Michal Ždanský A lot of chips fell when cutting down the forest of complexity for the original iPhone. In the name of simplification and ease of use of the revolutionary phone, Apple cut some aspects of the operating system to an absolute minimum. One idea was to get rid of classic file management.
It's no secret that Steve Jobs hated the file system as we know it from desktop computers, he found it complex and difficult for the average user to grasp. Files buried in a pile of sub-folders, the need for maintenance to avoid chaos, all this should not have poisoned the healthy iPhone OS system, and the only management that was needed on the original iPhone was through iTunes for the synchronization of multimedia files, or the system had a unified photo library from which to upload images or save them to it.
A journey through user pain
With the advent of third-party applications, it became clear that the sandbox model, which ensures the security of the system and the files within it, where files can only be accessed by the applications in which they are stored, is insufficient. We have thus received several options for working with files. We could get them from the applications to the computer via iTunes, the "Open in..." menu made it possible to copy the file to another application that supports its format, and Documents in iCloud made it possible to synchronize files from the same applications across Apple platforms, albeit in a rather non-transparent way.
The original idea of simplifying a complex file system eventually backfired against Apple and, above all, against users. Working with files between multiple applications represented chaos, at the center of which was a large number of copies of the same file across applications without the possibility of any overview of the actuality of a given document or other file. Instead, developers started turning to cloud storage and their SDKs.
With the implementation of Dropbox and other services, users were able to access the same files from any application, edit them, and save changes without making copies. This solution made file management much easier, but it was far from ideal. Implementing file stores meant a lot of work for developers who had to figure out how the app would handle syncing and prevent file corruption, plus there was never a guarantee that your app would support the store you were using. Working with files in the cloud presented another limitation – the device had to be online at all times and files could not only be stored locally.
Seven years since the first version of iPhone OS, today iOS, finally Apple has come up with a final solution, where it moves away from the original idea of file management based on the application, instead offering a classic file structure, albeit cleverly processed. Say hello to iCloud Drive and Document Picker.
iCloud Drive
iCloud Drive is not Apple's first cloud storage, its predecessor is iDisk, which was part of MobileMe. After rebranding the service to iCloud, its philosophy has partially changed. Instead of a competitor for Dropbox or SkyDrive (now OneDrive), iCloud was supposed to be a service package especially for synchronization, not a separate storage. Apple resisted this philosophy until this year, when it finally introduced iCloud Drive.
iCloud Drive itself is not unlike Dropbox and other similar services. On the desktop (Mac and Windows) it represents a special folder that is constantly up-to-date and in sync with the cloud version. As revealed by the third beta of iOS 8, iCloud Drive will also have its own web interface, probably on iCloud.com. However, it does not have a dedicated client on mobile devices, instead being integrated into apps within a component Document Picker.
The magic of iCloud Drive is not only in syncing manually added files, but in including all the files that the app syncs with iCloud. Each application has its own folder in iCloud Drive, marked with an icon for better orientation, and individual files in it. You can find Pages documents in the cloud in the appropriate folder, the same applies to third-party applications. Similarly, Mac applications that sync to iCloud, but do not have a counterpart on iOS (Preview, TextEdit) have their own folder in iCloud Drive and any application can access them.
It's not yet clear whether iCloud Drive will have additional features like Dropbox, such as file link sharing or multi-user shared folders, but we'll probably find out in the fall.
Document Picker
The Document Picker component is an integral part of working with files in iOS 8. Through it, Apple integrates iCloud Drive into any application and allows you to open files outside of its own sandbox.
The Document Picker works similarly to the Image Picker, it is a window where the user can select individual files to open or import. It is practically a very simplified file manager with a classic tree structure. The root directory will be the same as the main iCloud Drive folder, with the difference that there will also be local folders with application data.
The files of third-party applications do not necessarily have to be synchronized to iCloud Drive, Document Picker can access them locally. However, data availability does not apply to all applications, the developer must explicitly allow access and mark the Documents folder in the application as public. If they do, the app's user files will be available to all other apps using Document Picker without requiring an internet connection for iCloud Drive.
Users will have four basic actions for working with documents – Open, Move, Import and Export. The second pair of actions more or less takes over the function of the current way of working with files, when it creates copies of individual files into the application's own container. For example, a user may want to edit an image to keep it in its original form, so instead of opening it, they choose import, which duplicates the file in the application's folder. Export is then the more or less well-known "Open in..." function.
However, the first pair is more interesting. Opening the file does exactly what you would expect from such an action. A third-party application will open the file from another location without duplicating or moving it and can continue to work with it. All changes are then saved to the original file, just as it is on desktop systems. Here, Apple has saved the work of developers, who do not have to worry about how a file opened in multiple applications or devices at the same time will be handled, which could otherwise lead to its corruption. All coordination is taken care of by the system together with CloudKit, developers only have to implement the relevant API in the application.
