The subject matter of this specification can be embodied in, among other things, a method that includes specifying, with uniform resource identifiers (URIs), substantially all data accessible by applications on a device. The method also includes receiving at a universal interface a request from an application on the device for data that is specified by a URI associated with the request. Substantially all requests for data from applications on the device are received at the universal interface. The method also includes determining, based on the URI associated with the request, a content provider responsible for managing the requested data, and outputting the requested data to the application using the determined content provider to obtain the requested data based on the URI associated with the request.