Now that we have understood the iOS security model and its permissions, we will see how all the compiled application code, resources, and application metadata required to define a complete application are zipped and signed with the developer's certificate and finally issued as an iOS app store package (iPA). The structural representation of an iOS application would typically be as shown in this diagram:
When an iPA file is opened with any archiving software such as 7-Zip, WinRAR, and so on, you can see the following:
Payload
: This folder contains all the application dataApplication.app
: This folder contains all the following along with static images and other resourcesApp binary
: This is the binary executableBundle Resources
: All the resources required by the app binary are stored hereEmbedded.mobileprovision
: This file is the original provisioning file packaged with the application, and it helps the developers re-sign an iOS application without requiring...