A colleague told me that Google's gmail iOS app used to have a protected folder a while ago. By "protected" means when he tried to browse into that folder by using iFunBox, he couldn't do it. Although, he wasn't able to demonstrate this to me, I was intrigued by this subject.
So, I researched; the only thing I found so far is the NSFileProtectionKey. It let you prevent a file from being read when device is locked. However, I didn't come across a way to protect folder.
Is there a way to protect folders in iOS app?
Related
My understanding is that because of sandboxing, it isn't possible to view any text file (ie config file) associated with an iOS app using another app. Something quite simple with Android. Am I mistaken?
I am trying to implement a text config file with a Unity iOS app that gets loaded and parsed once when the application boots.
This config file would also be able to be edited and saved manually on that actual iOS device.
(addendum)
In Unity there is PersistentDataPath which resolves to /var/mobile/Container/Data/Application/foo/Documents
Is there an iOS supported file explorer app that will allow me view and edit files in this location (without jailbreaking)?
Use can check iOS App Groups. It allows multiple apps access to shared containers and allow interprocess communication. There is no so much documentation about this, but maybe that's what you're looking for. At least you can share NSUserDefaults between the apps.
NSUserDefaults it's a most simple way to save any (not big) configurations for your app. For manual editing: if your app on the device signed with developer certificate, you can connect through any iOS supported file explorer app and edit it. But after release, from App Store, your app installed in restricted/private path, so it's not possible, if only you don't have a jailbreak.
Initial configuration you can put into your app bundle, and at the first run just copy them to NSUserDefaults.
Short answer: There are utilities such as iExplorer - https://macroplant.com - that allow "file manager" type access. However...
Long answer: If your app requires users to buy (or get) other software to modify configuration files, the chances of Apple approving it are slim to none.
The appropriate thing to do is to provide a User Interface in your own app which allows the user to modify / update the settings.
I have an app that downloads files from a web server. Our customer wants the ability to edit those files on their mobile devices and upload the edited version to our servers. Is this possible in iOS? I have figured out how to allow users to view the files in external apps, but I don't see a way to bring back their changes if the file was modified as it seems to copy the file into the other app's space, so my app is left with the unaltered version.
iOS has a sandbox mechanism, so for sure you can not modify any file in another app.
The only way to transfer data from different app is using sharing.
This is a sample project I wrote for implement sharing on iOS, check it:
Sample for sharing on iOS
Hope it can help you.
I am working on a library with a very verbose logger module that, on iOS, writes xml logs to NSDocumentDirectory in a consistent file tree. I want to come up with a way for the user of this library to easily access these logs.
I know it is simple to programatically retrieve files from this directory, but is it possible to access this directory on an iOS physical device in any way from outside Xcode to retrieve these logs? I feel like I have seen it somewhere before, something in the manner of extracting the .ipa file and going into the package contents, but I could be wrong.
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This (Browse the files created on a device by the IOS application I'm developing, on workstation?) is how to do it with Xcode on a device, but I have to assume that there is some way we can create that gets the logs off of a device for a user.
is it possible to access this directory on an iOS physical device in any way from outside Xcode to retrieve these logs?
It is possible to expose the Documents directory by enabling iTunes file sharing. When file sharing is enabled through this method, the contents of Documents directory would be visible to the user in iTunes, which can also be exported. The documents would also be visible for export through some third party desktop apps like iExplorer.
Here is the link to Apple documentation. You may also refer this thread to understand how this is done.
If you're using a simulator (apparently your task doesn't seem to need te real device) you are in luck.
You should go to a folder similar to this one:
/Users/[YOUR_USER_NAME]/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/[RANDOM_HASH_YOU_SHOULD_DISCOVER]/data/Containers/Data/Application/[RANDOM_HASH_2_YOU_SHOULD_ALSO_DISCOVER]
Once there, with finder, you'll get the "documents" folder of the simulator and the app you're trying to retrieve your logs from.
