Save Photos to Custom Album in iPhones Photo Library

Question

I\'m trying to create a custom album in the Photo Library of an iPhone and then save photos that I\'ve taken with the camera, or chosen from the phones Camera Roll to that c

Answer 1

If you are using iOS6, Fernando's answer will not work, because the saveImage selector is no longer available.

The process is pretty confusing, and I have not seen any clear answers posted, so here is the method I've used to solve this in iOS6.

You will need to use a combination of the following:

Create the Album:

[self.library addAssetsGroupAlbumWithName:albumName 
                              resultBlock:^(ALAssetsGroup *group) {
         NSLog(@"added album:%@", albumName);
}
                             failureBlock:^(NSError *error) {
         NSLog(@"error adding album");
}];

Find the Album:

__block ALAssetsGroup* groupToAddTo;
[self.library enumerateGroupsWithTypes:ALAssetsGroupAlbum
                             usingBlock:^(ALAssetsGroup *group, BOOL *stop) {
      if ([[group valueForProperty:ALAssetsGroupPropertyName] isEqualToString:albumName]) {
          NSLog(@"found album %@", albumName);
          groupToAddTo = group;
      }
}
                           failureBlock:^(NSError* error) {
     NSLog(@"failed to enumerate albums:\nError: %@", [error localizedDescription]);
}];

Save the Image to Asset Library, and put it into the album:

CGImageRef img = [image CGImage];
[self.library writeImageToSavedPhotosAlbum:img
                                  metadata:[info objectForKey:UIImagePickerControllerMediaMetadata]
                           completionBlock:^(NSURL* assetURL, NSError* error) {
     if (error.code == 0) {
         NSLog(@"saved image completed:\nurl: %@", assetURL);

         // try to get the asset
         [self.library assetForURL:assetURL
                       resultBlock:^(ALAsset *asset) {
              // assign the photo to the album
              [groupToAddTo addAsset:asset];
              NSLog(@"Added %@ to %@", [[asset defaultRepresentation] filename], albumName);
          }
                      failureBlock:^(NSError* error) {
              NSLog(@"failed to retrieve image asset:\nError: %@ ", [error localizedDescription]);
          }];
     }
     else {
         NSLog(@"saved image failed.\nerror code %i\n%@", error.code, [error localizedDescription]);
     }
 }];

Answer 2

The code from @Scott Allen was close but would not save the image for me the first time. So if I did not already have the album created, the image would not save. My solution was to move this snippet that creates the album to the app delegate didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:

    NSString *albumName=@"album name";
ALAssetsLibrary *library = [[ALAssetsLibrary alloc] init];
[library addAssetsGroupAlbumWithName:albumName
                         resultBlock:^(ALAssetsGroup *group) {
                             NSLog(@"added album:%@", albumName);
                         }
                        failureBlock:^(NSError *error) {
                            NSLog(@"error adding album");
                        }];

Answer 3

Fernando's answer worked for me in iOS 7.

Steps :

1) Download the ALAssetsLibrary+CustomPhotoAlbum code from here: http://www.touch-code-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/ALAssetsLibrary_CustomPhotoAlbum.zip?a071b6 and copy the 2 files for the category inside your Xcode project.

2)In your header file,add the following lines

#import <AssetsLibrary/AssetsLibrary.h>
#import "ALAssetsLibrary+CustomPhotoAlbum.h"

@property (strong, atomic) ALAssetsLibrary* library;

3) In your implementation file,add the following lines

@synthesize library=_library;

EDIT: 4) initialise the asset library instance, preferably in "viewDidLoad" method, otherwise the saveImage method below won't execute. (CONFIRMED):

[I am resubmitting the suggested edit because someone with non-iphone skills rejected the previous submission. This is undoubtedly a great answer by @santhu & Fernando and helped me a lot, however, the initialisation piece of code was missing so it took me a bit of time to figure out why the code didn't work. Hence, I would appreciate if a moderator with iPhone development skillset reviews the edit.]

