NSUserDefaults not working on Xcode beta with Watch OS2

Question

I just installed the latest beta of Xcode to try Swift 2 and the improvements made to the Apple Watch development section.

I'm actually having an hard time figuring out WHY this basic NSUserDefaults method to share informations between iOS and Watch OS2 isn't working.

I followed this step-by-step tutorial to check if I missed something in the process, like turning on the same group for both the phone application and the extension, but here's what I got: NOTHING.

Here's what I wrote for the ViewController in the iPhone app:

import UIKit

class ViewController: UIViewController {
    @IBOutlet weak var lb_testo: UITextField!
    let shared_defaults:NSUserDefaults = NSUserDefaults(suiteName: "group.saracanducci.test")!
    var name_data:NSString? = ""

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()

        name_data = shared_defaults.stringForKey("shared")
        lb_testo.text = name_data as? String
    }

    override func didReceiveMemoryWarning() {
        super.didReceiveMemoryWarning()
    }

    @IBAction func upgrade_name(sender: AnyObject) {
        name_data = lb_testo.text
        shared_defaults.setObject(name_data, forKey: "shared")

        lb_testo.resignFirstResponder()
        shared_defaults.synchronize()
    }
}

And here's what I have in the InterfaceController for WatchKit:

import WatchKit
import Foundation

class InterfaceController: WKInterfaceController {
    @IBOutlet var lb_nome: WKInterfaceLabel!
    let shared_defaults:NSUserDefaults = NSUserDefaults(suiteName: "group.saracanducci.test")!
    var name_data:NSString? = ""

    override func awakeWithContext(context: AnyObject?) {
        super.awakeWithContext(context)
    }

    override func willActivate() {
        super.willActivate()

        if (shared_defaults.stringForKey("shared") != ""){
            name_data = shared_defaults.stringForKey("shared")
            lb_nome.setText(name_data as? String)
        }else{
            lb_nome.setText("No Value")
        }
    }

    override func didDeactivate() {
        super.didDeactivate()
    }
}

I made some tests and it seems like the iOS app and the Watch OS one take advantage of different groups...they're not sharing information, they store them locally.

Is someone having the same issue? Any idea how to fix it?

Answer 1

With watch OS2 you can no longer use shared group containers. Apple Docs:

Watch apps that shared data with their iOS apps using a shared group container must be redesigned to handle data differently. In watchOS 2, each process must manage its own copy of any shared data in the local container directory. For data that is actually shared and updated by both apps, this requires using the Watch Connectivity framework to move that data between them.