File Directory Changing Every Reboot Swift iOS - swift

Question

I am currently saving images a user selects from their photo library & saving the url to User Defaults.
The issue I am currently facing is whenever my app reboots, such as an Xcode re-launch the URL I am saving to User Defaults is no longer valid. From my understanding/researching I need to save a relative URL for the image; however I am not having any luck doing this correctly. This occurs with both simulator & actual device.
From my UIImagePicker here are my steps:
func imagePickerController(_ picker: UIImagePickerController, didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo info: [UIImagePickerController.InfoKey : Any]) {
guard let image = info[.originalImage] as? UIImage else { return }
let savingImage : SavingImage = SavingImage()
let ourStringedUrl : String = savingImage.saveImageDocumentDirectory(image: image, imageName: image.description)
}
From SavingImage, here is the saving of the photo itself
func getDirectoryPath() -> NSURL {
let path = (NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(.documentDirectory, .userDomainMask, true)[0] as NSString).appendingPathComponent("AllImages")
let url = NSURL(string: path)
return url!
}
func saveImageDocumentDirectory(image: UIImage, imageName: String) -> String {
let fileManager = FileManager.default
let path = (NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(.documentDirectory, .userDomainMask, true)[0] as NSString).appendingPathComponent("AllImages")
if !fileManager.fileExists(atPath: path) {
try! fileManager.createDirectory(atPath: path, withIntermediateDirectories: true, attributes: nil)
}
let url = NSURL(string: path)
let imagePath = url!.appendingPathComponent(imageName)
let urlString: String = imagePath!.absoluteString
let imageData = image.jpegData(compressionQuality: 1)
fileManager.createFile(atPath: urlString as String, contents: imageData, attributes: nil)
return urlString as String
}
& Finally here is how I am loading the image itself:
func getImageFromDocumentDirectory(imageName : String) -> UIImage {
let fileManager = FileManager.default
var ourImage : UIImage!
let imagePath = "\(imageName)"
let urlString: String = imagePath
if fileManager.fileExists(atPath: urlString) {
ourImage = UIImage(contentsOfFile: urlString)
} else {
if ourImage == nil {
ourImage = UIImage(named: "defaultImage.png")
}
}
return ourImage
}
Where am I going wrong with the loading aspect? How exactly should I be saving the URL?
The URL that is being saved looks something similar to the following:
//var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/17C16D0D-1BFA-44F5-A6BD-18DFAEA051E0/Documents/AllImages/%3CUIImage:0x280a393b0%20anonymous%20%7B3024,%204032%7D%3E
But will come up as nil upon loading the image on reboot.

Answer 1

The new directory will be created every time you reboot your simulator or every time you install new build to device. (Uninstall previous and install new). iOS does not give us permission to select the directory. As you install new application it will create its sandbox. Please make sure you check your directory on the same build.

Answer 2

An alternative might be to use iCloud Drive and upload your image there. The iCloud drive is linked to an user's iCloud account, and therefore should persist in case of an app update.
Here's a great tutorial to get started: https://theswiftdev.com/2018/05/17/how-to-use-icloud-drive-documents/
Here's a link to the docs: https://developer.apple.com/icloud/icloud-drive/