_library = [[ALAssetsLibrary alloc] init];

5) Add this in the method where you wish to save

  //Add this in the method where you wish to save
  [self.library saveImage:(UIImage *) toAlbum:(NSString *) withCompletionBlock:^(NSError                 *error) {
    if (error!=nil) {
        NSLog(@"Big error: %@", [error description]);
    }
}];

Answer 4

For swift users:- I made function to do the same thing.

declare closure outsize class definition (above class definition)

typealias CompletionHandler = (success:Bool!) -> Void  

declare library variable inside class

var library:ALAssetsLibrary?;

initialize variable in viewDidLoad

library = ALAssetsLibrary();

method to add Image to Particular Album

func addImage(image:UIImage, metaData:NSDictionary, toAlbum albumName:String, handler:CompletionHandler){

    library?.addAssetsGroupAlbumWithName(albumName, resultBlock: {(group:ALAssetsGroup!) -> Void in
        print("\nAlbum Created:=  \(albumName)");
        /*-- Find Group --*/

        var groupToAddTo:ALAssetsGroup?;

        self.library?.enumerateGroupsWithTypes(ALAssetsGroupType(ALAssetsGroupAlbum),
            usingBlock: { (group:ALAssetsGroup?, stop:UnsafeMutablePointer<ObjCBool>) -> Void in

                if(group != nil){

                    if group!.valueForProperty(ALAssetsGroupPropertyName) as String == albumName{
                        groupToAddTo = group;

                        print("\nGroup Found \(group!.valueForProperty(ALAssetsGroupPropertyName))\n");

                        self.library?.writeImageToSavedPhotosAlbum(image.CGImage, metadata:metaData, completionBlock: {(assetURL:NSURL!,error:NSError!) -> Void in

                            if(error == nil){
                                self.library?.assetForURL(assetURL,
                                    resultBlock: { (asset:ALAsset!) -> Void in
                                        var yes:Bool? = groupToAddTo?.addAsset(asset);
                                        if (yes == true){
                                            handler(success: true);
                                        }
                                    },
                                    failureBlock: { (error2:NSError!) -> Void in
                                        print("Failed to add asset");
                                        handler(success: false);
                                });
                            }
                        });
                    }
                } /*Group Is Not nil*/
            },
            failureBlock: { (error:NSError!) -> Void in
                print("Failed to find group");
                handler(success: false);
        });

        }, failureBlock: { (error:NSError!) -> Void in
            print("Failed to create \(error)");
            handler(success: false);
    });
}

call this method as :--

func imagePickerController(picker: UIImagePickerController, didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo info: [NSObject : AnyObject]){

    var image:UIImage = info[UIImagePickerControllerOriginalImage] as UIImage;
    var metadata:NSDictionary = info[UIImagePickerControllerMediaMetadata] as NSDictionary;

    self.addImage(image, metaData: metadata, toAlbum: "SwiftAlbum") { (success) -> Void in
        print("Image Added : \(success)");
    }

    picker.dismissViewControllerAnimated(true, completion: nil);
}

Answer 5

I haven't seen really clear answers and code to these questions. For me, I wanted to make sure that the album was found or created, before I fire up the camera. This code seems to be about right, and I think it is a bit cleaner and easier to steal^H^H^H^H^Hstart from.

// find or create our photo album.  If either works
// we fire up the camera. Crazy asynchronous code here.

__weak PhotoVC *weakSelf = self;
__block BOOL found = NO;

ALAssetsLibraryGroupsEnumerationResultsBlock
assetGroupEnumerator = ^(ALAssetsGroup *group, BOOL *stop){
    if (group) {
        NSString *thisGroup = [group valueForProperty:ALAssetsGroupPropertyName];
        if ([album isEqualToString:thisGroup]) {
            NSLog(@"album found!");
            [weakSelf startCamera: group];
            *stop = YES;
            found = YES;
        }
    } else { // not found, create the album
        if (found)
            return;
        NSLog(@"album not found, try making album");

        ALAssetsLibraryGroupResultBlock addGroup =
        ^(ALAssetsGroup *group){
            NSLog(@"album created");
            [weakSelf startCamera: group];
        };

        ALAssetsLibraryAccessFailureBlock addGroupFailed =
        ^(NSError *err){
            NSLog(@"add group failed: %@", [err localizedDescription]);
        };

        [library addAssetsGroupAlbumWithName:album resultBlock:addGroup failureBlock:addGroupFailed];
    }
};

[library enumerateGroupsWithTypes:ALAssetsGroupAlbum
                       usingBlock:assetGroupEnumerator
                     failureBlock:^(NSError *error) {
                         NSLog(@"album access denied");
                     }];

Tom Duff's law: steal code whenever you can.