diff --git a/ios/RetroArch/RAModuleInfo.m b/ios/RetroArch/RAModuleInfo.m
index 56d0ed2a85..0a7834c74e 100644
--- a/ios/RetroArch/RAModuleInfo.m
+++ b/ios/RetroArch/RAModuleInfo.m
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ static NSString* get_data_string(config_file_t* config, const char* name, NSStri
    cell.detailTextLabel.text = _sections[indexPath.section][indexPath.row * 2 + 2];
 
    if (indexPath.section == _firmwareSectionIndex)
-      cell.backgroundColor = ra_ios_is_file(_sections[indexPath.section][indexPath.row * 2 + 2]) ? [UIColor blueColor] : [UIColor redColor];
+      cell.backgroundColor = path_file_exists(((NSString*)_sections[indexPath.section][indexPath.row * 2 + 2]).UTF8String) ? [UIColor blueColor] : [UIColor redColor];
    else
       cell.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
 
diff --git a/ios/RetroArch/browser/browser.h b/ios/RetroArch/browser/browser.h
index ec82cc4bc0..2275554e81 100644
--- a/ios/RetroArch/browser/browser.h
+++ b/ios/RetroArch/browser/browser.h
@@ -13,13 +13,7 @@
  *  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
  */
 
-extern BOOL ra_ios_is_directory(NSString* path);
-extern BOOL ra_ios_is_file(NSString* path);
-
-@interface RADirectoryItem : NSObject
-@property (strong) NSString* path;
-@property bool isDirectory;
-@end
+#include "file.h"
 
 @interface RADirectoryList : UITableViewController
 + (id)directoryListAtBrowseRoot;
diff --git a/ios/RetroArch/browser/browser.m b/ios/RetroArch/browser/browser.m
index 46d1daeb9a..0697d28f54 100644
--- a/ios/RetroArch/browser/browser.m
+++ b/ios/RetroArch/browser/browser.m
@@ -16,85 +16,19 @@
 #include <dirent.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #import "browser.h"
-#import "conf/config_file.h"
+#include "conf/config_file.h"
 
-@implementation RADirectoryItem
-+ (RADirectoryItem*)directoryItemFromPath:(const char*)thePath
-{
-   RADirectoryItem* result = [RADirectoryItem new];
-   result.path = [NSString stringWithUTF8String:thePath];
-
-   struct stat statbuf;
-   if (stat(thePath, &statbuf) == 0)
-      result.isDirectory = S_ISDIR(statbuf.st_mode);
-   
-   return result;
-}
+@interface RADirectoryItem : NSObject
+@property (strong) NSString* path;
+@property bool isDirectory;
 @end
 
-
-BOOL ra_ios_is_file(NSString* path)
-{
-   return [[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:path isDirectory:nil];
-}
-
-BOOL ra_ios_is_directory(NSString* path)
-{
-   BOOL result = NO;
-   [[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:path isDirectory:&result];
-   return result;
-}
-
-static NSArray* ra_ios_list_directory(NSString* path)
-{
-   NSMutableArray* result = [NSMutableArray arrayWithCapacity:27];
-   for (int i = 0; i < 28; i ++)
-   {
-      [result addObject:[NSMutableArray array]];
-   }
-
-   // Build list
-   char* cpath = malloc([path length] + sizeof(struct dirent));
-   sprintf(cpath, "%s/", [path UTF8String]);
-   size_t cpath_end = strlen(cpath);
-
-   DIR* dir = opendir(cpath);
-   if (!dir)
-      return result;
-   
-   for(struct dirent* item = readdir(dir); item; item = readdir(dir))
-   {
-      if (strncmp(item->d_name, ".", 1) == 0)
-         continue;
-      
-      cpath[cpath_end] = 0;
-      strcat(cpath, item->d_name);
-
-      RADirectoryItem* value = [RADirectoryItem directoryItemFromPath:cpath];
-
-      uint32_t section = isalpha(item->d_name[0]) ? (toupper(item->d_name[0]) - 'A') + 2 : 1;
-      section = value.isDirectory ? 0 : section;
-      [result[section] addObject:[RADirectoryItem directoryItemFromPath:cpath]];
-   }
-   
-   closedir(dir);
-   free(cpath);
-   
-   // Sort
-   for (int i = 0; i < result.count; i ++)
-      [result[i] sortUsingComparator:^(RADirectoryItem* left, RADirectoryItem* right)
-      {
-         return (left.isDirectory != right.isDirectory) ?
-                (left.isDirectory ? -1 : 1) :
-                ([left.path caseInsensitiveCompare:right.path]);
-      }];
-     
-   return result;
-}
+@implementation RADirectoryItem
+@end
 
