The native platform storage

Each platform has its own unique way of storing user data and settings. When using a native approach, it is typical for the device to store the individual application settings in the application bundle itself, rather than as a universal settings file. This is primarily not only for security, but also for usability.

Consider a scenario where a user has three messenger applications on their phone. Each of them will have a username and password setting. If there was a universal settings file, there would firstly be no way of knowing which username/password corresponded to which app, and secondly, the other two applications would potentially be able to intercept the incorrect password and use it for nefarious purposes.

The iOS native platform storage

iOS stores settings via a dictionary with the <key><value> format. Here, the type can be of the string, int, bool, or double base types. The data is stored in an app-specific .plist file and may look similar...