> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cloudinary.com/documentation/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# iOS SDK


[sample-projects-link]:ios_sample_projects
[changelog-link]: https://github.com/cloudinary/cloudinary_ios/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md

The Cloudinary iOS SDK provides simple, yet comprehensive image and video upload, transformation, optimization, and delivery capabilities through the [Cloudinary APIs](cloudinary_references#url_and_rest_apis), that you can implement using code that integrates seamlessly with your existing iOS application.
> **INFO**: :title=SDK security upgrade, June 2025

We recently released an enhanced security version of this SDK that improves the validation and handling of input parameters. We recommend upgrading to the [latest version][changelog-link] of the SDK to benefit from these security improvements.

## How would you like to learn?

{table:class=no-borders overview}Resource | Description 
--|--
[iOS quick start](ios_quickstart) | Get up and running in five minutes with a walk through of installation, configuration, upload, management and transformations.
[Sample projects](ios_sample_projects) | Explore sample projects to see how to implement Cloudinary functionality such as upload and delivery with transformations.
[Cloudinary iOS SDK GitHub repo](https://github.com/cloudinary/cloudinary_ios) | Explore the source code and see the [CHANGELOG][changelog-link] for details on all new features and fixes from previous versions. 
[Video tutorials](tutorial_screencasts) | Watch tutorials relevant to your use cases to learn how to use Cloudinary features. 
 | Try the free [Introduction to Cloudinary's iOS SDK](https://training.cloudinary.com/courses/introduction-to-cloudinarys-ios-sdk-35-minute-course) online course, where you can learn how to upload, transform and optimize your assets, explore the native video player and deliver images for seamless asset downloading.

Other helpful resources...

This guide focuses on how to set up and implement popular Cloudinary capabilities using the iOS SDK, but it doesn't cover every feature or option. Check out these other resources to learn about additional concepts and functionality in general. 

{table:class=no-borders overview}Resource | Description 
--|--
[Developer kickstart](dev_kickstart) |A hands-on, step-by-step introduction to Cloudinary features.
[Glossary](cloudinary_glossary) | A helpful resource to understand Cloudinary-specific terminology.
[Guides](programmable_media_guides) | In depth guides to help you understand the many, varied capabilities provided by the product. 
[References](cloudinary_references) | Comprehensive references for all APIs, including iOS code examples.

## Install

Cloudinary's iOS SDK is available as an open-source library. Use one of the following options to install it:

### CocoaPods installation

[CocoaPods](https://cocoapods.org/) is a dependency manager for Swift and Objective-C Cocoa projects. Add the Cloudinary dependency to your `Podfile`:

```swift
pod 'Cloudinary', '~> 5.0'
```

> **NOTE**: This version notation uses the highest version available within 5.\*

Then, run the command:

```swift
$ pod install
```

This runs a script to install the Cloudinary header files in your `Pods` roots folder. 

### Carthage installation

[Carthage](https://github.com/Carthage/Carthage) is a decentralized dependency manager for Cocoa. 

1. Create your Cartfile. Go to the application directory and run the following command:`touch Cartfile`
2. Add the following line to your Cartfile:`github "cloudinary/cloudinary_ios" ~> 5.1.0`
3. Run the following command:`carthage update --use-xcframeworks`

> **NOTE**: This version notation uses the highest version available within 5.\*.\*

### Swift Package Manager installation

The Swift Package Manager is a tool for managing the distribution of Swift code. It's integrated with the Swift build system to automate the process of downloading, compiling, and linking dependencies. Once you have your Swift package set up:

**Option 1** - in your code, add Cloudinary to the dependencies value of your Package.swift file:

```swift
dependencies: [
    .package(url: "https://github.com/cloudinary/cloudinary_ios", .upToNextMajor(from: "5.1.0"))
]
```

**Option 2** - via your environment:

1. Select File > Add Packages
2. Add the repository URL: https://github.com/cloudinary/cloudinary_ios.git
3. Select "Up to Next Major" with version "5.1.0"

### Manual installation

If you prefer not to use a dependency manager, you can add Cloudinary manually by adding it as a submodule to your project.

