How can I access specific iOS app's directory with Objective C?

filesystems, ios8, jailbreak, objective-c

Solution

iOS 7 and below

AppStore apps are installed in `/var/mobile/Applications` inside directory with random name. App's directories (documents, library etc) and *.app directory are both inside it. To determine which app it is you need to parse `Info.plist` file inside *.app directory where app name and bundle identifier are stored.

iOS 8

Apple completely changed the way AppStore apps are stored in filesystem. Everything we need now is in `/var/mobile/Containers` directory - at this point every directory I mention further down the text is contained inside that directory. All bundles (anything that contains application code) are stored in `Bundle` directory. There you will find apps, plugins and may be some other stuff.

For example, OpenVPN application contains two bundles with application code - `OpenVPN.app` with application executable and `OpenVPNPlugin.vpnplugin` which implements OpenVPN protocol as iOS VPN plugin. `OpenVPN.app` is in `Applications` directory and `OpenVPNPlugin.vpnplugin` is in `VPNPlugin`. For some reason `OpenVPNPlugin.vpnplugin` is also stored in `Applications` but it looks like it's a temporary measure for compatibility reasons.

All application data now stored in `Data` directory. Applications, plugins store their data inside that directory.

Apps directories (documents, library etc) now stored in `Data/Application` inside directory with random name. To determine which app directories it is you need to parse `Data/Application/xx-xx-xx/.com.apple.mobile_container_manager.metadata.plist`. Inside it you will find `MCMMetadataIdentifier` key that contains app's bundle identifier.

There are also `Data/PluginKitPlugin` and `Data/VPNPlugin` directories on my device. Again, parse `Data/PluginKitPlugin/xx-xx-xx/.com.apple.mobile_container_manager.metadata.plist` and `Data/VPNPlugin/xx-xx-xx/.com.apple.mobile_container_manager.metadata.plist` respectively. Inside it you will find `MCMMetadataIdentifier` key that contains plugin's bundle identifier. In case of PluginKitPlugin, to determine to which app it belongs you need to go to `*.app`. It seems PluginKitPlugin bundles are stored in `*.app/PlugIns`. Parse it's `Info.plist` to determine plugin's bundle identifier. As an example you can look at how Evernote is stored.

And finally there is `Shared` directory. It seems it contains app's documents that can be shared between different apps. Again, inside `Shared` you will find directory with random name. To determine which app shared that documents parse the `.com.apple.mobile_container_manager.metadata.plist`. `MCMMetadataIdentifier` will contain `group.` string concatenated with app's bundle identifier.

iOS 8 Update

Since iOS 8.4 Apple once again changed things. Now there are no `.com.apple.mobile_container_manager.metadata.plist` files. Instead you need to parse `/var/mobile/Library/MobileInstallation/LastLaunchServicesMap.plist`. It holds information about all installed applications (even system ones) since iOS 8 so you actually don't need `.com.apple.mobile_container_manager.metadata.plist` at all.

The plist has a very simple structure. First is dictionary with two main keys

- System - dictionary of system applications (including Cydia ones)

- User - dictionary of user applications (AppStore, enterprise, developer apps etc)

Those dictionaries use bundle identifier as key and dictionary with application info as value. For example:

- Path - path to application bundle directory

- Container - path to application directories (documents, library etc)

iOS 9 Update

It looks like both `.com.apple.mobile_container_manager.metadata.plist` and `/var/mobile/Library/MobileInstallation/LastLaunchServicesMap.plist` are too unreliable. The former is once again present in iOS 9 - don't know what happened in 8.4, maybe a bug. The latter is not always up-to-date. In fact, most of the time it contains old information. Especially for application sandbox path. Looks like it does change periodically as many times I found that the plist gives me the wrong path.

There is a much more reliable solution that doesn't require fiddling with plists or anything - `LSApplicationWorkspace` from `MobileCoreServices` framework. It has method `- (id)allInstalledApplications` that returns an array of `LSApplicationProxy` objects that will give you all the information you might find in `LastLaunchServicesMap.plist`. And, if I remember correctly, it works even without jailbreak.

Problem

Original source