Is it possible for a user to send me their whole app-directory for analysis purposes? - ios

Is it possible for an non-beta user of my app to send me their whole app directory for analysis purposes?
I know the way via the Xcode Organizer to download the whole app directory. But is this also possible for a end user to save/export a package of the app including all document files and send me this package via email?

The application directory and its contents are not end-user accessible without the use of a third-party tool such as PhoneView or iExplorer.

Yes. I am sure there are many cheaper ways to do this, but I find PhoneView really handy for browsing the device and copying complete app folders.
Another approach I suppose - easier for the user but tougher for you - is to implement file sharing so that the user can drag stuff from your app via iTunes. It depends on how much / what kind of data you need from the user how you would implement this.

Related

UIDocumentPickerViewController Limitations, Multiple Files selection at once

In order to be able to access iCloud Drive from the application,
I think that we want to use UIDocumentPickerViewController from the application.
but i found following problems when i use UIDocumentPickerViewController.
Cannot upload multiple files at once.
Cannot Download multiple files at once.
When pushViewController from navigationController then display
become strange.
I want to avoid above problems, So is there any another way to get files information from iCloudDrive without using UIDocumentPickerViewController?
like Send some request or query.
I have searched lot and didn't find any query or request to get Files ,Upload files and download files from iCloudDrive.
if you have any idea about this please tell me.
Thanks,
I don't think there's any straightforward alternative, but you could think of...
...using iCloud directly (not iCloud Drive), but then users will only have access to their files from your application
...using Google Drive's sharing extension which supports uploading multiple files at once (the Dropbox SDK probably supports that, too, but their sharing extension doesn't)
...zipping all files before uploading them
...changing the file format so that it's a bundle of multiple files, if you are in control of the file format
...file a radar/feature request, and possibly wait forever ;)
Not sure if that helps, but I don't think you have much of a choice here.

IPhone: Best way to deliver configuration file to test application

Main Problem
I have to write test application for iOS to test very complex multi platform framework.
There are already applications for other platforms which are using common configuration file (which defines test servers, user names, log level, and so on). Configuration process is quite complex so providing a complex UI will be waste of time on mobile platforms.
This file is a xml and its file name extension is xml.
Tester will have multiple configuration files (will use only one at the time)
This files should be easily uploaded by tester
tester should be able to select configuration file
What solution I'm looking for
At bagging I was thinking about iCloud service. Problem is that in 90% of cases device is shared by multiple people (testers and developers), so I'm not convinced this is best approach, since this will provide problems with sharing an iCloud account (usually there is account per device not per tester/project).
It would be best if this files could be delivered to application by using iTunes. Anyone who will do test will have this tool to install test application, so it would be nice if he could upload those files too.
Any useful hint will be appreciated (not necessary a full solution).
As a bonus opposite direction would be also useful (fetching logs). Currently usually logs are send by an email. If it is possible to easily fetch this in same meaner as configuration file it would be great.
Ok looks like it is possible to do this with iTunes.
When inspecting list of installed app for device in iTunes at the bottom there is a section "File Sharing" where you can add remove files.
If you want
That your test application for iOS, test something by readying XML File
There are different XML files
There are different testers.
In this case rather than doing too much you can
Ask testers to upload the files in dropbox.
Have a textbox in your app, in which user will type the URL of XML file (which they have uploaded on dropbox)
And next to it you have test button on click of it you can download the file and test against the logic.
Once the test is over you can grab the result by email or ask them to upload on Dropbox (manually or using api).
Ok I've finally found something like that. This perfectly solves my problem.
Files will be uploaded and downloaded by iTunes.
Another helpful link.

Can I bundle /package two apps into one?

I have two apps. The first one checks for passwords and credentials and if all is well, then launches the second app. Can I bundle/package the two apps into one? The intent is to present the whole thing as a single app to the Appstore.
Is this approach supported for iOS and accepted by Apple?
How about framework? Although I think a customised framework is not supported for iOS which is of no use to my case.
Any hints or code samples as how to achieve this (if at all possible) is very much appreciated.
Thank you for your help.
You can't bundle two apps, but you can write your own framework that checks credentials and add that to your app. From the information you give, I can't see the reason why you need to put credential checking into an extra framework. Can't you do the check inside your app?
I suggest you to create a library for Login (where you can check the credentials of user once authentication is success use protocols to send the information of user or the status (success or failure) to the main app where your total application is presented). Creating a library (.a and .h) file is easy here you can't use Xib files and images for this you need to create a new bundle where all your Xib's and images are added for library purpose. In other case you can use images as a base64 string. So your total app is now splitter into 2 parts 1. Library for Login 2.All other features. If you need more information on this please let me know.
Hope this will give you an idea and helpful

Encrypting or protecting files stored in iOS app's NSDocumentsDirectory

I have a custom requirement in one of my products and I need to protect or encrypt files that are stored inside the NSDocumentsDirectory folder. Even if these documents are mailed (The app has the ability to mail documents) to some other person , he or she will not be able to open this document without using my app (I will be using open in functionality of email attachments). So basically only the application can access all these documents and without the app the documents should be mere junk. IS there any way to do it, or has any one done something before.
I also saw this but could not get a complete idea.
If you want a quick and easy method for data that doesn't need serious security, just zip the files with a fixed password.
ZipArchive is a good library for this.
For a more serious approach, check iOS - Protecting files with a custom encryption key?
The other post you mentioned works on the concept of password protecting the files, I had encountered the same issue that was for my custom defined files in which our team, encoded the contents of the file on random locations, and saved it.
Only our Application could decode it correctly as we had the key :)
It was a windows application, It would work here also.

Config file to change values within an app

I'm having a problem meeting a requirement for an Java app I'm developing. My client must be able to deploy the app to multiple BES servers without the need to resign the code (or have any interaction with the developers). Currently the web address of one of their BES servers is hard coded into the app but they require the ability to change this value at will prior to deployment. (it can be assumed they will administrate any BES server the app is deployed from)
I've tried attaching a text file to the project which is read by the app but this is packaged along with the app, meaning it can't be manually edited (as far as I'm aware), I've also tried having a custom property in the JAD file but this needs resigned after any change.
Am I doing any of these approaches wrong or is there a better solution I'm missing?
Also, is it possible to deploy a simple text file to a BlackBerry via the BES to a specific file location? If so I could have my app read this file which would solve the problem?
Thanks,
Implement custom attachment handler in your application.
And send email with an attached xml-config file to BlackBerry device.
User opens the received message and selects the custom menu item provided by attachment handler.
And you can parse this xml config and act accordingly.
An easier way is to use a user defined ItPolicy to provide the configuration information you need.

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