Xcode 6 keeps renaming my app's directory in iOS8 simulator after each run.

Turns out Xcode 6 does in fact change the app's UUID every run, and I'm in the wrong for storing absolute paths.

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USE SIMPHOLDERS

I used this app on Xcode 5 opens the Documents folder, for the currently running app in the simulator, in Finder.

http://simpholders.com/

not ready for Xcode 6 yet (as of sep 24 2014) but saves all this hassle.

In Xcode 6 / iOS8 The bundle is now separate from the data./ The application GUID is regenerated between runs in Xcode (not sure why)

  DOCUMENTS DIR:/Users/gbxc/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/AC79941F-EC56-495E-A077-773EEE882732/data/Containers/Data/Application/C220D351-0BE7-46BA-B35E-D16646C61A3F/Documents
mainBundlePath_:/Users/gbxc/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/AC79941F-EC56-495E-A077-773EEE882732/data/Containers/Bundle/Application/12200D1D-9B67-408B-BCF7-38206CBE0940/myappname.app/BLANK_BLOG_SCALED.jpg

1. FIND THE DEVICES FOLDER in SIMULATOR

/Users/gbxc/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/

open each /device.plist to see which GUID is which device in XCode - I think this is static

3. FIND THE DEVICE you're running on iPad 2 - I think this is static

/Devices/AC79941F-EC56-495E-A077-773EEE882732

4. Find your application /Documents folder

/AC79941F-EC56-495E-A077-773EEE882732/data/Containers/Data/Application/C220D351-0BE7-46BA-B35E-D16646C61A3F/Documents

BEWARE the GUID C220D351-0BE7-46BA-B35E-D16646C61A3F is regenerated everytime the app is run in XCode 6

 NSArray *paths_ = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
        if(paths_){
            _docsDir = [paths_ firstObject];
            DebugLog(@"DOCUMENTS DIR:%@",_docsDir);         
        }else{
            ErrorLog(@"paths_ is nil - cant get Documents directory");
        }

MAIN BUNDLE path

NSString *mainBundlePath_ = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"someimageinyourbundle" ofType:@"jpg"];
/AC79941F-EC56-495E-A077-773EEE882732/data/Containers/Bundle/Application/12200D1D-9B67-408B-BCF7-38206CBE0940/clarksonsiq.app/BLANK_BLOG_SCALED.jpg

NEVER CACHE THE PATH to /Documents between runs it will change.

I was serializing it to a plist and couldnt figure out why they kept disappearing

The GUID above /Documents keeps changing between runs but if you have /Documents open in Finder the folder stays open.

https://devforums.apple.com/thread/235911?tstart=0

https://devforums.apple.com/thread/238754?tstart=0

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Free Solution

Use Open Source Library OpenSim. OpenSim is an open source alternative for SimPholders, written in Swift.

Paid Solution

Use SimPholder application to know current application location.

https://i.stack.imgur.com/MYgIy.png

For xcode 6.0 >

Download SimPholder 2.0 alpha 2

For xcode 5.1 <

Download SimPholders 1.5

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I can confirm that this is Xcode 6 related not iOS 8.

I have two development machines. On one of them I have Xcode 5. I was working all the time on that machine and my URL's were fine (photo app, photos are visible).

Yesterday I checked in form git my source on a machine with Xcode 6. I noticed that my photos are not visible any more, only photos that are created during that app session.

After little debugging, I realized that file:///var/mobile/Applications/B6A6BAEF-C90C-4A2A-93DB-E6700B88971F/Documents/ is changing on every app run.

All that time I am working with iOS 7 device.

I am going to check once more on a machine with Xcode 5 to confirm when I get my hands on it.

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You need to to save only path inside DocumentDirectory(directory/file name), and add it to the DocumentDirectory every time you load the file...

-(void)saveImage:(UIImage *)image{
NSData *pngData = UIImagePNGRepresentation(image);
NSString *pathInDocumentDirectory = [APP_DocumentDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:PROFILE_IMAGE_NAME];
NSString *filePath = [self documentsPathForFileName:pathInDocumentDirectory];
//Save pic file path - DirName/Filename.png
[XYZPreferencesHelper setUserImageFilePath:pathInDocumentDirectory];
 //Write the file
[[NSFileManager defaultManager] createFileAtPath:filePath contents:pngData attributes:nil];

}



-(void)loadSavedUserPicture{
//Load saved DirName/Filename.png
NSString *pathInDocumentDirectory = [XYZPreferencesHelper getUserImageFilePath];

if (pathInDocumentDirectory != nil){
    //Full path with new app Document Directory
    NSString *filePath = [self documentsPathForFileName:pathInDocumentDirectory];
    if ([[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:filePath]){
        NSData *pngData = [NSData dataWithContentsOfFile:filePath];
        UIImage *image = [UIImage imageWithData:pngData];
        if (image != nil){
            userPicImageView.image = image;
        }

    }

 }
}



- (NSString *)documentsPathForFileName:(NSString *)name
{
NSString *documentsPath = [self createRestcallDirectoryIfNotExist];
return [documentsPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:name];
}



-(NSString *)createRestcallDirectoryIfNotExist{
NSString *path;
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsPath = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
path = [documentsPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:APP_DocumentDirectory];
NSError *error;
if (![[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:path])    //Does directory already exist?
{
    if (![[NSFileManager defaultManager] createDirectoryAtPath:path
                                   withIntermediateDirectories:NO
                                                    attributes:nil
                                                         error:&error])
    {
        NSLog(@"Create directory error: %@", error);
    }
}
return documentsPath;
}

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Because app's UUID changes and not reliable 
so we should not store urls instead we should store just file names and reconstruct url at runtime , on update/reinstall iOS creates new home directory, stores app bundle in it and copies documents files so url changes 


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