Save generated GIF to camera roll? - ios

Question

Thanks for reading. I've created a GIF using methods from this question:
Create and and export an animated gif via iOS?
I'm trying to use the only method that appears to be able to save non JPG/PNG images to the camera roll, ALAssetLibrary's writeImageDataToSavedPhotosAlbum:metadata:completionBlock:
I save the Gif to the temp Directory like this:
NSString *exportPath = [NSTemporaryDirectory() stringByAppendingString:#"/animated.gif"];
NSURL *fileURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:exportPath isDirectory:NO];
Then access the NSData like:
NSData * gifData = [NSData dataWithContentsOfFile:fileURL.absoluteString];
The GIF is created as I'm able to display it in a UIImageView, but when I try to save it, the method returns as a success (no error) but doesn't actually save (returns Nil for the NSURL * assetURL and does not appear in the camera roll).
How can I get my GIFs to save successfully to the camera roll?

Answer 1

**
Solution 01 : Only saving the existing GIF file to Camera Roll
**
As I understand your problem. You are able to generate a GIF file but cannot save and also view it to the Camera Roll.
So I am attaching a sample test using existing GIF File.
Step 01. I copied a gif IMG_0009.GIF file in my Application Document directory.
Step 02 Than I use the below code to load this files NSData:
NSURL *documentsDirectoryURL = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] URLForDirectory:NSDocumentDirectory inDomain:NSUserDomainMask appropriateForURL:nil create:YES error:nil];
NSURL *fileURL = [documentsDirectoryURL URLByAppendingPathComponent:#"IMG_0009.gif"];
NSData *gifData = [NSData dataWithContentsOfFile:[fileURL path]];
Step 03: Now I save the file in the Media Directory:
ALAssetsLibrary *library = [[ALAssetsLibrary alloc] init];
[library writeImageDataToSavedPhotosAlbum:gifData metadata:nil completionBlock:^(NSURL *assetURL, NSError *error) {
NSLog(#"Success at %#", [assetURL path] );
}];
The Asset URL is proper. Now you can check you media directory. you can locate the saved gif image.
Have Fun :)
**
Solution 02: Demo of Creating and saving GIF to Camera roll
**
I cloned some solution to show creating and saving of GIF files to Camera Roll.
You can download and check my fork at github:
The demo creates a GIF file by taking 2 or more images and save in the Camera Roll Directory
https://github.com/bllakjakk/Giraffe
The main Code to focus is like below:
[export encodeToFile:tempFile callback:^(NSString * aFile) {
NSLog(#"Path: %#", aFile);
ALAssetsLibrary *library = [[ALAssetsLibrary alloc] init];
NSData *data = [NSData dataWithContentsOfURL:[[NSURL alloc]initFileURLWithPath:aFile]];
[library writeImageDataToSavedPhotosAlbum:data metadata:nil completionBlock:^(NSURL *assetURL, NSError *error) {
NSLog(#"Success at %#", [assetURL path] );
}];
}];
It uses the library as I mentioned in my solution before http://jitsik.com/wordpress/?p=208
How to verify:
Step 01: Run the demo project.
Step 02: As directed by the application add 2 images and click Export.
Step 03: Now check the camera roll you will find the created gif.
Previous:
GIF is a proprietary format, so you would need a 3rd party lib to save it.
check following link: http://jitsik.com/wordpress/?p=208

Answer 2

I found the issue was that I was unable to actually grab the GIF from the file. I switched from using CGImageDestinationCreateWithURL to CGImageDestinationCreateWithData and used a CFMutableDataRef to hold the Gif data. I don't know why, but that made saving to camera roll with writeImageDataToSavedPhotosAlbum work.

Answer 3

Has this been updated to work with iOS 9, and the deprecation of ALAssets? I do not see similar calls in PHPhotoLibrary.

Answer 4

Here is an updated answer using PHPhotoLibrary, since ALAssetsLibrary is deprecated.
I used this answer from another user - 陈星旺
PHPhotoLibrary save a gif data
NSString *exportPath = [NSTemporaryDirectory() stringByAppendingString:#"/animated.gif"];
NSURL *fileURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:exportPath isDirectory:NO];
NSData * gifData = [NSData dataWithContentsOfFile:fileURL.absoluteString];
[[PHPhotoLibrary sharedPhotoLibrary] performChanges:^{
PHAssetResourceCreationOptions *options = [[PHAssetResourceCreationOptions alloc] init];
[[PHAssetCreationRequest creationRequestForAsset]
addResourceWithType:PHAssetResourceTypePhoto
data:gifData
options:options];
} completionHandler:^(BOOL success, NSError * _Nullable error) {
if (success) {
NSLog(#"image saved!");
} else {
NSLog(#"error saving image - %#", error ? error.localizedDescription : #"");
}
}];
If you needed to download the GIF data from a URL, you could use this:
NSData *gifData = [NSData dataWithContentsOfURL:theGIFsURL];