Which Azure service can be utilized for centralized management of application settings?

Azure Application Configuration is the optimal choice for centralized management of application settings. This service is designed specifically to handle application settings and feature flags, allowing developers and operations teams to manage application configurations separately from the application's deployment. This decentralization helps maintain flexibility and control over application settings in different environments (development, staging, production) without requiring code changes or redeployments.

Azure Application Configuration simplifies how applications retrieve settings by offering a centralized and easy-to-use service. It allows for storing both simple key-value pairs and complex settings, with support for labels and versioning to organize configurations effectively.

By facilitating dynamic updates, Azure Application Configuration enables applications to respond to changes in settings in real-time without needing to restart, which is crucial for maintaining uptime and performance in production environments. Its integration with other Azure services and security features further enhances its role as a management tool for application settings.

While Azure Key Vault can also store secrets, it is primarily focused on managing sensitive information, such as passwords and encryption keys, rather than application settings directly. Azure Active Directory is mainly focused on identity management and access control, while Azure Resource Manager is geared towards resource deployment and management but does not specialize in application configuration.