Apple's Cloudkit Migration

Question

This may be too simple of a question for SO, but for those that have used both Cloudkit/Core Data, do you have to migrate data in Cloudkit similar to Core Data if you make any changes to the database itself?

For example, if you adjust your Core Data model at all, you have to go through a migration process in order to make sure the App still works appropriately. Is Cloudkit the same way?

From my understanding there is no migration process necessary (judging when I make changes and run them in the simulator just fine), but I want to confirm before I upload to the App Store. Thanks for any help!

Answer 1

This is covered in detail in the Deploying the Schema section of the CloudKit Quick Start.

The quick summary is that you do need to push changes to production using the CloudKit Dashboard. But keep in mind that you can only make limited schema changes so plan ahead well. You can add new fields. You can add new record types. You can't delete anything.

Keep in mind that users of your app will be using old versions as well as new versions. The latest version of the app will of course know about any new additions to the schema. Old versions of the app won't know about the new fields and record types.