Exclude from iCloud backup: NSURLIsExcludedFromBackupKey

Question

My application was rejected 2 times and I lost 3 weeks :(

First submit, I excluded ONLY DIRECTORS from the backup in iCloud. Apple rejected ...

Second serve, I excluded the DIRECTORS and PHOTOS downloaded from the backup to iCloud. Apple refused again ... Apple also stated that I didn’t have a Recover function for my In-App purchase, while in fact I have a Recover button and it worked when I tested it.

I did as Apple suggested, deleting the file from the backup using NSURLIsExcludedFromBackupKey. There was an interesting comment made by MacMad on stackoverflow here :

sometimes Apple analysts believe that your data can be regenerated when it’s not. Then you will need to explain why the data should be copied.

How often does the reviewer misunderstand, and we need to explain to them that the content is needed offline and cannot be generated?

Here is the code I used to exclude my files and directories from iCloud. Do you find any problems?

- (BOOL)addSkipBackupAttributeToItemAtURL:(NSURL *)URL { // There a chance the download failed, but don't assert here //assert([[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath: [URL path]]); NSError *error = nil; BOOL success = [URL setResourceValue:[NSNumber numberWithBool:YES] forKey:NSURLIsExcludedFromBackupKey error: &error]; if(!success){ NSLog(@"Error excluding %@ from backup %@", [URL lastPathComponent], error); } return success; } //Download picture from Google and exclude it from being backed-up in iCloud - (void)downloadFetcher:(GTMHTTPFetcher *)fetcher finishedWithData:(NSData *)data error:(NSError *)error { if (error == nil) { // successfully retrieved this photo data; save it to disk GDataEntryPhoto *photoEntry = [fetcher propertyForKey:@"photo entry"]; // Create album directory if it doesn't already exist NSString *path = [self findOrCreateApplicationSupportSubPath:[photoEntry albumTitle]]; path = [path stringByAppendingPathComponent:[[photoEntry title] stringValue]]; if (path != nil) { // Write to disk BOOL didSave = [data writeToFile:path options:NSDataWritingAtomic error:&error]; if (didSave) { // Exclude file from being backed up in iCloud NSURL *url = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:path]; BOOL excludeBackupResult = [self addSkipBackupAttributeToItemAtURL:url]; if (excludeBackupResult == NO) { NSLog(@"Error excluding FILE from iCloud: %@", path); } // Update the download progress bar _downloadedFileCounter = _downloadedFileCounter + 1; float progress = _downloadedFileCounter / kMaleWireframeImagesTotal; [self updateProgress:progress]; // The download completed. -2 just incase a package is lost, but let the user move on... if (_downloadedFileCounter >= _downloadableFilesTotal -2) { [_panel6 downloadCompleted]; } } else { // error saving file. Perhaps out of space? Write permissions error? NSLog(@"Save anatomy picture failed: %@", error.localizedDescription); } } else { NSLog(@"downloadFetcher: Cannot create directory"); } } else { NSLog(@"downloadFetcher failed: %@", error); } } //Create directory and exclude it from being backed-up in iCloud -(NSString*)findOrCreateApplicationSupportSubPath:(NSString*)subPath { NSString *resolvedPath; NSArray *appSupportDir = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSApplicationSupportDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES); if ([appSupportDir count] != 0) { resolvedPath = [appSupportDir objectAtIndex:0]; // Append the name of this application NSString *executableName = [[[NSBundle mainBundle] infoDictionary] objectForKey:@"CFBundleExecutable"]; resolvedPath = [resolvedPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:executableName]; resolvedPath = [resolvedPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:subPath]; NSFileManager *manager = [NSFileManager defaultManager]; if (![manager fileExistsAtPath:resolvedPath]) { // Path doesn't exist, creates it NSError *error; BOOL successful = [manager createDirectoryAtPath:resolvedPath withIntermediateDirectories:YES attributes:nil error:&error]; if(!successful) { NSLog(@"ERROR creating APP Support Sub-Directory: %@", error.localizedDescription); return nil; } else { // Exclude path from backing-up in iCloud NSURL *url = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:resolvedPath]; BOOL excludeBackupResult = [self addSkipBackupAttributeToItemAtURL:url]; if(!excludeBackupResult){ NSLog(@"Error excluding DIRECTORY from iCloud backup. This is a violation to their guideline."); return nil; } } } } else { NSLog(@"No Application Support Path available"); return nil; } return resolvedPath; } 

Answer 1

I think the trick is to add NSURLIsExcludedFromBackupKey OR make sure the directory is outside the document directory. I did this by moving my documents to the Library / Application Support folder (since this did not make sense in the / tmp or / Caches folders):

 - (void)createNewRefFolder { NSError *error; // store in /Library/Application Support/BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER/Reference // make sure Application Support folder exists NSURL *applicationSupportDirectory = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] URLForDirectory:NSApplicationSupportDirectory inDomain:NSUserDomainMask appropriateForURL:nil create:YES error:&error]; if (error) { NSLog(@"KCDM: Could not create application support directory. %@", error); } NSURL *referenceFolder = [applicationSupportDirectory URLByAppendingPathComponent:@"Reference" isDirectory:YES]; if (![[NSFileManager defaultManager] createDirectoryAtPath:[referenceFolder path] withIntermediateDirectories:YES attributes:nil error:&error]) { NSLog(@"KCDM: Error creating Reference folder: %@ ...", error); } BOOL success = [referenceFolder setResourceValue:@YES forKey: NSURLIsExcludedFromBackupKey error: &error]; if(!success){ NSLog(@"KCDM: Error excluding %@ from backup %@", referenceFolder, error); } } 

Answer 2

A little UPDATE from previous answers.

You must check for the presence of the file. Otherwise, you will get this error,

 Error excluding [FileName] from backup: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=4 "The file "[FileName]" doesn't exist." ... 

I am not sure if we should check that the value is already updated or not. for example, if the reset API is already installed or not. If he tries to update the file system again for a given value, which will be more time consuming, I think.

Updated method ...

 + (BOOL)addSkipBackupAttributeToURLAtPath:(NSURL *)url { if (!url) return NO; if (![[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:url.path]) return NO; NSError *error = nil; NSNumber *value = nil; BOOL success = [url getResourceValue:&value forKey:NSURLIsExcludedFromBackupKey error:&error]; if (value.boolValue == YES) return YES; success = [url setResourceValue:[NSNumber numberWithBool:YES] forKey:NSURLIsExcludedFromBackupKey error:&error]; if(!success){ NSLog(@"Error excluding %@ from backup: %@", [url lastPathComponent], error); } return success; } + (BOOL)addSkipBackupAttributeToFileAtPath:(NSString *)path { if (!path) return NO; return [self addSkipBackupAttributeToURLAtPath:[NSURL fileURLWithPath:path]]; }