Understanding User Data Storage in Apps

As users interact with apps and apps, they create data. This is the data apps typically require to save or access in order to function properly and provide the best user experience possible. This data includes personal settings as well as media and other documents. It can be used to track the number of clicks, purchases, and other conversions within the app. There are many ways to gather this information that include asking the user for it, inferring it from on-site behaviour or purchasing it from a third-party. The ideal customer data should be stored centrally and in a standardised format that permits easy integration and exchange between different applications. There are new standards for customer data profiles by industry sectors that could help define the data models that are to be used.

There are a variety of methods to store data. The data storage system in an application will influence how the user interface presented. The most common is file storage, in which the data is stored in files and folders, organized in a hierarchy. Hard disk drives as well as cloud storage such as Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive utilize this method. Block storage is a different approach, where data is divided up into blocks and placed anywhere in the storage infrastructure. They are identified by identifiers to make them easy to find and act upon.

Early systems came with tools user data storage which provided detailed information on the properties of storage media in textual format. Modern systems, like Android provide visualisations of these functions, such as capacity/usage and life span. Capacity/usage visualizations are typically presented as horizontal stacked bar charts, while the duration is represented by a circular pie chart or its variants like doughnut charts.