 @implementation RADirectoryList
 {
-   NSArray* _list;
+   NSMutableArray* _list;
 }
 
 + (id)directoryListAtBrowseRoot
@@ -102,7 +36,7 @@ static NSArray* ra_ios_list_directory(NSString* path)
    NSString* rootPath = [NSHomeDirectory() stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"Documents"];
    NSString* ragPath = [NSHomeDirectory() stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"Documents/RetroArchGames"];
    
-   return [RADirectoryList directoryListForPath:ra_ios_is_directory(ragPath) ? ragPath : rootPath];
+   return [RADirectoryList directoryListForPath:path_is_directory(ragPath.UTF8String) ? ragPath : rootPath];
 }
 
 + (id)directoryListForPath:(NSString*)path
@@ -114,17 +48,40 @@ static NSArray* ra_ios_list_directory(NSString* path)
 - (id)initWithPath:(NSString*)path
 {
    self = [super initWithStyle:UITableViewStylePlain];
+   [self setTitle: [path lastPathComponent]];
 
-   if (!ra_ios_is_directory(path))
+   // Need one array per section
+   _list = [NSMutableArray arrayWithCapacity:28];
+   for (int i = 0; i < 28; i ++)
+      [_list addObject:[NSMutableArray array]];
+   
+   // List contents
+   struct string_list* contents = dir_list_new(path.UTF8String, 0, true);
+   
+   if (contents)
    {
-      [RetroArch_iOS displayErrorMessage:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"Browsed path is not a directory: %@", path]];
-      _list = [NSArray array];
+      dir_list_sort(contents, true);
+   
+      for (int i = 0; i < contents->size; i ++)
+      {
+         const char* basename = path_basename(contents->elems[i].data);
+      
+         if (basename[0] == '.')
+            continue;
+      
+         uint32_t section = isalpha(basename[0]) ? (toupper(basename[0]) - 'A') + 2 : 1;
+         section = contents->elems[i].attr.b ? 0 : section;
+         
+         RADirectoryItem* item = RADirectoryItem.new;
+         item.path = [NSString stringWithUTF8String:contents->elems[i].data];
+         item.isDirectory = contents->elems[i].attr.b;
+         [_list[section] addObject:item];
+      }
+   
+      dir_list_free(contents);
    }
    else
-   {
-      [self setTitle: [path lastPathComponent]];
-      _list = ra_ios_list_directory(path);
-   }
+      [RetroArch_iOS displayErrorMessage:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"Browsed path is not a directory: %@", path]];
    
    return self;
 }
diff --git a/ios/RetroArch/main.m b/ios/RetroArch/main.m
index a4af4450d0..562c57bfbc 100644
--- a/ios/RetroArch/main.m
+++ b/ios/RetroArch/main.m
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 
 #include "rarch_wrapper.h"
 #include "general.h"
+#include "file.h"
 #include "frontend/menu/rmenu.h"
 
 #import "browser/browser.h"
@@ -252,7 +253,14 @@ static void event_reload_config(void* userdata)
 
    self.system_directory = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@/.RetroArch", documentsPath];
    self.systemConfigPath = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@/.RetroArch/frontend.cfg", documentsPath];
-   mkdir([self.system_directory UTF8String], 0755);
+
+   // Build system paths and test permissions
+   if (!path_is_directory(documentsPath.UTF8String) && mkdir(documentsPath.UTF8String, 0755))
+      [RetroArch_iOS displayErrorMessage:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"Failed to create base directory: %@", documentsPath]];
+   else if (!path_is_directory(self.system_directory.UTF8String) && mkdir(self.system_directory.UTF8String, 0755))
+      [RetroArch_iOS displayErrorMessage:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"Failed to create system directory: %@", self.system_directory]];
+   else if (access(self.system_directory.UTF8String, R_OK | W_OK | X_OK))
+      [RetroArch_iOS displayErrorMessage:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"System directory has incorrect permissions: %@", self.system_directory]];
 
    // Setup window
    self.delegate = self;
@@ -344,8 +352,8 @@ static void event_reload_config(void* userdata)
    [self pushViewController:RAGameView.get animated:NO];
    _isRunning = true;
 
-   const char* const sd = [[RetroArch_iOS get].system_directory UTF8String];
-   const char* const cf = (ra_ios_is_file(_module.configPath)) ? [_module.configPath UTF8String] : 0;
+   const char* const sd = RetroArch_iOS.get.system_directory.UTF8String;
+   const char* const cf = (path_file_exists(_module.configPath.UTF8String)) ? [_module.configPath UTF8String] : 0;
    const char* const libretro = [_module.path UTF8String];
 
    struct rarch_main_wrap* load_data = malloc(sizeof(struct rarch_main_wrap));