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10 Best Features that make iOS Apps more Secure


security features of iOS apps

Do you ever think why iOS apps are considered more secure? Why after so many OS available in the market, only iOS gained the trust of Smartphone users? 

Read this curated article to get your answers.

Smartphone applications are the center of most peoples’ technology usage. According to the Pew Research Center report, more than 28% of Smartphone users do not use a screen lock or any other security features to secure their data. Security isn’t the first thing for most people to think of when they start shopping for a Smartphone. iPhone users made iOS apps to avoid the risk of data leakage and security.

A report by Fortune stated, “We estimate total iPhone installed base hit 715 million, including 228 million second-hand devices, in December 2016, with year-on-year growth of 20%.”

best features for iOS apps
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iPhone, from the beginning, made its apps with keeping the privacy and security at its highest priority. The apps developed in iOS are 5 times more secure than the Android application.

Here are the 10 top features that make iOS apps so secure

Data Protection API: All iOS versions, after iOS 4, have an inbuilt security feature i.e., Data Protection.It allows an iOS app to encrypt and decrypt its files stored in its app directory. The whole process of encryption and decryption is automated and majorly depends on its hardware. The Data Protection is available for file and database APIs, including, CoreData, NSData, and SQLite.
This feature is by default activated in iOS apps, but it can be configured to increase security and privacy.

KeyChain API: Keychain is the most secure place to store small data such as passwords, certificates, and credentials. It is a hardware-oriented secure data storage that encrypts all of its contents.
The iOS or app group has its defined space in the Keychain so that no other app has access to it. This way, you don’t need to store encryption keys in your app and can rely on the system to provide the highest level of security.

encryption in iphone apps
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In addition to this, the user has the option to decide if they want to store the information in the local keychain, as it is only available on this specific device or in the iCloud Keychain, which gets synchronized across all Apple devices. This gives permission to the user to share the information between your iPhone, iPad, and Mac counterparts.

CloudKit: The CloudKit allows you to store data in Apple’s iCloud by using your Apple ID as the login mechanism for your app. CloudKit was made keeping security as its high priority. It enables the security feature by which the commutation between your app and the server can be done using Apple’s client-side CloudKit framework. To make this even better: CloudKit is entirely free of charge to a certain amount.

Verifying Signature: To make iOS applications more secure, verified signatures are used. If you are sending a message and want to make sure that he/she is the same person, you need a private or public key pair. This signature is then sent together with the actual data to the receiver, which can use the public key to validate the signature.

Encrypted Data Transfer: Airdrop lets you share files with anyone around you with just a tap. The airdrop was introduced for IOS with IOS 7. The good thing about this is that the files are encrypted. By default, this service lets you be visible only to your contacts. But you can change this setting as well.

data transfer in iOS apps
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Per-App VPN: Whenever someone wants to access any secure or confidential information via a secure channel, they use VPN. After iOS 7, Apple users can use different VPNs for every app. This feature is handy when you want to access your office data via a VPN provided by your office. These features also help government employees to keep confidential information in their mobile apps.

Highly Secure Authentication: iOS is famous because of its authentication featureFace Recognition, fingerprint authentication, and eye recognition are some of the features that revolutionize the industry. After iOS, many other competitive operating systems started using this, but nothing is as secure as iOS as its algorithm is much secure.

Cryptographic APIs: Cryptographic APIs are with iOS from the launch of iOS 4. Recently with the CryptoKit was released with iOS 13 and is built on top of Apple’s native cryptographic library. CryptoKit has secure algorithms for hashing, symmetric-key cryptography, and public-key.

HTTPs: Generally, most of the networks communicate over the HTTP protocol between a client and a server. After the Google update in 2018, HTTP is not considered a secure connection. There is more probability for hackers to sniff data from the local network.

To check this, iOS launched a new feature called App Transport Security (ATS). It improves the security of the network by blocking HTTP connections.

Activation Lock: Initially, if any user lost their iPhone, they could use the “Find my iPhone” application to track the iPhone with the help of GPS. But there was a big flaw. The thief can easily do a factory reset of the device, and aggregated data would have vanished. But the Activation lock feature did not permit to reset the iPhone without Apple’s ID and password.

activation lock in iOS mobile apps
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Nowadays, many entrepreneurs are investing in iOS app development for a secure and reliable mobile application. Let’s look at some unsung benefits of the iPhone Operating System.

  • Excellent UI and fluid responsive: There is no doubt that iOS apps are user interactive. iOS uses StoryBoat to design UI and gives it a fantastic experience without any hassle. The seamless UI/UX put iOS #1 in the list of entrepreneur’s choices for the mobile app.
  • Suits for business and gaming: iOS supports hi-tech gaming without hanging up the phone. If you are thinking of launching a game that gives a real-life experience like PUBG or Pokemon Go! iOS is a great fit.
  • Reach to the techoholic audience: That’s correct! If you want to grow your business, reaching out to the correct audience is a must, and iOS works as a bridge to connect with them. iPhone is generally used by the tech-savvy audiences who are aware of technology and trends.
  • High ROI: Using iOS apps can lead a company towards sound finances with significant revenue and increased Return On Investment (ROI). Android gets only 10% of its ROI, so choosing iOS gives you scalable and investment-worthy results.

Wrap up:

iOS always surprises us with its enhanced and hi-tech features. With every new launch of iOS versions, its security features are becoming more robust. Leading the latest technology generation with innovation, iOS is all set to make data encrypt and firm. Though the iPhone comes with high prices its users know its value. Despite being costly, more than 700 million mobile phone users have an iPhone.

Creating reliable, secure, and robust iOS is not an easy process. Data security is the highest priority, and it should not be ignored. iOS always tries to perform in terms of security and gets succeeded also.

If you are willing to build an iOS app with more secure features talk to us or write to me: [email protected] I am waiting for your suggestions, feedback or questions. Kindly write them into the comment section below.

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