You might say: I don't know which 2 RANDOM_HASHES should I go to.
Yes, you're right. If you have MANY simulators installed and or being used, it might be tricky to discover which one is the one you're trying to debug.
The same thing with your APP, your app will live in another RANDOM_HASH folder, and you should browse them, one by one, and then discover your documents folder.
Someone needed to solve this "mess" and created a Xcode Alcatraz Extension that leads you to the exact live simulator and APP you're debugging in any given moment, and then you don't need to guess which 2 random_hash paths you need to navigate to.
If Xcode + Alcartaz plugin extension manager is somewhat out of your reach, you might need to google it. It's not a difficult process.
PS: That magical Alcatraz Extension is named "XCodeWay" (in case you are brave enough to install Alcatraz onto your copy of XCode).
EDIT: Useful link to get Alcatraz: http://alcatraz.io/ Follow its easy instructions and you're done.
EDIT2: If Xcode cannot be used, then the last question in this other thread might come in handy: Browse the files created on a device by the IOS application I'm developing, on workstation?
(Still, an external application in your users machine will be needed )
Having only worked with Android/web dev before I am having a hard time figuring out where in the world my file should be getting copied to in iOS. After reading the file browser documentation on the iOS developer resource page it says that each app is an "island" which contains its own folder system. If I want to have my user be able to copy a file from my app's sdk to their iOS device, where should I put it?
I downloaded a file browser app from the app store on my iOS testing device but am I right in thinking that there is no global file browsing system?
I am using a Cordova plugin called Asset2sd which works perfectly for me in Android, getting the root storage folder and downloading the file to there. It has no iOS alternative so I'm going to have to figure something else out, I just need to know where to start. Do I have to have the user access my app's internal files somehow? Can I create a folder for them to look in when they download my app? Some documentation or something would be wonderful. I am totally lost.
Thanks!
You're right. Apps don't have access to the global file system. Each app only has access to their own app directory. Here's in-depth information on Sandboxing: https://developer.apple.com/app-sandboxing/
In your app's sandbox, you basically can manage files as you want, i.e. download, copy, move, delete, etc. So you can create a folder Downloads in your apps documents directory and then display the contents of this folder for instance in a table view.
Related documentation/links:
https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/ios/documentation/Cocoa/Reference/Foundation/Classes/NSFileManager_Class/index.html
https://stackoverflow.com/a/6907432/967327
https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/iPhone/Conceptual/iPhoneOSProgrammingGuide/iPhoneAppProgrammingGuide.pdf
I have an app that downloads files that need to be edited and submitted back to the server through the app. These files could be anything, but are most likely to be .docs. I want to be able to open and edit these files in another app on the device, such as a .doc editor.
I've been able to get this functionality to work in similar Android and Chrome apps, but I'm very new to iOS so I'm not sure what my options are.
Is there a way to give permission for another app to edit a file that is in my app's sandbox? If not, is there a way to get the file back for submittal (like finding it through a file explorer launched through my app - similar to an 'Open..." file explorer dialog used in Windows/Mac OS/Chrome)? Am I going to have to create a way for the editor app to share the edited file back to my app?
Thanks in advance for your help!
To manage the file and the paths take a look at the documentation for NSFileManager:
https://developer.apple.com/LIBRARY/mac/documentation/Cocoa/Reference/Foundation/Classes/NSFileManager_Class/Reference/Reference.html
I usually write using NSFileHandle for reading and writing:
https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Cocoa/Reference/Foundation/Classes/NSFileHandle_Class/Reference/Reference.html
Hope this helps.
iOS8 will provide methods to allow apps to co-operate with "extensions".
See "Creating Extensions for iOS and OS X, Part 1 & 2` in the WWDC14 videos.
Also see the Apple "App Extension Programming Guide".
I ended up sending the file to a 3rd party app for editing and then sending the file back from the 3rd app to my app.