what is an aae file

An AAE file is a special type of file that the Apple Photos app uses to keep track of changes that you make to your photos. Whenever you edit a photo using the Photos app, the app will create a special XML file with an AAE extension that contains information on the edits performed to the photo so that the original photo can be retained without any changes and edits can be undone at any time. AAE files are exclusive to the latest versions of iOS and macOS, and they are saved to disk as XML files, which is a human-readable file format. When an edited JPG file is opened in the Photos app, it reads the change log from the corresponding AAE file and applies the edits on the photo before displaying it to the user. AAE files are useful when a user reverts the changes and gets the original image back after making a series of changes to the original image. On Windows, Linux, Chrome OS, Android, or Mac, you can open an AAE file in a text editor program such as Apple TextEdit on macOS and Microsoft Notepad on Windows OS.