Files security in XCode project

Question

I am trying to build an iOS application which has a PDF file emdebbed in it, and I don't want the user to access or find it by unpacking the IPA file. I found that if I UNCHECK the “Add to Target” check box (when I drag and drop the PDF file into my project), the PDF file will be hidden and no one can see it after showing the IPA contents.

My question is, should I be worry from this case, in another word, if I unchecked this option, will I face any issue in publishing my application or in deploying/supporting any of my targeted devices, or should I be worry from any issue may face the users in reading this PDF through my application?

I did some research regarding this point, but I couldn't find any good or clear answer, I appreciate any help in this.

Answer 1

If you uncheck the "Add to target" button it means that the .pdf file will not be packed to the .ipa file and it will not be accessible at all when someone downloads your app. So this is definitely not an option for what you want to achieve. It is better to encrypt the pdf file and decrypt it on runtime if you dont want it to be accessed when someone unpacks the .ipa file.

Answer 2

How important is your security? You could just zip it, then name the file something other than "*.zip".

However that would not stop someone who was determined. You would be advised then to use real encryption.

But even that would not stop a truly-determined attacker, who might use a jailbroken device to capture your PDF while it was loaded in your program's memory.

You can make it difficult to get at your PDF, but if you can get at it from your App, then I myself could get at it if I downloaded your app to my device.