync Task documents. Unfortunately, when you have a large number of sync tasks, they can become rather unmanageable. Enter “Task Groups”, a new feature that basically equates to Folders for Sync Tasks.

Creating a Task Group is a simple as clicking the new “{+}” command icon that appears at the bottom of the task list and then giving the new Task Group a name.

To learn more about using Task Groups, take a look at our Task Groups guide.

Task Search

In addition to task groups, ChronoSync v11 includes the ability to search for tasks based on name. At the upper right of the task list there’s a 🔍 icon that can be clicked to invoke the search function. When activated, you can type any portion of the task name you are searching for and a filtered list of tasks will appear. The list is refined as you type. You can interact with the displayed tasks just as you normally would (i.e. you can invoke a sync operation, schedule it, delete it, etc.).

To learn more about using Task Search, take a look at our Task Search guide.

Battery Saver

If you’ve configured ChronoSync to perform scheduled synchronizations and backups on a laptop, a new setting allows you to disable the scheduler when you are running on battery power. When you reconnect to a power source, your scheduled tasks will run as they normally do. Thus you no longer have to worry about a battery consuming scheduled task kicking in when you’re on the go!

To access this setting, open the “Scheduler” pane in the ChronoSync Settings dialog:

Higher Performance Cloud Storage Transfers

The Amazon S3 and Google Cloud file managers now have a setting to control the size of some internal buffers used to communicate with these cloud services. The setting is called “Data exchange size” and it can be controlled in the connection profile editor for any Amazon S3 or Google Cloud connection profile you’ve created. Larger values help significantly with faster internet connections. Slower internet connections will see little benefit, so it is generally better to leave this setting disabled for internet connections less than 40 mbps.

More Robust SFTP

The SFTP file manager has been updated to use the latest version of the libssh2 library for communication with SFTP servers. In general, more cryptographic protocols and authentication mechanisms are supported, making it compatible with a wider variety of servers. There are also bug fixes and performance enhancements as well.

ChronoSync also adds a new setting to the SFTP connection profile to increase compatibility with some SFTP servers. It is called “Ignore attribute change errors” and, when ON, will enable synchronization and backups to continue when the SFTP server rejects ChronoSync’s attempts to update file metadata. Some servers simply won’t allow these kind of changes, so this setting lets you at least copy data to the SFTP server at the expense of accurate metadata.

Numerous Behind-the-Scenes Changes

There have been quite a few architectural changes that control how ChronoSync functions behind the scenes. For instance, ChronoSync v11 now uses the latest version of the OpenSSL libraries for secure network communication when connected to remote ChronoAgent or InterConneX devices. Use of deprecated APIs has been reduced and there have also been quite a few bug fixes and performance enhancements. These changes set the stage for future enhancements to your favorite sync and backup application!

And much more ...

For a more comprehensive discussion of all the functionality changes, please review the What’s New in v11.0 document located in the ChronoSync DMG. Additionally, a complete list of changes can be found in the release notes.