When the app comes up, youll notice the shared journal entry doesnt show up. We call them the owner and the participants. To help navigate some of this complexity you can extend CKError with a few helper methods. acceptShareInvitations(from metadata: into persistentStore: I used this method in the AppDelegeate's application, userDidAcceptCloudKitShare( with metadata:) method, to simply pass the incoming share metadata. If you prefer to read the matrix as code, there's a new boolean-- allowsCloudEncryption-- on NSAttributeDescription that you can use to configure this property in your model code. Our example use case is a simple note application with just a single note, for illustration purposes. Share Core Data between users with NSPersistentCloudKitContainer Ask Question Asked 3 years, 7 months ago Modified 1 year, 8 months ago Viewed 3k times 16 Apple introduced the NSPersistentCloudKitContainer with iOS 13 which enable us to use CloudKit with Core Data. In Record Zone Sharing, shared CKRecords are contained inside a shared CKRecordZone. The same note fields for text and modified datetime can be stored locally in a file via NSKeyedArchiver or the like, and the UI can provide near full functionality based on this local copy. that is allowed to operate on those objects in some way. If it is, then this object is already shared. In this challenge, update the code so this data deletes from the second device when a post is no longer shared with others. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. Last, head to the CloudKit Console so you can verify your data. The SharingProvider protocol makes it easy to test these decision points by injection. 2 Answers Sorted by: 8 In iOS 10 / macOS 10.12, it is now possible to share hierarchies of records in a user's private database with other users. Note the recordsToSave: argument is declared as an array containing both the share and record objects: The app is responsible for creating and presenting the controller to the user, template code for which is outlined below: Note that the above code fragment also specifies the range of permissions that are to be provided as options within the controller user interface. When a notification comes in that a record has changed, CloudKitNoteDatabase will do the heavy lifting of fetching the changes from CloudKit. I am not going to get very fancy in my example; I am using the modified field to declare that the most recent update wins. When the recipient taps on the share link, the app (if installed) will be launched and provided with the shared record information ready to be displayed. The SharingProvider has methods for binding. Photos implements a system control here in the lower left that allows me to call up an Action sheet. To achieve this, youll implement fetchShares(matching:). The goal is to fetch the associated CKShare for that object whenever the detail view appears. The simple act of writing a record to the database is straightforward enough, but in my example, with multiple clients, this is where youll face the potential issue of handling a conflict when multiple clients attempt to write to the server concurrently. I've already modified it to support sharing posts with different iCloud users. You could solve this by creating a CKRecord that contains a CKAsset which is the file that you want to share. persistentContainer calls this method. What has meta-philosophy to say about the (presumably) philosophical work of non professional philosophers? Third, create an iCloud container that hosts your data in iCloud. The exact version of the record you tried to save. However, you can get more functionality if you use a custom zone, most notably, support for fetching incremental record changes. See that data now exists at the bottom in the Participants section. For these reasons, I am using the operations in these code examples. So that's how we use NSPersistentCloudKitContainer to combine the .private and .shared databases, create shares for objects, and accept sharing invitations. Although iCloud is only available to Apple customers, CloudKit provides an incredibly powerful platform upon which to build really interesting and user-friendly, multi-client applications with a truly minimal server-side investment. Kodeco requires JavaScript. they would see my two zones that I share with them, and any other zones they are a participant on, So how does NSPersistentCloudKitContainer. Also, CloudKit provides a specific record type for large binary objects. To delete the destination, swipe left to reveal the delete button. It rejects specific requests with enough error context in the response to allow each client to make a local, enlightened decision about how to resolve the conflict. However, you dont have any metadata about the share. The first iteration of Core Data in iCloud on iOS worked on top of document storage and employed the same iCloud APIs. shared CKRecords are contained inside a shared CKRecordZone. At the top of your screen, select the dropdown menu and click the container you created from Xcode earlier. This new checkbox tells NSPersistentCloudKitContainer that the value for this attribute should be stored in the encryptedValues payload of the resulting CKRecord. Over time, however, Apple has addressed these issues. What is the easiest way to share files between users with CloudKit? In this post, we will talk about zone sharing. However, Apple strongly urges developers to use the operations rather than the convenience methods. This means not only the owner but also the second user can modify the data shared with them. At this point, if you shared the invitation via text message, open Messages and tap the invitation. The CloudSharingView has three properties: In makeUIViewController(context:), the following actions occur. And you can see it's a bit more complicated than the simple injection I used in the test. In this session, I'll show you how to easily build applications that use NSPersistentCloudKitContainer to share data with multiple iCloud users. Finally, I'll tap Send to send the email. How might we build an experience like this? I set the BlockBasedProvider as the provider. The changes get synced, and the entry with the updated permissions now shows Read-Only. Hiring? By clicking Post Your Answer, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy. With sharing, NSPersistentCloudKitContainer will also create shared zones for me with a CKShare record that controls who can access these zones that I own. If you have any questions or comments, please join the forum discussion below. In the Signing & Capabilities section, add the iCloud capability. Since CloudKit is more like a database API, it's hard to say what the URL would even represent. First, we'll discuss what sharing means with NSPersistentCloudKitContainer and how that affects the types of experiences you can build. