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IOS 5's "Cleaning" Behavior

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Re: IOS 5's "Cleaning" Behavior

#101

Post by Mazer23 »

smokey_the_bear wrote: post #47

I write several offline mapping apps, and this is totally throwing us for a loop. We're recommending our power users not upgrade to iOS 5. Users download gigabytes of maps to their cache directory, they don't want to eat their iCloud allotment with that, or their slow their iTunes sync. But they also don't want to have to download those maps again, or find themselves in the middle of the woods without the maps they d…

My app is heavily effected as well. I have a Picasa client that auto-caches photos for users. The app manages the cache and clears it when needed, but certain albums can be manually set to cache by users so they're never deleted. I wouldn't want all these photos backed up and I don't think apple would allow it. Them going through and deleting the data themselves basically breaks the app for our users though.

The app: webalbumsapp.com

Re: IOS 5's "Cleaning" Behavior

#102

Post by jayfuerstenberg »

derefr wrote: post #92
smokey_the_bear wrote: post #47

I write several offline mapping apps, and this is totally throwing us for a loop. We're recommending our power users not upgrade to iOS 5. Users download gigabytes of maps to their cache directory, they don't want to eat their iCloud allotment with that, or their slow their iTunes sync. But they also don't want to have to download those maps again, or find themselves in the middle of the woods without the maps they d…

Instead of just saying "don't install iOS5", can't you continue to store files in their Documents, but tell them to flip off the sync switch for your app? http://i.imgur.com/acOje.png

Good to know there is a per-app toggle switch for this. Some of us make multi-MB files in the documents folder that weren't designed to be granular for backing up or syncing.

Re: IOS 5's "Cleaning" Behavior

#103

Post by derefr »

smokey_the_bear wrote: post #99
derefr wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Instead of just saying "don't install iOS5", can't you continue to store files in their Documents, but tell them to flip off the sync switch for your app? http://i.imgur.com/acOje.png

We could, but it would involve pushing an update to the app. The 'don't install' is a stopgap for people who may be counting on using their maps this weekend. Additionally, people collect geo information with our app, tracks and waypoints that they like to backup.

> Additionally, people collect geo information with our app, tracks and waypoints that they like to backup.

That could still be persisted separately if you stuff all that into iCloud's KV store instead of relying on file backup. (Just trying to brainstorm technical solutions; not suggesting they're at all optimal.)

Re: IOS 5's "Cleaning" Behavior

#104

Post by mw1234 »

sjwright wrote: post #82

There are a number of possible scenarios for file storage, the problem is a lack of clarity or documentation about the properties of the various locations as they stand now. As a developer, I could imagine desiring the following choices: 1. Temp: No backup, cleared regularly 2. Cache: No backup, cleared when space is tight 3. Local: Local backup only, never cleared 4. Documents: Local/cloud backup, never cleared 5. C…

You are missing "No backup, never cleared" which is what the old "2. Cache" scenario used to be.

Re: IOS 5's "Cleaning" Behavior

#105

Post by jackvalentine »

jackvalentine wrote: post #58

The first time that one of my several hundred megabyte foreign language dictionary files isn't available and needs to be re-downloaded when I need it in say, a meeting will trigger a severe re-evaluation of my use of the phone.

I just emailed the company that makes the dictionary app in question (pleco chinese dictionary, if anyone cares) and they confirmed this issue will affect them.

The ball is in Apple's court.

Re: IOS 5's "Cleaning" Behavior

#107

Post by jmcnevin »

j_baker wrote: post #16

What about apps like spotify and rdio? Where do they store music if those two directories are constantly cleaned?

For the record, I almost immediately filled up my allotted iCloud backup space because of rdio, because I have 4.6 gigs of music synced for offline use, and it wanted to back that up.

Solution: I disabled backups of rdio data.

Re: IOS 5's "Cleaning" Behavior

#108

Post by moonlighter »

andrewljohnson wrote: post #48
smokey_the_bear wrote: post #47

I write several offline mapping apps, and this is totally throwing us for a loop. We're recommending our power users not upgrade to iOS 5. Users download gigabytes of maps to their cache directory, they don't want to eat their iCloud allotment with that, or their slow their iTunes sync. But they also don't want to have to download those maps again, or find themselves in the middle of the woods without the maps they d…

I guess I will have to write a blog post for us too. I wonder if there is any chance that Apple will change how this works - it seems like this should be doomsday for a large swath of apps. (married to Smokey and partner on all these apps!)

The bigger question is why wasn't this considered DURING the iOS5 beta? If it got brought to Apple's attention during the beta cycles and they decided to not fix it then they'll most likely won't fix it now either (although it seems like they really don't have much choice here but to provide a solution one way or another)

Re: IOS 5's "Cleaning" Behavior

#109

Post by shinratdr »

tjmc wrote: post #100

DHH declared the solution in 2007 [1] - apparently nobody needs offline applications! [1] http://37signals.com/svn/posts/347-youre-not-on-a-fucking-pl...

I'm very rarely on a plane. However I take the subway every day, and I'm extremely thankful that Tweetbot, Reeder and Newsstand cache everything so that I have something to read. I also don't consider the subway a niche or isolated pocket.

I just don't buy the lame justification about not always being connected. If you don't want to be connected, turn off your damn phone. Don't insist that everyone else shouldn't be able to enjoy their time the way they want to because you associate your mobile device with stress.

Re: IOS 5's "Cleaning" Behavior

#110

Post by sjwright »

mw1234 wrote: post #104
sjwright wrote: post #82

There are a number of possible scenarios for file storage, the problem is a lack of clarity or documentation about the properties of the various locations as they stand now. As a developer, I could imagine desiring the following choices: 1. Temp: No backup, cleared regularly 2. Cache: No backup, cleared when space is tight 3. Local: Local backup only, never cleared 4. Documents: Local/cloud backup, never cleared 5. C…

You are missing "No backup, never cleared" which is what the old "2. Cache" scenario used to be.

I disagree. If it's not worth backing up (locally), it doesn't deserve protected status on the phone.

Or to put it another way, if it's important enough to retain when storage space is low, it's important enough to retain for when you have to recover from a backup.

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