Photos Framework requestImageDataForAsset occasionally fails

I'm using the photos framework on iOS8.1 and requesting the image data for the asset using requestImageDataForAsset... Most of the time it works and I get the image data and a dictionary containing what you see below. But sometimes the call completes, but the data is nil and the dictionary contains three generic looking entries.

The calls are performed sequentially and on the same thread. It is not specific to any particular image. The error will happen on images I've successfully opened in the past. Has anyone encountered this?

+ (NSData *)retrieveAssetDataPhotosFramework:(NSURL *)urlMedia resolution:(CGFloat)resolution imageOrientation:(ALAssetOrientation*)imageOrientation {

    __block NSData *iData = nil;

    PHFetchResult *result = [PHAsset fetchAssetsWithALAssetURLs:@[urlMedia] options:nil];
    PHAsset *asset = [result firstObject];

    PHImageManager *imageManager = [PHImageManager defaultManager];
    PHImageRequestOptions *options = [[PHImageRequestOptions alloc]init];
    options.synchronous = YES;
    options.version = PHImageRequestOptionsVersionCurrent;

    @autoreleasepool {
        [imageManager requestImageDataForAsset:asset options:options resultHandler:^(NSData *imageData, NSString *dataUTI, UIImageOrientation orientation, NSDictionary *info) {
            iData = [imageData copy];
            NSLog(@"requestImageDataForAsset returned info(%@)", info);
            *imageOrientation = (ALAssetOrientation)orientation;
        }];
    }

    assert(iData.length != 0);
    return iData;
}

This is the desired result where I get image data and the dictionary of meta data:

requestImageDataForAsset returned info({
    PHImageFileDataKey = <PLXPCShMemData: 0x1702214a0> bufferLength=1753088 dataLength=1749524;
    PHImageFileOrientationKey = 1;
    PHImageFileSandboxExtensionTokenKey = "6e14948c4d0019fbb4d14cc5e021199f724f0323;00000000;00000000;000000000000001a;com.apple.app-sandbox.read;00000001;01000003;000000000009da80;/private/var/mobile/Media/DCIM/107APPLE/IMG_7258.JPG";
    PHImageFileURLKey = "file:///var/mobile/Media/DCIM/107APPLE/IMG_7258.JPG";
    PHImageFileUTIKey = "public.jpeg";
    PHImageResultDeliveredImageFormatKey = 9999;
    PHImageResultIsDegradedKey = 0;
    PHImageResultIsInCloudKey = 0;
    PHImageResultIsPlaceholderKey = 0;
    PHImageResultWantedImageFormatKey = 9999;
})

Here's what I get occasionally. image data is nil. Dictionary contains not so much.

requestImageDataForAsset returned info({
    PHImageResultDeliveredImageFormatKey = 9999;
    PHImageResultIsDegradedKey = 0;
    PHImageResultWantedImageFormatKey = 9999;
})

Solution

You are likely iterating through an array, and memory is not freed timely, you can try the below code. Make sure theData is marked by __block.

@autoreleasepool {
    [imageManager requestImageDataForAsset:asset options:options resultHandler:^(NSData *imageData, NSString *dataUTI, UIImageOrientation orientation, NSDictionary *info) {
        NSLog(@"requestImageDataForAsset returned info(%@)", info);
        theData = [imageData copy];
    }];
}