I also wonder why "Preserve Vector Data" can't be set at run time via an API like the rendering mode and other properties of image assets.

I recently found out that Apple's Swift Crypto open source package has a _CryptoExtras module that supports AES CBC encryption in Swift. I have used it in my iOS app after I discovered it using Xcode's Add Package Dependencies… window under Apple Swift Packages. It satisfied my AES CBC encryption needs perfectly, although it lacked proper documentation and has all of its types prefixed with an underscore. I shared some feedback about it in the pitch thread in Swift Forums.

For me, my setup was working with a "local" package inside an Xcode project. After adding the Localizable.xcstrings file, I had to quit Xcode and reopen it then build the project using the main app target scheme selected for it to work as expected and populate the strings. This seems like a bug in Xcode 16.2. Editing local packages from Xcode app projects is buggy in other ways as well, for example, deleting a file in a local package from the Package Dependencies section in the project navigator does not work and I have to close the app project and open the local package alone for deleting to work. I'm starting to get used to quitting and starting Xcode in my setup.