java - Difference between preference and shared preference in Android

Question

The concept of preferences and shared preferences in Android are mixed up for me. What is the difference?

Answer 1

Preferences: The user interface part of the settings. It contains different classes which allow to composes Settings screens from code or XML. They can look like this:

Shared Preferences: These are used to store values in XML files. These files are created, maintained and deleted by Android for you. They are not encrypted and can easily be changed when the user has rooted his/her phone (nice for development). Don't use these for sensitive information. The above mentioned Preferences use Shared Preferences as the underlying system.