Downloading app data from a released app using Xcode 4.6

Question

Related to How to download app data in Xcode 4.2, I am using XCode 4.6 and can no longer download my app data using the Xcode Organizer. My app was recently released to the app store, and I can't recall, but I may have downloaded my app from the app store. In any event, the current version of the app on my phone is a development version (through Xcode, not app store). Other development apps show up in the Organizer, but not my released app. Since I don't want to lose the data associated with the app, I can't just delete the app, and re-install through Xcode. Suggestions?

Answer 1

If you coded your app to save the data to the app's Application Documents directly you can use a tool like PhoneDisk (or the newer iExplorer - http://www.macroplant.com/phonedisk/) to access your device and copy the contents from the documents folder to your desktop (or wherever).

Often times when we build apps with databases and we want to make sure users can easily backup, transfer, and/or email the DB to customer support so we enable iTunes file sharing.

This allows users to open iTunes, choose their device, select the Apps tab, then scroll down to the File Sharing section. From there the user can select any file located in the documents folder and easily copy the files to/from the device via iTunes.

To do this, you must enable Application Supports iTunes File Sharing by adding the same key and setting the BOOL value to YES in the *-Info.plist file for your application.