102 MACWORLD MARCH 2020
WORKINGMACIMAGE: APPLEA
pple introduced fast user
switching years ago to allow
easier shared use of a single
Mac by multiple people. After
logging in to an account and switching
away from it, all the activities that were
underway continue on their merry
progress even while another user has
logged in or switched to the foreground.
This includes iCloud Drive, Dropbox,
and other sync apps that carry out their
operations in the background during a
normal session. This can be useful if
multiple people rely on synchronized files,
preventing them from having to log in and
wait for updates to occur.How iCloud Drive works with
multiple users on a single Mac
Fast user switching keeps users logged in and their activities running even though they’re
not frontmost, including sync.
BY GLENN FLEISHMAN