iOS: Can't save file to 'Application Support' folder, but can to 'Documents'

Question

I can download and save a binary file to the 'Documents' folder with a custom name perfectly fine.

If I just change the URL to the 'Application Support' folder instead of the 'Documents' folder, it fails to write to that URL saying it doesn't exist.

Here's the URL construction code:

- ( NSURL * ) getSaveFolder
{
    NSURL * appSupportDir    = nil;
    NSURL * appDirectory     = nil;
    NSArray * possibleURLs   = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] URLsForDirectory:NSApplicationSupportDirectory inDomains:NSAllDomainsMask];

    if ( [possibleURLs count] >= 1 )
    {
        appSupportDir = [possibleURLs objectAtIndex:0];
    }

    if ( appSupportDir != nil)
    {
        NSString * appBundleID = [[NSBundle mainBundle] bundleIdentifier];
        appDirectory           = [appSupportDir URLByAppendingPathComponent:appBundleID];
    }

    return appSupportDir;
}

Here's the saving code:

- ( void ) writeOutDataToFile:( NSData * )data
{

    NSURL * finalURL = [self.rootPathURL URLByAppendingPathComponent:self.aFileName];

    [data writeToURL:finalURL atomically:YES];
}

---

If I change the NSArray to:

NSArray * possibleURLs   = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] URLsForDirectory:NSDocumentDirectory inDomains:NSUserDomainMask];

then it saves fine.

I've read the Apple Docs on File stuff and can't fix this - what am I missing?

Answer 1

In case anyone is unsure how to do what rmaddy describes:

NSString *appSupportDir = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSApplicationSupportDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) lastObject];
//If there isn't an App Support Directory yet ... 
if (![[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:appSupportDir isDirectory:NULL]) {
    NSError *error = nil;
//Create one 
    if (![[NSFileManager defaultManager] createDirectoryAtPath:appSupportDir withIntermediateDirectories:YES attributes:nil error:&error]) {
        NSLog(@"%@", error.localizedDescription);
    }
    else {
// *** OPTIONAL *** Mark the directory as excluded from iCloud backups 
        NSURL *url = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:appSupportDir];
        if (![url setResourceValue:@YES
                            forKey:NSURLIsExcludedFromBackupKey
                             error:&error])
        {
            NSLog(@"Error excluding %@ from backup %@", url.lastPathComponent, error.localizedDescription);
        }
        else {
            NSLog(@"Yay");
        }
    }
}