1. If your project is not initialized as a git repository, run the command: `$ git init`
2. To add Cloudinary as a git submodule, run the command: `$ git submodule add https://github.com/cloudinary/cloudinary_ios.git`
3. Open Terminal and navigate to your project's top level directory.
4. Drag `Cloudinary.xcodeproj` into the Project Navigator of your application's Xcode project. It should appear under your application's blue project icon.
5. Select `Cloudinary.xcodeproj` and make sure the deployment target matches that of your application target.
6. Select your application project. Under *TARGETS* select your application, open the *General* tab, click on the *+* button under *Embedded Binaries* and select *Cloudinary.framework*.

## Configure

Include the Cloudinary iOS classes in your code:

```swift
import Cloudinary
```

### Set required configuration parameters

To use the Cloudinary iOS library you have to configure at least your `cloudName`. You can find your **Cloud name** in the [Dashboard](https://console.cloudinary.com/app/home/dashboard) of the Cloudinary Console, and you can find all of your credentials, including **API Key** and **API Secret**, on the [API Keys](https://console.cloudinary.com/app/settings/api-keys) page of the Cloudinary Console Settings.
> **NOTES**:
>
> * Most functionality implemented on the client side doesn't require authentication, so only your `cloud_name` is _required_ to be configured, and not your API key or secret. Your API secret should never be exposed on the client side, so if you want to use [signed uploads](upload_images#authenticated_requests) or [generate delivery signatures](delivery_url_signatures), you'll also need server-side code, for which you can use one of our [backend SDKs](cloudinary_sdks#cloudinary_sdks).* For backward compatibility reasons, the default value of the optional `secure` configuration parameter is `false`. However, for most modern applications, it's recommended to configure the `secure` parameter to `true` to ensure that your transformation URLs are always generated as HTTPS.

The entry point of the library is the `CLDCloudinary` object, which initializes with an instance of `CLDConfiguration` with the desired parameters, for example:

```swift
let config = CLDConfiguration(cloudName: "CLOUD_NAME", secure: true)
let cloudinary = CLDCloudinary(configuration: config)
```

Alternatively, you can pass a cloudinaryURL in the form *cloudinary://@[CLOUD_NAME]?{URL config parameters}*, for example:

```swift
let config = CLDConfiguration(cloudinaryUrl: "cloudinary://@MY_CLOUD?secure=true")
let cloudinary = CLDCloudinary(configuration: config!)
```

### Set additional configuration parameters

In addition to the required configuration parameters, you can define a number of optional [configuration parameters](cloudinary_sdks#configuration_parameters) if relevant.

> **NOTE**: By default, URLs generated with this SDK include an appended SDK-usage query parameter. Cloudinary tracks aggregated data from this parameter to improve future SDK versions. We don't collect any individual data. If needed, you can disable the `urlAnalytics` configuration option. [Learn more](cloudinary_sdks#analytics_config).

> **INFO**: :title=Help us improve our SDK

We'd love to hear your thoughts on using our iOS SDK. Please take a moment to complete this [short survey](https://forms.gle/YyUh1gGfuWbBwaKF9). Thanks for your time!

## Use

Once you've installed and configured the iOS SDK, you can use it for:

* **Uploading files to your product environment**: You can upload any files, not only images and videos, set your own naming conventions and overwrite policies, moderate and tag your assets on upload, and much more. [See example](#quick_example_file_upload)
* **Transforming and optimizing images and videos**: Keeping your original assets intact in your product environment, you can deliver different versions of your media - different sizes, formats, with effects and overlays, customized for your needs. [See example](#quick_example_transform_and_optimize)

Capitalization and data type guidelines...

When using the iOS SDK, keep these guidelines in mind: 

* Parameter names: `camelCase`. For example: **fileUrl**
* Classes: `PascalCase`. For example: **CLDTransformation**
* Methods: `camelCase`. For example: **createUploader**
* Pass parameter data as a  `Dictionary`

### Quick example: File upload

The following Swift code uses an unsigned upload preset to upload the `dog.mp4` video. When the video upload is complete, the specified notification URL receives details about the uploaded media asset.

```swift
let params = CLDUploadRequestParams().setNotificationUrl("https://mysite.example.com/notify_endpoint").setPublicId("my_dog")
params.setResourceType(.video)
let request = cloudinary.createUploader().upload(data: fileUrl, uploadPreset: "sample_preset", params: params)
```

> **Learn more about upload**:
>
> * Read the [Upload guide](upload_images) to learn more about customizing uploads, using upload presets and more.

