CODEWITHSUNDEEP
iosswift
James Crowley
James Crowley

Reputation: 4081

Showing iOS app files within in the Files app

I'm trying to get images that my iOS app writes to its own Documents folder, to appear in the 'Files' app as a folder under 'On my iPhone', and allow them just to be opened as standard images by whatever apps are installed on the phone, like these apps do:

enter image description here

I've set UIFileSharingEnabled in the Info.plist which means they appear in the 'Music' app on macOS when connecting the phone. However, I haven't been able to get them to appear within the Files app itself.

I see references to UISupportsDocumentBrowser and LSSupportsOpeningDocumentsInPlace - but this seems to require building a UI within the app. I've seen other apps do what I want without any custom UI - I just want to expose the files, not do anything 'fancy'.

Any ideas what I'm missing?

Upvotes: 6

Views: 6360

Answers (1)

dudette
dudette

Reputation: 856

As well as UIFileSharingEnabled add this to your Info.plist

<key>LSSupportsOpeningDocumentsInPlace</key>
<true/>

Here is my test code. Works well for me on macOS 12, using Xcode 13.2, targets: ios-15 and macCatalyst 12. Tested on real ios-15 devices.

import SwiftUI

@main
struct TestApp: App {
    var body: some Scene {
        WindowGroup {
            ContentView()
        }
    }
}

    struct ContentView: View {
    let image = UIImage(systemName: "globe")!
    var body: some View {
        Image(uiImage: image).resizable().frame(width: 111, height: 111)
        Button(action: {
            saveImage(file: "globe")
        }) {
            Text("save test file")
        }
    }
    
    func saveImage(file: String) {
        do {
            let fileURL = try FileManager.default
                .url(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask, appropriateFor: nil, create: true)
                .appendingPathComponent(file)
                .appendingPathExtension("png")
            try image.pngData()?.write(to: fileURL)
        } catch {
            print("could not create file: \(file)")
        }
    }
    
}

EDIT1: Starting from a "new" project in Xcode.

I created a new ios project from scratch, using Xcode 13.2 on macos 12.2-beta. Copied and pasted the code in my answer. Then in the Targets->Info

I added the following entries:

Application supports iTunes file sharing YES

and

Supports opening documents in place YES

Compiled and ran the project on a iPhone ios-15. In the Files app, went to On My iPhone and the TestApp folder was there, and inside was the "globe" image file.

Added the mac catalyst in General -> Deployment Info, removed the App sandbox from the Signing & Capabilities.

Compiled and ran the project on a iMac macos 12.2, and in the Documents directory was the globe.png file.

Upvotes: 13

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