I need some clarification and Microsoft documentation is only confusing me more.
I want to save a txt file in iCloud so the user doesn't loose some data that belongs to them.
This db document is some information I am retrieving from a local database and storing in a text file. I have seen two ways of doing this.. however all the posts on this topic are very outdated and I don't know which way might be best or if they are even doing what I trying to do.
All I would like is to be able to have the user backup this particular file to their iCloud account, so they can still keep this info even if they change phones or delete the app and want to restore from iCloud.
Microsoft's documentation points me to this page https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/xamarin/ios/data-cloud/introduction-to-icloud
I began setting up the provisioning profiles and setting the iCloud options on the entitlements page etc. However the documentation when sideways for me when they began creating a monkey page UI Document and having the user manager the ubiquity documents (which I don't want) I actually don't want the user even seeing this Txt file. However this option shows how to check if the iCloud is even turned on on this user's phone.
Now this other option I think is more straight forward and I read the documentation on it here https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/xamarin/ios/app-fundamentals/file-system using something like this to store and retrieve a document:
var libraryPath = Path.Combine(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Personal), "..", "Library");
However what if iCloud is turned off? Is this an automatic backup option?
Any type of explanation is helpful.
The iCloud storage API in iOS 5 allows applications to save user documents and application-specific data to a central location and access those items from all the user's devices.
About the definition of iCloud, you will know that it will save your data to cloud server. And it can be used in all the user's device if turn on the iCloud.
However what if iCloud is turned off?Is this an automatic backup option?
Therefore, if iCloud is turned off, you could backup the data in device although it will not be used for other user's devices. You could save it in Application directories. This should be a good chooice to backup your data. And you also can get the data when you need them.
In addition, you also can use other cloud server APIs to backup your data. Such as Azure Storage, Firebase Storage etc.
Related
I have an application that is implementing storage using Key/Value pairs in iCloud. From what I read in the documentation this is almost identical to the way NSUserDefaults work.
However this potentially creates a problem because the user should not have the ability to tamper with the app data stored in there. Does this mean that the user can access this data and modify it? Or is it private to the application?
Okay reading deeply in the documentation it says
If your app needs to store passwords, do not use iCloud storage APIs
for that. The correct API for storing and managing passwords is
Keychain Services, as described in Keychain Services Reference.
I found this text here just one line before the last table :)
I also found somewhere that the user can delete his iCloud data manually which can be counted as a modification.
Also, read here, section fro "Start Fresh If Your iCloud Data Becomes Inconsistent During Development" where it says how you can clean the container. Maybe you can check what is visible inside.
It depends what type of data you are storing in the iCloud if it's sensitive then I would use keychain services approach and avoid storing sensitive information on the iCloud.
From the question it seems like you are storing the data in key-value pairs, usually, it's recommended to store preferences, settings, and simple app state and that should be ok because the user can change those, you should choose the right iCloud API for what you want to store
With iCloud the user can always delete the information it has stored as mentioned in the documentation
There may be times when a user wants to delete content from iCloud.
Provide UI to help your users understand that deleting a document from
iCloud removes it from the user’s iCloud account and from all of their
iCloud-enabled devices. Provide users with the opportunity to confirm
or cancel deletion
When you ask
Or is it private to the application?
There's an iCloud identifier in your entitlements file. If it's the same in both apps you'll be able to access the same data/documents across both the apps.
Hope that helps.
What is the best way, to share a database between different devices, that are not just the user’s ones, but for example could be his friend’s phone. That means that iCloud is not an option.
Example:
All of my data is app-user specific, so basically:
user logs into my app, do some work
then he can log in with the same acc on his friend phone and data should be the same
Is there an any way to upload the whole user specific database to some online storage provider (like firebase,… ) and then download it on another device and initialise core data stack, when the same user logs in on a different device?
Or is it the only way to sync data with the server and than preload the database?
You could simply upload the whole database file(s) and then download it on another device. The problem though is portability. You need to ensure that both devices support the same version of the database so they are compatible. To port the same thing to another platform is again a different story but doable when not using core data.
