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Comment by faizanaziz | Hacker News Reader

Apple wants Cache (stuff that can be re downloaded and not core to the experience, just to improve performance) to actually be deletable when space is low. A valid point.

Developers want a place to store app information that is critical and sometimes a very important part of the app(example main feature of instapaper is to view offline content). This should not be backed up since its redundant and when the phone needs to be restored(rarely) this data can be re-downloaded. Also backing up will be slow and destroy user experience.

Solution make another location which is used for storing the data(not backed up) so then all are happy. Maybe you can have data from hidden directories not backed up inside the Documents directory. Then Apple can delete caches in apps like browsers. User critical data like settings can be backed up and app critical data that need not be backed up can also exist

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In the Stack Overflow article linked from the parent, the dev describes the scenario this way: "No, users explicitly download sets of map tiles, that they will need when they are in the forest, or flying their airplane, or sailing their boat."

If it's that important, it SHOULD go in a folder that's backed up/synced to the cloud or so it seems to me. What happens when users conditioned to expect that all their documents will automagically appear on all their Apple products discover that the maps they set up on their iPad at home aren't on on their iPhone when they get out in the field? Food for thought.

You have a valid question about whether or not map data should be backed up locally. But the answer in practice, as the author pointed out, is no. It takes time, which isn't fun to spend, and as you pointed out, potentially money.

($10 isn't a lot until you divide it by the dollar value of what you're getting, namely virtually nothing in the case of map tile backup.)

Why back up? Peace of mind for when your phone dies, is the reason. Backing up map tiles, while marginally useful on a restore, becomes not worth the time spent because there is no peace of mind benefit--the map tiles are already backed up. All the user experiences is that the sync is taking forever.

No, users shouldn't have to back up 5 gigs of maps to their 5 gig iCloud storage.

Making an assertion isn't answering the question.

Modding someone down for stating a fact isn't legitimate discussion, either. Unless Apple somehow guaranteed that stuff in the Cache folder was permanent (which more or less violates the definition of "cache" as widely understood) you relied on undocumented behavior, and you got burned by it. It happens all the time (it's happened to me before, definitely). If the data is that important (and I agree that it could be in this cae) the user needs to take the hit and pay for permanent cloud storage. That 5 gigs of storage would cost them a whopping $10.00 per year at Apple's announced price. BFD.

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