A move file action can then simply move an item from one application folder to another. So, if you want to use one app for all the management of files stored locally on your device, file mover will let you do that.
For each application, the developer specifies what types of files it can work with. The Document Picker also adapts to this, and instead of displaying all files in the entire iCloud Drive and local application folders, it will show only those types that the application can open, which makes the search much easier. In addition, Document Picker provides file previews, list and matrix display, and a search field.
Third-party cloud storage
In iOS 8, iCloud Drive and Document Picker are not exclusive, on the contrary, third-party cloud storage providers will be able to connect to the system in a similar way. Document Picker will have a toggle button at the top of the window where users can choose to view iCloud Drive or other available storage.
Third-party integration requires work only from those providers, and will work similarly to other app extensions in the system. In a way, the integration means support for a special extension in iOS 8 that adds cloud storage to the list in the document picker's storage menu. The only condition is the presence of an installed application for the given service, which is integrated into the system or Document Picker through its extension.
Until now, if developers wanted to integrate some of the cloud storages, they had to add the storage themselves through the available APIs of the service, but the responsibility for handling the files correctly so as not to damage files or lose data fell on their heads. For developers, a proper implementation could mean long weeks or months of development. With Document Picker, this work now goes directly to the cloud storage provider, so developers only need to integrate Document Picker.
This doesn't quite apply if they want to integrate the repository deeper into the app with their own user interface, like Markdown editors do for example. However, for most other developers, this means a significant simplification of development and they can practically integrate any cloud storage in one go without any extra work.
Of course, the storage providers themselves will benefit to a large extent, especially the less popular ones. It used to be that storage support for apps was often limited to Dropbox, or Google Drive, and a few others. Less popular players in the field of cloud storage practically did not have a chance to integrate into the applications, as it would mean a disproportionate amount of extra work for the developers of these applications, the benefits of which would be difficult for the providers to convince them of.
Thanks to iOS 8, all the cloud storage that the user installs on his device can be integrated into the system, whether they are big players or lesser-known services. If your choice is Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, or SugarSync, there's nothing stopping you from using them for file management, as long as those providers update their apps accordingly.
záver
With iCloud Drive, Document Picker, and the ability to integrate third-party storage, Apple has taken a big step forward towards proper and efficient file management, which was one of the biggest weaknesses of the system on iOS and which developers had to work around. With iOS 8, the platform will provide more productivity and work efficiency than ever before, and it has a host of enthusiastic third-party developers willing to support this effort.
Although iOS 8 brings a lot of freedom to the system thanks to all of the above, there are still some noticeable limitations that developers and users will have to deal with. For example, iCloud Drive doesn't have its own app as such, it only exists within Document Picker on iOS, which makes it a bit difficult to manage files separately on iPhone and iPad. In the same way, the Document Picker cannot, for example, be invoked from the Mail application and any file attached to the message.
For developers, iCloud Drive means that they have to switch from Documents in iCloud all at once for their applications, as the services are not compatible with each other and users would thus lose the possibility of synchronization. But all this is only a small price for the possibilities that Apple has provided to users and developers. The benefits coming from iCloud Drive and Document Picker probably won't show up immediately after the official release of iOS 8, but it's a big promise for the near future. The one we've been calling for for years.
If it will be possible to create a folder and have mixed files in it (Numbers, Pages...) Then it will be a godsend...
it should also be…
This is one of Apple's biggest mistakes in the history of iOS development. It is a complete betrayal of the initial idea for which the system was created. A file system is not irreplaceable, only its implementation must evolve gradually. If they only added file editing in another application to iOS (so that one could access the files of another), the sandbox system could still work. Unfortunately, this is an overkill that will bring chaos, clutter and management issues. I'm really really sorry. With this, Apple gave up one of its greatest characteristics - to innovate. In particular, to innovate sensibly and not to look at the senseless complaints of users who cannot think creatively.
I'm not at all surprised that when they introduced iCloud Drive at WWDC, there were unpleasant boos from the audience. I totally understand them. The absence of a file system was one of the best features of iOS and contributed to its simplicity and popularity. Despite all the critics. It is mainly the absence of a file system that contributes to the stability and predictability of the system. And thanks to this, she ensured his popularity.
security was more important than file system... I still remember very well how I accidentally deleted a bad file when I wanted to add my own ringtone to iPhone 1st gen
according to what was presented at WWDC, iOS 8 should enable what you describe - so that one file can be accessed by multiple applications
I am looking forward to the integration of cloud storage, especially OneDrive, where there is now 365x5TB space within Office1
1. I am quite afraid of how it will look, for example, with such a PDF expert who can open absolutely everything... I would also like for a person to be able to influence what they can and cannot open for individual applications...
2. What about offline content in the cloud? For example, with the CUBBY program I use, I have files to download so that I can then open them anywhere... Will they then be opened via the picker? Can the developers of this program influence it in any way?