Every time a song is saved, Fretlist keeps the version before it. That holds for a save in the editor, an import and a restore. A tag added or removed, or a move to another folder, is a version too: the version's header shows its folder and tags, with the old folder or a removed tag struck through and a new one highlighted. You can look back at any of them and bring one back.
Opening Version history
On a song, or in its editor, open the ... menu and choose Version history. You need an internet connection for this: the versions live on the server, not on your device, so offline the menu item is grayed out.
The list on the left groups versions by day, newest first. Each entry shows the time and who made it:
- You: a save from one of your own devices.
- A bandmate's name: a save by another member of the band, in a band workspace.
- Import: the version an import created.
- Fretlist: a version Fretlist wrote itself, such as the one it kept for every song when Version history was introduced.
A song that changed workspace has a Moved from entry at that moment, for instance "Moved from Personal Workspace". The song itself did not change, so there is nothing to restore from that entry; it marks when the song went to the band.
If you have unsaved work on the song, it sits at the top as Unsaved version, with the device it was typed on. Open the editor to continue it.
Unsaved work follows you
Fretlist keeps what you type as you type it, on the device itself and, while you are online, on the server. Start a song on the phone, forget to save, open the laptop: the editor opens on your unsaved words, with a message saying they came from your iPhone and a button to look at the last saved version instead. Nothing is decided for you. Press Save when it is right, or Cancel to let it go.
An unsaved version is not a version. Nobody else sees it, it is not in anyone's setlist or on stage, and the song stays as last saved until you press Save. A new song that has never been saved keeps its unsaved work on the device it was started on.
Where the song came from
The last row of the list says how the song got into Fretlist, with the date: "Pasted from Ultimate Guitar", "Imported from a file", "Added from a shared link", "Restored from a Fretlist backup", "Starter song from Fretlist", or "Copied from Personal Workspace" for a copy made from another workspace. A song you wrote in the editor has no such row. This row stays even when the first version is no longer kept, and it shows on the Free plan.
What a version changed
Tap a version and the song appears as it was at that moment, rendered exactly like the song view. What that version changed against the one before it is marked on the sheet:
- A line it removed is struck through and grayed.
- A line it added or changed has a light purple tint. For a changed line you see the old line struck through directly above the new one.
- A changed key, capo, tuning, instrument, tempo, time signature, title or artist shows the old value struck through beside the new one.
- A changed folder or tags shows under the details: an old folder or a removed tag struck through, a new one highlighted.
There is no summary sentence. The marks are the summary.
Restoring a version
At the top of a version, tap Restore this version. The song becomes that version again, and the restore itself is added to Version history as a new entry, so nothing is deleted. If you change your mind, restore the version you came from.
Only members who can edit the song can restore. A Viewer in a band can read Version history but not change the song.
Restoring brings back what the song said: its words, chords and musical details. It does not touch where the song sits or how it is shared: favorites, folders, tags, sharing and the archive flag stay as they are.
How much is kept
Fretlist keeps the 30 newest versions of every song. On the Free plan, Version history shows the 5 newest versions from the last 30 days. Upgrading shows the rest at once; nothing was thrown away.
When someone else changes a song you have open
Two people can change the same song. Fretlist never blocks you and never asks you to pick a side.
- The editor takes the change as it happens, and a short message says who: "Nate made changes to this song", or "This song was changed on another device". If you were in the middle of typing, your typing stays and only what they changed comes in. What changed is on screen, and in Version history.
- The one exception: you have unsaved changes in the words and chords, and they changed the words and chords too. Your text stays, since it exists nowhere else yet, and the message says theirs is in Version history. Restore it from there if theirs is the one you want. Otherwise your next Save becomes the current version, and theirs is one step back.
Editing offline
You can edit a song without an internet connection, as long as the song is on your device. Songs you have opened while online are. Press Edit on the song, change what you need, and press Save.
The save is stored on your device straight away: the song view, your setlists and Play Mode show the new version at once, the same as any other save. You can make a new song offline the same way.
When your device is back online, the saved songs are sent to the server as normal saves, before anything else syncs. The sync dot in the corner pulses while that happens. Until then Version history shows the save as "Saved on this device, not yet synced"; once it is up, it is listed with you as the author at the time you made it. If someone else changed the song in the meantime, their version is one step back in Version history, and yours is the current one.
If a song could not be synced because you no longer have access to its band, it stays on your device and Fretlist tells you so.
A song that has never been opened on this device has no copy to edit offline. Open it once while online and it will be there next time.