How to know if a PHAsset has been modified?

Question

More specifically, how can you know whether a PHAsset has current version of the underlying asset different than the original?

My user should only need to choose between the current or original asset when necessary. And then I need their answer for PHImageRequestOptions.version.

Answer 1

As of iOS 16, PHAsset has a hasAdjustments property which indicates if the asset has been edited.

For previous releases, you can get an array of data resources for a given asset via PHAssetResource API - it will have an adjustment data resource if that asset has been edited.

let isEdited = PHAssetResource.assetResources(for: asset).contains(where: { $0.type == .adjustmentData })

Note that if you want to actually work with a resource file, you have to fetch its data using a PHAssetResourceManager API. Also note that this method returns right away - there's no waiting for an async network request, unlike other answers here.

Answer 2

I have found two ways of checking PHAsset for modifications.

- (void)tb_checkForModificationsWithEditingInputMethodCompletion:(void (^)(BOOL))completion {
    PHContentEditingInputRequestOptions *options = [PHContentEditingInputRequestOptions new];
    options.canHandleAdjustmentData = ^BOOL(PHAdjustmentData *adjustmentData) { return YES; };
    
    [self requestContentEditingInputWithOptions:options completionHandler:^(PHContentEditingInput *contentEditingInput, NSDictionary *info) {
        if (completion) completion(contentEditingInput.adjustmentData != nil);
    }];
}
 
- (void)tb_checkForModificationsWithAssetPathMethodCompletion:(void (^)(BOOL))completion {
    PHVideoRequestOptions *options = [PHVideoRequestOptions new];
    options.deliveryMode = PHVideoRequestOptionsDeliveryModeFastFormat;
    
    [[PHImageManager defaultManager] requestAVAssetForVideo:self options:options resultHandler:^(AVAsset *asset, AVAudioMix *audioMix, NSDictionary *info) {
        if (completion) completion([[asset description] containsString:@"/Mutations/"]);
    }];
}

EDIT: I was at the point where I needed the same functionality for PHAsset with an image. I used this:

- (void)tb_checkForModificationsWithAssetPathMethodCompletion:(void (^)(BOOL))completion {
    [self requestContentEditingInputWithOptions:nil completionHandler:^(PHContentEditingInput *contentEditingInput, NSDictionary *info) {
        NSString *path = (contentEditingInput.avAsset) ? [contentEditingInput.avAsset description] : contentEditingInput.fullSizeImageURL.path;
        completion([path containsString:@"/Mutations/"]);
     }];
}

Answer 3

Take a look at PHImageRequestOptionsVersion

PHImageRequestOptionsVersionCurrent

Request the most recent version of the image asset (the one that reflects all edits). The resulting image is the rendered output from all previously made adjustments.

PHImageRequestOptionsVersionUnadjusted

Request a version of the image asset without adjustments.
If the asset has been edited, the resulting image reflects the state of the asset before any edits were performed.

PHImageRequestOptionsVersionOriginal

Request the original, highest-fidelity version of the image asset. The resulting image is originally captured or imported version of the asset, regardless of any edits made.

If you ask user before retrieving assets, you know which version user specified. If you get a phasset from elsewhere, you can do a revertAssetContentToOriginal to get the original asset. And PHAsset has modificationDate and creationDate properties, you can use this to tell if a PHAsset is modified.