Need directory safe from iCloud and "cleaning"

Originator:travis
Number:rdar://10286622 Date Originated:10/14/11
Status:Open Resolved:
Product:iPad SDK Product Version:5.0
Classification:Serious Bug Reproducible:Always
 
14-Oct-2011 08:59 AM Travis Fischer:
Summary:

There is no location an app's sandbox where you can store files that won't get backed up to iCloud that also won't get randomly deleted.  The Library/Caches and tmp folders of iOS5 are the only folder that don't get backed up to iCloud, but the Caches directory will get "cleaned" when an iPad's disk is full, deleting user data.

Steps to Reproduce:

1) Store information in the Library/Caches directory of your app.
2) Fill the iPad to capacity with music, movies, and other things.

Expected Results:

Information stored in Library/Caches will be persisted.

Actual Results:

App gets "cleaned" and the Caches directory gets deleted.

Regression:

This is new behavior in iOS 5.

Notes:

See http://www.marco.org/2011/10/13/ios5-caches-cleaning for more information.

I work on an enterprise app that usually contains extremely confidential business financial data.  My users do not want this data to be backed up to iCloud, so it is stored in the Caches directory.  If Caches could be "cleaned" without warning, then my users will lose their data.  If my user doesn't have internet access at the time that the cleaning occurs, then they will have no way to re-download that data and cannot use our app.

There needs to be a folder that apps can use that will not get backed up to iCloud but will not be cleaned that developers can use to store data.

Comments

Agreed. This is a massive problem.

We also have an application that downloads a large quantity of data for use offline. We understand that syncing gigabytes of data (either into iTunes or iCloud) is undesirable, but the entire application becomes useless if the data is cleaned up.

As it stands, the user can control when the data is deleted via our application. This is the behaviour the users want and expect.

There really needs to be a third option, where unsynced data remains available offline until the user chooses to delete it.

By tim.jeanes at Oct. 18, 2011, 12:59 p.m. (reply...)

Duped

By guillaume.campagna at Oct. 14, 2011, 3:37 p.m. (reply...)

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