Get all of the pictures from an iPhone photoLibrary in an array using AssetsLibrary framework?

Question

I want to get all of the pictures from photoLibrary. I would prefer a method or example that I can use directly.

Solution 1

//View Controller header(.h) file..

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#include <AssetsLibrary/AssetsLibrary.h> 

@interface getPhotoLibViewController : UIViewController
{
 ALAssetsLibrary *library;
 NSArray *imageArray;
 NSMutableArray *mutableArray;
}

-(void)allPhotosCollected:(NSArray*)imgArray;

 @end

//implementation file

declare global count variable as

static int count=0;

@implementation getPhotoLibViewController

-(void)getAllPictures
{
 imageArray=[[NSArray alloc] init];
 mutableArray =[[NSMutableArray alloc]init];
 NSMutableArray* assetURLDictionaries = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];

 library = [[ALAssetsLibrary alloc] init];

 void (^assetEnumerator)( ALAsset *, NSUInteger, BOOL *) = ^(ALAsset *result, NSUInteger index, BOOL *stop) {
  if(result != nil) {
   if([[result valueForProperty:ALAssetPropertyType] isEqualToString:ALAssetTypePhoto]) {
    [assetURLDictionaries addObject:[result valueForProperty:ALAssetPropertyURLs]];

    NSURL *url= (NSURL*) [[result defaultRepresentation]url]; 

    [library assetForURL:url
             resultBlock:^(ALAsset *asset) {
              [mutableArray addObject:[UIImage imageWithCGImage:[[asset defaultRepresentation] fullScreenImage]]];

              if ([mutableArray count]==count)
              {
               imageArray=[[NSArray alloc] initWithArray:mutableArray];
               [self allPhotosCollected:imageArray];
              }
             }
            failureBlock:^(NSError *error){ NSLog(@"operation was not successfull!"); } ]; 

   } 
  }
 };

 NSMutableArray *assetGroups = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];

 void (^ assetGroupEnumerator) ( ALAssetsGroup *, BOOL *)= ^(ALAssetsGroup *group, BOOL *stop) {
  if(group != nil) {
   [group enumerateAssetsUsingBlock:assetEnumerator];
   [assetGroups addObject:group];
   count=[group numberOfAssets];
  }
 };

 assetGroups = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];

 [library enumerateGroupsWithTypes:ALAssetsGroupAll
                        usingBlock:assetGroupEnumerator
                      failureBlock:^(NSError *error) {NSLog(@"There is an error");}];
}

-(void)allPhotosCollected:(NSArray*)imgArray
{
 //write your code here after getting all the photos from library...
 NSLog(@"all pictures are %@",imgArray);
}

@end

Use getAllPicture method to get photos from photo library.

OR You can have a look at this blog http://mutiselectimagepicker.blogspot.in/2014/08/imageselect-to-allow-multiple-selection.html

Solution 2

Since ALAssetsLibrary is deprecated now and Photo Framework is new one. I made my own function in Objective C to get all photos from Camera Roll and store in NSArray and displayed in my Collectionview

 NSArray *imageArray;
 NSMutableArray *mutableArray;

-(void)getAllPhotosFromCamera
{
    imageArray=[[NSArray alloc] init];
    mutableArray =[[NSMutableArray alloc]init];

    PHImageRequestOptions *requestOptions = [[PHImageRequestOptions alloc] init];
    requestOptions.resizeMode   = PHImageRequestOptionsResizeModeExact;
    requestOptions.deliveryMode = PHImageRequestOptionsDeliveryModeHighQualityFormat;
    requestOptions.synchronous = true;
    PHFetchResult *result = [PHAsset fetchAssetsWithMediaType:PHAssetMediaTypeImage options:nil];

    NSLog(@"%d",(int)result.count);

    PHImageManager *manager = [PHImageManager defaultManager];
    NSMutableArray *images = [NSMutableArray arrayWithCapacity:[result count]];

    // assets contains PHAsset objects.

    __block UIImage *ima;
    for (PHAsset *asset in result) {
        // Do something with the asset

        [manager requestImageForAsset:asset
                           targetSize:PHImageManagerMaximumSize
                          contentMode:PHImageContentModeDefault
                              options:requestOptions
                        resultHandler:^void(UIImage *image, NSDictionary *info) {
                            ima = image;

                            [images addObject:ima];
                        }];


    }

    imageArray = [images copy];  // You can direct use NSMutuable Array images
}

Comments

[Ankit Malhotra]

The memory footprint of above approach is tremendous ! Although it is a very apt & simple way of doing it. Memory management specifically becomes difficult in this due to use of asynchronous block.

[Harjot Singh]

It gives error, if we use "#include <AssetsLibrary/AssetsLibrary.h> " So please use this in your header to remover any errors: #import <AssetsLibrary/ALAsset.h> For Help: stackoverflow.com/questions/10342931/…

[Harjot Singh]

Import #import <AssetsLibrary/ALAssetRepresentation.h> For over come this error: Receiver type 'ALAssetRepresentation' for instance message is a forward declaration

[C0mrade]

If you load images more then 60, Memory goes up to 500MB. Tested on ios 9.1 with iphone 6S. will post improved answer.

[locomotion]

For reducing memory consumption, you can get image thumbnails using [asset thumbnail] or [asset aspectRatioThumbnail] instead of [[asset defaultRepresentation] fullScreenImage]]. You can save image URLs and get full versions of images later on demand.

[Underdog]

to save memory save the ALAsset, then only fetch the image/thumbnail once you will dispaly it, or once the cell is being shown...

[karan]

AssetsLibrary is deprecated... Can we have new PHPhotoLibrary example.

[karan]

I added new version of getting photos, since AssetsLibrary was deprecated.

[Sneha]

its deprecated now .... !!! can you provide use of PHPhotoLibrary instead...?????

[Gowri G]

getting crash like [PHPhotoLibrary init[ unsupported.

[Gowri G]

Is there any other option to resolve this one. please let me know?