Then there is a problem of conflicts. Imagine you forget to log out from the second device and you open it after a week and the database is accidentally synced back to the server. This will make you lose all the data you created on your "main" device.
So in general it is possible to sync the whole thing but you will have loads of issues. You should create a server that supports all entities and works through ids (so you know the object was modified and not created) and date modified to be able to resolve conflicts.
Syncing data between multiple devices is the biggest reason to use something like Firebase. That's one of its primary purposes. You would use Firebase for data storage instead of Core Data, and it would automatically handle syncing between devices. You don't write code to upload or download anything, you just read and write Firebase data and it handles the syncing. It supports user accounts, so if a user logs on on a different device, their data automatically syncs to that device. There are numerous other options besides Firebase, of course.
CloudKit also syncs between different devices, but it's linked to the current iCloud account on the phone. Since you want in-app login, it's not so good.
I don't have any important data in my app. But when i read this tutorial i have a few questions ?
Only documents and other data that is user-generated, or that cannot
otherwise be recreated by your application, should be stored in the
/Documents directory and will be automatically
backed up by iCloud.
Do i need to save UserDefaults to iCloud ? And will my app approve if i don't use iCloud ?
And if i need can you show me how to save user default settings ? Because i found only tutorials how to save data from database.
You misunderstand what that is saying.
When a user backup's up their devices using iTunes or iCloud, only certain parts of the app's sandbox is backed up. So there are two important aspects here:
Only backup data that can't be replaced.
Be sure to backup irreplaceable data.
NSUserDefaults is one of the things that will be backed up for you. You don't need to do anything special.
You don't need iCloud support unless your app has a specific need to use it.
In Apple's Document Based App Development Guide, it emphasizes that our app should let users choose either to save all their files to iCloud or save all on local device. Is there reason for this? Can we actually allow users to pick some files to be saved on iCloud and some to be saved locally, like the TextEdit app on mac OS X? Will App Store disapprove iOS apps configured in this way if it is programmatically possible?
Thanks!
Here is a link
https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/DataManagement/Conceptual/DocumentBasedAppPGiOS/ManageDocumentLifeCycle/ManageDocumentLifeCycle.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40011149-CH4-SW1
Setting the Preferred Storage Location for Document Files
All documents of an application are stored either in the local sandbox or in an iCloud container directory. A user should not be able to select individual documents for storage in iCloud.
When an application launches for the first time on a device, it should do the following:
If iCloud is not configured, ask users if they want to configure it (and, preferably, transfer them to Launch Settings if they want to configure iCloud).
If iCloud is configured but not enabled for the application, ask users if they want to enable iCloud—in other words, ask if they want all of their documents saved to iCloud. Store the response as a user preference.
Based on this preference, an application writes document files either to the local application sandbox or the iCloud container directory. (For details, see “Moving Documents to and from iCloud Storage.”) An application should expose a switch in the Settings application that enables users to move documents between local storage and iCloud storage.
If it makes sense for your app, there is no reason Apple would care if you save some files locally and some in iCloud. It's not a hard fast rule to be all one way or the other.
Disclaimer: I am new to Windows Store App development.
My app is a Windows Store App (for desktop). The app has to create some content using user's input and the data can be considered as documents. Also, the document'd be in a proprietary format. The user should be able to see all those documents listed inside the app every time he launches it.
My question is where to save these document files. I have no issue it is directly accessible to users without using app (it is their data).
The document suggest roaming (limited storage) and local storage. But both are deleted once the app is deleted (bad for the user).
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh464917.aspx
Document also states that accessing right for My Document folder is granted only if the developer is a company (bad for me).
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh464936.aspx
Any other popular pattern from developers (apart from Azure, SkyDrive and any online storage)?
On app's first launch, you can allow the user to choose his/her folder as per choice, and then add that folder in future access list. So you can access that folder anytime. Please check below given links.
How can I save a StorageFile to use later?
Exploring WinRT: Storage.AccessCache
Windows.Storage.AccessCache Classes