Let' put it in the app development perspective. On iOS it is practically impossible to touch data that does not belong to the app. That's progress!
Yes indeed, major progress. If I recall correctly, the issue 20 years ago was that the software was installed in a non-standard directory. When it was uninstalled to upgrade, the uninstaller performed a recursive delete, removing everything in the directory, including files that did not belong to the software. Windows allowed that, but the software should not have been coded to delete files it had not installed.
The good news from that experience is that it became one of my favorite ways to conceptualize processing an inbox to zero.
Is there anything in the inbox? Yes.
Process the first item to remove it from the inbox.
Is there anything in the inbox? Yes.
Process the next item to remove it from the inbox.
Is there anything in the inbox? No.
End recursion. (Until tomorrow.)
It's better than the shampoo instruction to lather, rinse, repeat, because that one never ends.