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I am working on a project which involves adding AI object detection capabilities to an existing iOS APP. I was able to train my own DNN models and converted to the CoreML's .mlmodel format.

Now I need to transfer my work which includes the .mlmodel files to another developer for integration. However, I don't want them to use my trained .mlmodel files outside of this project (according to contract). Is there any way that I can do to just "hide" the .mlmodel files so they can only be used for this particular APP and can't be simply copied and saved for other uses?

I have done some quick research on iOS library and framework, but I am still not sure if that's the solution I am looking for.

user3409114
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Nope. Once someone has access to your mlmodel file or the compiled version, mlmodelc, they can use it elsewhere.

For example, you can download an app from the App Store, look inside the IPA file, copy their mlmodelc folder into your own app, and start using the model right away.

To prevent outsiders from stealing your model, you can encrypt the model (just like you'd encrypt any other file) but that only works if you can hide the decryption key. You can also add a custom layer to the model, so that it becomes useless without the code for this custom layer.

However, those solutions don't work if you're hiring an external developer to work on your app because they will -- out of necessity -- need to have access to these decryption keys and source code files.

I'm not sure what exactly you want this other developer to do, but if you don't trust them, then:

  1. get a new developer that you do trust,
  2. be prepared to enforce the contract, or
  3. give them a version of your mlmodel file with the weights replaced by random numbers. The model will still work but give nonsense predictions. Once that developer is done with their work, replace the model with the real one. Obviously, this is not a good solution if they need to use the model for whatever work they need to do.
Matthijs Hollemans
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  • Thanks for the reply, Matthijs. I noticed that the frameworks I added to my previous iOS projects via cocoapod contain only the headers files when I open them in Xcode project directory. So I am guessing one can hide the implementation if built in framework (or library)? Not sure if a .mlmodel can be hidden in the same way though... – user3409114 Jan 26 '19 at 13:03
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    A framework is a collection of code plus resources. It should be possible to add the mlmodel to a framework, but if you then look inside the framework file (with Show Package Contents) then the mlmodelc folder will be plainly visible. So this is only safe if your developer doesn't know how to look inside frameworks. ;-) But really, this doesn't sound like a healthy working relationship. – Matthijs Hollemans Jan 26 '19 at 13:42
  • Same question too, I think this doesn't answer the question, we REALLY want to hide .mlmodel files in our SDK. – Smeegol Dec 31 '21 at 10:58