iPhone Storage in Tmp Directory

iPhone storage in tmp directory

The OS will delete the temp directory on restart and at other indeterminate points. If you need to store something somewhere that you don't want backed up then use the cache directory. That will not be deleted and will not be backed up.

Your application will not be running when the temp is deleted nor will you have an opportunity to react to that deletion. This is fairly common behavior on all unix based platforms (OS X does this as well).

When does iOS clean the local app ./tmp directories?

According to the documentation, it could be any time, if the app is not executing:

The system may also purge lingering files from this directory when your app is not running.

It's logical to assume if a) your app is not running; and b) your device is running low on storage, then it's highly likely the system will, at some point, purge the contents of <Application_Home>/tmp/.

It's also worth noting that the documentation states:

Your app should remove files from this directory when it determines they are no longer needed.

The emphasis here being on the app developer to do their own housekeeping and not leave it for the OS to tidy up after them.

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