To store simple user preferences or very small amounts of data, use iCloud KVS ( NSUbiquitousKeyValueStore).Įxample: your app has a simple boolean preference to show or hide a toolbar and you want this preference to sync across a user's devices. You can store large files in CloudKit, but it might not be the best solution if you have a document-based app.Įxamples: text editors like Pages, image editors like Pixelmator and Sketch. In this case you'd be better of using Google Drive, DropBox, iCloud Drive or other similar services. If your app works primarily with documents, CloudKit is probably not the best tool for the job. Now we've seen some applications for which CloudKit is best suited for, let's see some examples where it's not. You can use CloudKit to send notifications, eliminating the need to use a 3rd party service or a VPS.Īlternatives: Firebase, custom web app. You can use CloudKit just to get the user's unique identifier and use it as an authentication method for another service. Use iCloud as an authentication mechanism If you have a suite of apps, they can all share the same CloudKit container so users can have access to their data for all of your apps on every device they have associated with their iCloud account.Īlternatives: Realm Mobile Platform, custom web app.
Sync user data between multiple apps from the same developer You could store color codes in CloudKit's public database and load them every time the app is launched.Īlternatives: Realm Mobile Platform, Firebase, custom web app. Let's say for instance you have an e-commerce app and you want to change the colors of the app during Black Friday. Store application-specific dataīy using the public database on CloudKit, you can store data that's specific to your app (or a set of apps you own). This is perhaps the most obvious use for CloudKit: syncing your users' data across their devices.Įxample: a note taking app where the user can create and read notes on any device associated with their iCloud account.Īlternatives: Realm Mobile Platform, Firebase, iCloud KVS, iCloud Documents, custom web app.
These are the situations for which CloudKit is the most indicated: Sync private user data between devices 😅 Should I use CloudKit?Įven if you're convinced CloudKit is good and works well, it doesn't mean it's the best solution for your particular problem, since there are some applications where CloudKit is the best solution and some where it's not. If they don't work for you, well, then I won’t be able to convince you that CloudKit is good. Do you use Apple Notes? Photos? iCloud Drive? Activity sharing on Apple Watch? These are all powered by CloudKit and they've been working just fine for me. It's true that Apple doesn't have a good history when it comes to cloud services, but the good news is this doesn't seem to apply to CloudKit. Unfortunately, whenever talking about Apple and the cloud, the question "can I use this?" arrives. Update: If you’d like to listen to a conversation about CloudKit, check out iPhreaks episode #226 Can I use CloudKit? I am writing this article to try and help change that. I believe CloudKit is still not being used much by developers, perhaps because of ignorance or fear. Since then, it has received many improvements, like the ability to use it outside Apple's platforms and to use it on apps distributed outside the App Store on the Mac. Synchronizing data with CloudKitĪpple introduced CloudKit in 2014. EDIT: This post is kept here for archival purposes, please read the updated version in my personal blog.
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