Load file in Today extension when device is locked - ios

Question

In my today extension with my device unlocked, this line of code works as expected, returning the data from the image path:
let imageData = NSData(contentsOfFile: path)
However when my device is locked with a passcode, it returns nil. Is there any way to access images in the file system when the device is locked? I can access UserDefaults just fine, but not files in the directory for my shared group. Here is how I am creating the path, calling imagePath, which is correctly populated with the path I expect in both cases:
func rootFilePath() -> String? {
let manager = NSFileManager()
let containerURL = manager.containerURLForSecurityApplicationGroupIdentifier(GROUP_ID)
if let unwrappedURL = containerURL {
return unwrappedURL.path
}
else {
return nil
}
}
func imagePath() -> String? {
let rootPath = rootFilePath()
if let uPath = rootPath {
return "\(uPath)/\(imageId).png"
}
else {
return nil
}
}

Answer 1

I just figured it out! You need to set the file permissions accordingly:
NSFileManager *fm = [[NSFileManager alloc] init];
NSDictionary *attribs = #{NSFileProtectionKey : NSFileProtectionNone};
NSError *unprotectError = nil;
BOOL unprotectSuccess = [fm setAttributes:attribs
ofItemAtPath:[containerURL path]
error:&unprotectError];
if (!unprotectSuccess) {
NSLog(#"Unable to remove protection from file! %#", unprotectError);
}
In many cases you wouldn't normally want to do this, but because the information is intended to be viewed from the lock screen, I'm OK with removing file protection.