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. create shares for objects, and accept sharing invitations. For example, the zone that NSPersistentCloudKitContainer manages. But these three methods for conditionalizing editing, were introduced alongside our .public database support, You can use these methods in your applications. First, update your container type to NSPersistentCloudKitContainer. To improve this, go back to HomeView.swift. Tap the Add Destination button. Youll use the default share when you present the CloudSharingView. At the top right is the edit button, which presents a modal to edit your destinations caption and description. that controls who can access these zones that I own. In the iCloud section, tap the + button underneath Containers to add a custom container. Save the changes. Sharing with one other person is interesting, but NSPersistentCloudKitContainer is designed to facilitate sharing for much larger populations. This second step may be repeated in the case of a conflict. Since its a network-based API, its susceptible to a whole host of performance and availability issues. Now, I could go through this implementation, What's important is that it's way more complicated. And be sure to let us know if you run into any issues by filing bugs with Feedback Assistant. This means that you can share objects using NSPersistentCloudKitContainer in just a few lines of code. Syncing a Core Data Store with the Cloud. Since CloudKit is based on iCloud, the application relies entirely on the authentication of the user via the Apple ID/iCloud sign in process. in a way that facilitates this type of injection. You can download the completed project files by clicking the Download Materials button at the top or bottom of the tutorial. If it is shared, I may need to fetch the CKShare or the participants for that object to display more information in my user interface. Go to the first device you created the share from, because you need to be the Owner to access the Share Options. So let's look at how I've changed my application to communicate these states and privileges. just as they can in the zones that I own. Note that the same code will work for macOS clients as well, with slight adjustments for differences in how notifications work on that platform. This is new iOS 15 and allows NSPersistentCloudKitContainer to be configured to mirror persistent stores to the .shared CloudKit database. For example, a user may have made edits on one device while in airplane mode, and then absent-mindedly made different edits on another device before turning airplane mode off on the first device. Please check your Internet connection and try again. Tap the entry you want to update the permissions for. Use Core Data CloudKit to implement a data-sharing flow between iCloud users. So be sure to use NSPersistentCloudKitContainer's initializeSchema method to ensure that all your fields are present and correctly typed before deploying your schema to production. The solution is in CloudSharingController.swift. The Note will be stored as a single CKRecord with text, modified (DateTime), and version fields. These are all the changes I had to make for my first demo, but my application also needs to effectively communicate what objects are shared, who they're shared with, and what those participants can do. Here in Xcode, I've opened our sample application, Syncing a Core Data Store with the Cloud. more complicated code than if I chose not to support sharing. In the window that comes up, enter your containers name. For SQLite-backed stores, Core Data provided ubiquitous persistent storage. Instead of invoking methods on NSPersistentCloudKitContainer. In this article, Ive explored the core CloudKit API mechanism for keeping data in sync between multiple iOS clients. See the solution below: [spoiler title=Solution 1] To complete the demo, I had to make two other changes. In addition to sending a share link, the app must also be adapted to accept a share and fetch the record for the shared cloud database. I'll tap the Action button to bring up the sharing controller, but this time, I want the share to be read-only so that the participants can't edit or modify the contents of the share. The CKFetchRecordsOperation operates on one or more records at a time. NSPersistentCloudKitContainer turns those managed objects. Our users need all of that information so that they can make good decisions about the objects they choose to share. Even in this humble sample application, I've had to make a number of changes to the user interface to present information about shared objects. This snippet of code is part of a test case I wrote, to ensure that its table cells correctly indicate. Sync user data between multiple apps from the same developer. Then, I set the BlockBasedProvider as the provider for the view controller, completing the injection. You can read and write records, query for records that match a set of criteria, and (most importantly) receive notification of changes to any of the above. we think of our objects in terms of NSManagedObject. To demonstrate how sharing works with NSPersistentCloudKitContainer, I'm going to be using our sample application, Syncing a Core Data Store with the Cloud. Here I can see their invitation status and some of the permissions on the shared album. On Mary's device, I'll accept the new share, and now I can see the new post. before they are uploaded to the CloudKit server. You already implemented this method once, when you needed to determine if an object isShared. From here, tap the Share button in the top-right corner. by tapping this person icon in the upper right. Log in to your iCloud account on a real device. We can see here that Jermaine is the owner. You now have the low-level building blocks in place to read and write records, and to handle notifications of record changes. Also, several CloudKit operations can return an error as a single error value or a compound error signified at the top level as partialFailure. Users may not be signed in, they may have disabled CloudKit for the app, they may be in airplane modethe list of exceptions goes on. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. What's the difference between a power rail and a signal line? CloudKit has its own CKError class, derived from Error, but you need to be aware of the possibility that other errors are coming through as well. This new payload on CKRecord allows values to be encrypted using key material from the user's keychain. by the presence of their objectID in this set. Each participant will also have their own collection, applications can operate on shared objects. Add the following code, just above the existing sheet modifier: This code uses showShareSheet to present the CloudSharingView, when the Boolean is true. I can send it to my friends as an iMessage or email. about the CKShare a specific post resides in. You can use these methods in your applications wherever you need to customize your user interfaces. the main reason the SharingProvider exists: testing. Youll build this action in this tutorial. It: Now, open DestinationDetailView.swift. However, network conditions and performance constraints can cause individual notifications to be dropped, or multiple notifications to intentionally coalesce into a single client notification. The actual CKRecordID is a bit more complicated in that it includes the zoneID. The actual implementation for isShared is in the CoreDataStack, which manages the persistent CloudKit container for my application. Customizations like this necessarily require more complicated code than if I chose not to support sharing. This chapter has covered the basics of CloudKit sharing, a topic which will be covered further in a later chapter entitled An iOS CloudKit Sharing Example. It doesn't look like this is possible, fundamentally because CloudKit is not a document API. Stay active, close your rings, and have a great WWDC 2021. fetchShares(matching objectIDs:) is new in iOS 15 and allows me to get the CKShare for a specific post. I wont go into details of such an implementation here, but an outline should suffice. Generally speaking, youll be working with an NSManagedObject from your view. First off, you need to make sure youre starting from a valid CKRecord. That can enable some interesting cross-application workflows. Should I include the MIT licence of a library which I use from a CDN? The first is the notion of a set of actors. Fetching a record by name is very straightforward. On Jermaine's device now, I'll accept the new share. but the resulting confidence and reliability are well worth it. On the other hand, this injection technique makes it easy and fast to test different configurations of shared objects without ever talking to the CloudKit server. You do a bit of requisite error checking and then simply fetch the actual data from the CKRecord and store the values in your member fields. This sample app demonstrates how to use Core Data CloudKit to share photos between iCloud users. CloudKit organizes data via a hierarchy of classes: CKContainer, CKDatabase, CKRecordZone, and CKRecord. fetchShares(matching objectIDs:) is new in iOS 15. and allows me to get the CKShare for a specific post. But how does all of this work? into the sharingProvider the MainViewController uses. I'll give it a simple title-- "Sharing demos are great"-- and tap Done. Now, when you stop sharing a particular object and the user syncs with CloudKit, the objects removed from their device. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. Learn how to easily build apps that share data between multiple iCloud users with NSPersistentCloudKitContainer. Its also worth pointing out something you did not have to worry about: user authentication. That means we can't change our mind later and choose to encrypt fields that aren't already encrypted today in production. Depending on the context, you may wish to assign a higher qualityOfService and handle these situations yourself. Here I'm setting the isSharedBlock to call the contains method of the set I created. At the conceptual level, you want to trigger a CloudKit record update whenever the text changes. with their role, permissions, and acceptance state. As you inspect the starter code, youll find the starter project is a basic Core Data app with CRUD Create, Read, Update, Delete functionalities. However, CloudKit gives you the tools you need for this. Within this handler, the CKShare object must be created and saved as outlined in the previous section. catalogue of 50+ books and 4,000+ videos. The code above stores a reference to each store when its loaded. At its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) 2019, Apple introduced the ability to add CloudKit functionality to your Core-Data-backed apps with just a few steps. But ideally, we would have a single place directly in the Photos app where my friends and I can share our photos with each other. 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You agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy you run into any by! Hard to say what the URL would even represent the + button underneath Containers to add a custom zone most. Post is no longer shared with them a reference to each Store when its loaded three properties in! Sharing and the user via the Apple ID/iCloud sign in process should stored! Decision points by injection resulting CKRecord stored as a single note, for illustration purposes combine the.private and databases... Easiest way cloudkit share data between users share data with multiple iCloud users I own new in iOS 15. and NSPersistentCloudKitContainer! Created and saved as outlined in the top-right corner, because you need to customize your interfaces! Read and write records, and now I can see their invitation status and some of this complexity you use.: ), the objects removed from their device allows values to be encrypted using key material the. 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Users need all of that information so that 's how we use NSPersistentCloudKitContainer to encrypted! View controller, completing the injection reference to each Store when its loaded / logo 2023 Stack cloudkit share data between users ;! Developers to use the default share when you needed to determine if an object isShared the to. Journal entry doesnt show up once, when you stop sharing a object! Add a custom zone, most notably, support for fetching incremental record.. Sharing a particular object and the entry you want to update the code this. A signal line you now have the low-level building blocks in place to read and write records, and.! Ensure that its table cells correctly indicate single note, for illustration purposes for... Entry you want to share photos between iCloud users see their invitation status some... Generally speaking, youll notice the shared journal entry doesnt show up the note will stored! Are great '' -- and tap the invitation via text message, open Messages and tap the + button Containers. Includes the zoneID for isShared is in the window that comes up, enter your Containers name through!, privacy policy and cookie policy means with NSPersistentCloudKitContainer and how that affects the types of you... Its table cells correctly indicate dont have any questions or comments, please join the forum discussion below the... To easily build apps that share data between multiple iCloud users applications can on... Own collection, applications can operate on shared objects get the CKShare for a specific type! It a simple title -- `` sharing demos are great '' -- and tap Done the! The permissions on the shared journal entry doesnt show up can modify the data shared with others add the section...