> * See more examples of [image and video upload](ios_image_and_video_upload) using the Cloudinary iOS library.  

> * Explore the [Upload API reference](image_upload_api_reference) to see all available methods and options.

### Quick example: Transform and optimize

Take a look at the following transformation code and the image it delivers:

![sample transformation](https://res.cloudinary.com/demo/image/upload/c_thumb,g_face,h_150,w_150/r_20/e_sepia/l_cloudinary_icon/e_brightness:90/o_60/c_scale,w_50/fl_layer_apply,g_south_east,x_5,y_5/a_10/front_face.png "disable_all_tab: true, with_url: false, frameworks:swift")

```swift
imageView.cldSetImage(cloudinary.createUrl().setTransformation(CLDTransformation()
  .setGravity("face").setHeight(150).setWidth(150).setCrop("thumb").chain()
  .setRadius(20).chain()
  .setEffect("sepia").chain()
  .setOverlay("cloudinary_icon").chain()
  .setEffect("brightness:90").chain()
  .setOpacity(60).chain()
  .setWidth(50).setCrop("scale").chain()
  .setFlags("layer_apply").setGravity("south_east").setX(5).setY(5).chain()
  .setAngle(10)).generate("front_face.png")!, cloudinary: cloudinary)
```

This relatively simple code performs all of the following on the original front_face.jpg image before delivering it:

* **Crop** to a 150x150 thumbnail using face-detection gravity to automatically determine the location for the crop
* **Round the corners** with a 20 pixel radius
* Apply a **sepia effect**
* **Overlay the Cloudinary logo** on the southeast corner of the image (with a slight offset). Scale the logo overlay down to a 50 pixel width, with increased brightness and partial transparency (opacity = 60%).
* **Rotate** the resulting image (including the overlay) by 10 degrees
* **Convert** and deliver the image in PNG format (the originally uploaded image was a JPG)

And here's the URL that's automatically generated and included in an image tag from the above code:

![sample transformation](https://res.cloudinary.com/demo/image/upload/c_thumb,g_face,h_150,w_150/r_20/e_sepia/l_cloudinary_icon/e_brightness:90/o_60/c_scale,w_50/fl_layer_apply,g_south_east,x_5,y_5/a_10/front_face.png "disable_all_tab: true, with_code:false, with_image:false")

In a similar way, you can [transform a video](ios_video_manipulation#video_transformation_examples).

> **Learn more about transformations**:
>
> * Read the [Transform and customize assets](image_transformations) guide to learn about the different ways to transform your assets.

> * See more examples of [image](ios_image_manipulation) and [video](ios_video_manipulation) transformations using the Cloudinary iOS library.  

> * See all possible transformations in the [Transformation URL API reference](transformation_reference).

## iOS SDK features

The iOS SDK provides the following key features:

* Build dynamic URLs for delivering [images](ios_image_manipulation) and [videos](ios_video_manipulation) with on the fly transformations
* Implement [direct file upload](ios_image_and_video_upload) from your mobile application directly to your Cloudinary product environment
* Support [chunked upload](ios_image_and_video_upload#chunked_upload) for large files
* [Preprocess files](ios_image_and_video_upload#preprocess_image_uploads) before uploading
* Handle asynchronous upload [callbacks](ios_image_and_video_upload#callbacks)
* Automatic [error handling](advanced_url_delivery_options#error_handling) for network disconnections, timeouts, etc.
* Save bandwidth with a [cache-enabled resource downloader](ios_image_manipulation#image_caching)
* Support code in [Objective-C](https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/Swift/Conceptual/BuildingCocoaApps/index.html)

## Sample projects
Take a look at the [iOS sample projects][sample-projects-link] page to help you get started integrating Cloudinary into your iOS application.

> **READING**:
>
> * Try out the iOS SDK using the [quick start](ios_quickstart).

> * Learn more about [uploading images and videos](ios_image_and_video_upload) using the iOS SDK.    

> * See examples of powerful [image](ios_image_manipulation) and [video](ios_video_manipulation) transformations using iOS code, and see our [image transformations](image_transformations) and [video transformation](video_manipulation_and_delivery) docs.

> * Stay tuned for updates by following the [Release Notes](programmable_media_release_notes) and the [Cloudinary Blog](https://cloudinary.com/blog).