Transmit iOS and iCloud Drive

Panic got a baffling App Store decree from Apple:

Also, at Apple’s request, we had to remove the ability to “Send” files to other services, including iCloud Drive.

In short, we’re told that while Transmit iOS can download content from iCloud Drive, we cannot upload content to iCloud Drive unless the content was created in the app itself. Apple says this use would violate 2.23 — “Apps must follow the iOS Data Storage Guidelines or they will be rejected” — but oddly that page says nothing about iCloud Drive or appropriate uses for iCloud Drive.

I thought the whole point of iCloud Drive, and iOS 8’s new sharing sheet for storage services like Box and Dropbox, was to allow users to do exactly what Transmit enabled. To say that those “iOS Data Storage Guidelines” do not explain this limitation is an understatement — they have nothing to do with iCloud Drive.

If iCloud Drive were an iOS-only technology, this might make some sort of sense. But given that iCloud Drive on OS X allows you unfettered freedom to put whatever file you want wherever you want it, this doesn’t make any sense at all.

(Even without this feature, Transmit for iOS is a fantastic app. The whole crew at Panic is on an amazing roll recently, including a major re-write of their iOS SSH client Prompt and a huge free update to Coda.)

★ Monday, 8 December 2014