When users interact with apps they create data. Apps often need to access or save this data to function properly and to provide the best user experience. The data is categorized as personal settings media, documents and other information. It can also be used to monitor clicks, product purchases and other conversions within the application. There are a variety of ways to get this data, including asking the user to provide it, determining it from on-site behaviour or buying it from a third-party. It is recommended that customer data be centrally accessed and stored in the same format for integration and easy exchange between applications. There are emerging standards for data profiles of customers by industry sectors that could aid in defining the data models that are to be used.
There are many different methods to store data, and the storage system used in an app will influence the way in which the user interface is presented. The most well-known is file storage, in which the data is stored as folders and files, which are organized in an order. Hard disk click here to read drives and cloud storage such as Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive make use of this method. Block storage is a different method where data is broken into blocks and then stored in any storage infrastructure. They are identified with identifiers, which make them easy to locate and take action on.
The early systems came with built-in tools that provided specific information on the properties of the storage medium in textual format. Modern systems, such as Android provide visualizations to assist with these functions, including capacity/usage and longevity. Capacity/usage visualisations are usually horizontally bar charts that are stacked. Lifespan is typically shown in a circular pie chart or variants like doughnut charts.