Issues with diacritics in filename on iOS when the system main language is not English

Question

N. Holzschuch OP

Created 2d

Replies 2

Boosts 0

Participants 2

Hi, I'm encountering a weird issue on iOS that happens:

for files with diacritics in their name, like "Gòmez.pdf" or "Télé.mp4",
when the iPhone or iPad main language is not set to English,
if the file has been created with a relatively low-level Unix function like fopen() or copyfile().

Then, the file cannot be previsualized using QuickLook or opened using other apps. Most of the time it fails silently, but on some occasions I get the following error message: "You do not have permission to save the file "filename.pdf" in the folder "myFolder"".

The issue is present in, at least, iOS 16 and 26. It seems worse in iOS 26. It seems that all three conditions are required, I don't see the issue when the iPhone or iPad is set to use English as the main language. I also don't see the issue if I rename the files in the Files app.

I'm probably doing something wrong, but what can it be?

(it's kind of weird that my recommendation for users becomes: if you want to use international characters in your file names, you need to set the iPad language to English...)

Boost

Answer 1

DTS Engineer OP

Apple

1d

It’s likely that this is related to the normalisation of the name used to create the file. However, it’s hard to be sure without seeing it in action. Reading through your description the bit that’s unclear is how you engage Quick Look or open the file with another app. Can you clarify either, or both, of those steps?

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Answer 2

N. Holzschuch OP

10h

The short answer is that I tried everything (I could think of) and everything I tried fails.

in the Files app, simple tap on the file: opens QuickLook (iOS 16) or the Preview app (iOS 26) for files without diacritics in their name. Doesn't do anything for files with diacritics (it's like I didn't tap on the file at all).
in the Files app, long press on the file to get the contextual menu, scroll to Quick Look ("Coup d'œil" since I'm still in a non-English language), I get a blank screen that says "Document PDF".
opening the file using the documents browser from the Preview app (iOS 26) or PDF Viewer (iOS 26, iOS 16): does not display the file (it's like I didn't tap at all).
previewing the file from inside the app using UIDocumentInteractionController(url: url).presentPreview(animated: false): blank screen that says "Document PDF".
opening the file by calling another app from inside the app using an UIActivityViewController: nothing happens on iOS 26, I get the error message ("You do not have permission to save the file "filename.pdf" in the folder "myFolder"") with PDF Viewer on iOS 16.

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