iOS 6 - State Preservation and Restoration

Question

I have implemented iOS 6 API for state saving, it works - after I quit the app and launch back in for some milliseconds the restored view controller fly in, but then it's replaced by the main view controller I display at launch.

I'm setting every time the app launch the root view of the main window, so this must be the issue.

Here is my code:

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application willFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
    [self commonInitializationLaunching:launchOptions];
    return YES;
}

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
    [self commonInitializationLaunching:launchOptions];
    return YES;
}

- (void)commonInitializationLaunching:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
    static dispatch_once_t onceToken;
    dispatch_once(&onceToken, ^{

        self.window = [[UIWindow alloc] initWithFrame:[[UIScreen mainScreen] bounds]];
        // Override point for customization after application launch.
        static NSString *const kKeychainItemName = @"OAuthGoogleReader";
        self.viewController = [[ViewController alloc] initWithNibName:@"ViewController" bundle:nil];
        self.navController = [[UINavigationController alloc] initWithRootViewController:self.viewController];

        GTMOAuth2Authentication *auth;
        auth = [GTMOAuth2ViewControllerTouch authForGoogleFromKeychainForName:kKeychainItemName
                                                                     clientID:kClientID
                                                                 clientSecret:kClientSecret];

        self.window.rootViewController = self.navController;

        [self.window makeKeyAndVisible];

        BOOL isSignedIn = [auth canAuthorize];
        if (isSignedIn) {
            NSLog(@"Signed");
        }else{
            NSString *scope = @"https://www.google.com/reader/api/";

            GTMOAuth2ViewControllerTouch *viewController;
            viewController = [[GTMOAuth2ViewControllerTouch alloc] initWithScope:scope
                                                                        clientID:kClientID
                                                                    clientSecret:kClientSecret
                                                                keychainItemName:kKeychainItemName
                                                                        delegate:self
                                                                finishedSelector:@selector(viewController:finishedWithAuth:error:)];
            [self.navController pushViewController:viewController animated:YES];
            //        self.window.rootViewController = viewController;
        }
    });
}

You can see that in -(void)commonInitializationLaunching:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions I'm setting my window's root view. I don't know what to put in there. Perhaps check if there is saved state and then load this method? But how?

Thanks!

Here is what I've tried following Rob's advice:

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
    if (!self.isRestored) {
        self.window = [[UIWindow alloc] initWithFrame:[[UIScreen mainScreen] bounds]];
    }
    [self commonInitializationLaunching:launchOptions];
    [self.window makeKeyAndVisible];
    return YES;
}

with nothing in willFinishLaunching... I also removed by window code from my commonInitializationLaunching method.

Answer 1

Storyboards will do most of the heavy lifting for you, such as restoring the window. Using code, however, will not restore the window. You will need to hold on to your root view controller using the encoder. Your code will look something like this:

NSString * const AppDelegateRootVCKey = @"AppDelegateRootVCKey";

- (void)application:(UIApplication *)application willEncodeRestorableStateWithCoder:(NSCoder *)coder {
    [coder encodeObject:self.window.rootViewController forKey:AppDelegateRootVCKey];
}

- (void)application:(UIApplication *)application didDecodeRestorableStateWithCoder:(NSCoder *)coder {

    // Grabs the preserved root view controller.
    UIViewController * vc = [coder decodeObjectForKey:AppDelegateRootVCKey];

    if (vc) {
        UIWindow * window = [[UIWindow alloc] initWithFrame:[[UIScreen mainScreen] bounds]];
        window.rootViewController = vc;
        window.restorationIdentifier = NSStringFromClass([window class]);

        // The green color is just to make it obvious if our view didn't load properly.
        // It can be removed when you are finished debugging.
        window.backgroundColor = [UIColor greenColor];

        self.window = window;
    }
}

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions {

    if (!self.window) {

        UIWindow *window = [[UIWindow alloc] initWithFrame:[[UIScreen mainScreen] bounds]];

        // The blue color is just to make it obvious if our view didn't load properly.
        // It can be removed when you are finished debugging.
        window.backgroundColor = [UIColor blueColor];

        UIViewController *root = // However you create your root.

        window.rootViewController = root;
        window.restorationIdentifier = NSStringFromClass([window class]);

        self.window = window;
    }

    [self commonInitializationLaunching:launchOptions];
    [self.window makeKeyAndVisible];

    return YES;
}

Another gotcha to watch out for is to make sure that your UINavigationControllers and UITabBarControllers have restoration identifiers.