Exclude files from application backup

Question

Is there a way to exclude some of the files in your application bundle from being backed up to the user's computer? I have a photo browsing application that allows you to store photos/videos locally, when a user goes sync their device and the application is backed up its taking a really long time since its backing up all the locally stored photos/videos as well. Is there perhaps a directory (/tmp/?) that won't be backed up?

Answer 1

Yes you must put files that you don't want to backup to Caches directory. Path can be obtained:

NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSCachesDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES); 
NSString *cachesPath = [paths objectAtIndex:0]; 

Answer 2

iOS Applocation Programming Guide: A Few Important Application Directories talks about which folders are backed up and which aren't. You should use <Application_Home>/Library/Caches to store persistent data that does not need to be backed up.

iPhone Application Programming Guide: Getting Paths to Application Directories shows how to get the path to that folder by using NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains with NSCachesDirectory parameter.