Exclude from iCloud backup: NSURLIsExcludedFromBackupKey

Question

My app had been rejected the 2nd times and I lost 3 weeks :(

The first submit, I excluded ONLY DIRECTORIES from being backed-up in iCloud. Apple rejected...

The second submit, I excluded DIRECTORIES & PICTURES downloaded from being backed-up in iCloud. Apple again rejected... Apple also complaint that I have no "Restore" feature for my In-App purchase, while in fact, I do have a "Restore" button and it worked when I tested it.

I've done as Apple had suggested by excluding the file from being backedup using NSURLIsExcludedFromBackupKey. There was an interesting comment made by Macmade's on stackoverflow here:

sometimes Apple reviewers think your data can be re-generated, when it's not. Then you'll have to explain why the data has to be backed-up

How often do the reviewer misunderstood and we have to explain to them that the content is required offline & not re-generateable?

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

- (BOOL)addSkipBackupAttributeToItemAtURL:(NSURL *)URL
{
    // There's 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's 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 the NSURLIsExcludedFromBackupKey OR make sure the directory is outside the documents directory. I did this by moving my documents to the Library/Application Support folder (since it didn't 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);
    }
}