Android Permissions

[WildW]

What are folks' opinions on app permissions generally on Android? I'm finding that whenever I look at apps on the Play Store they frequently have a ridiculous long list of permissions. I just looked at the official XBMC remote app and it wants access to my contacts, SMS, phone functions, WIFI connection details, and more. Damn, no, you have no good reason to need those things therefore you _must_ be up to no good.

A quick glance over a bunch of the top games on the store reveals that many want identity information, access to media files, contacts, WIFI connection details. A small number however want almost no special permissions. A few like device ID I can see as justifiable for bug fixes/etc across many different devices.

Are apps just generally gathering information as an extra way of making money? Does everyone just blindly accept all these permission requests these days? I'm finding that whenever I go looking for new apps I take one look at the permissions and never download anything any more, and it's putting me right off Android as a platform as a result.

 

[lopri]

Well at least on Android you can tell what kind of permissions an app require. The same cannot be said on a certain other mobile OS.

You can read about Android permissions here.

http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/security/permissions.html
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.permission.html

You are the driver and decision maker.

 

[sweenish]

You need to look at better apps.

There is still plenty to like about Android apps.

 

[mrochester]

Permissions on Android are quite poor. There's a complete lack of granular control over permissions. If you want to install Facebook on Android you have to accept all the permissions it requires. On something like iOS you can pick and choose what to allow. I'm not sure why Android is so lacking in control and choice.

 

[Commodus]

The problem isn't so much the apparent breadth as that you don't really get context explaining why an app needs permissions. You're just supposed to guess... and of course, most people don't even do that much.

Apple doesn't give you a preview, but it does something very smart in-app: it asks for permission at the moment you need to use a feature. If an app needs the camera, it asks when you get to the photography feature. If it needs your contacts, it asks when you're trying to look up a person. There's little risk of scamware (i.e. apps that secretly call toll numbers or swipe your info) because you'd get a permission request that didn't make sense.

Ideally, we'd have a cross between the two: listings would tell you what permissions an app might request, but you'd have to get into the apps themselves to grant permission. That way, you'd both have advance notice of what to expect as well as a true understanding of what those permissions mean.

 

[Red Storm]

Who said you're supposed to just guess and go with it? The few times I've wondered about specific permissions, I contacted the developers and they explained what those permissions were used for.

 

[Kneedragger]

Isnt there an app that lets you customize app permissions per app? I swear I read about this a while ago.. Could be wrong..

 

[poofyhairguy]

Official XBMC remote app kinda sucks. Use Yatse.

As far as permissions? They can have everything, I want the shiny.

 

[stlc8tr]

https://code.google.com/p/android-xbmcremote/wiki/Permissions

We don't like apps demanding permissions that don't seem obvious, so here we'll explain each permission XBMC Remote asks prior to installation:

INTERNET We need to connect to XBMC. The INTERNET permissions actually controls any socket, internet or not, so this is unavoidable.
ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE, ACCESS_WIFI_STATE, CHANGE_WIFI_STATE We've introduced an option that avoids connecting to XBMC when not connected to WiFi. In order to check this we need this permissions.
VIBRATE Remote control screen lightly vibrates to give a more realistic user experience (configurable).
READ_PHONE_STATE We have a feature that pauses anything playing on incoming calls. In order to receive this event, we need this permission.
RECEIVE_SMS The feature that displays SMS on the TV screen needs this permission in order to obtain the messages.
READ_CONTACTS In order to display contact info (and picture) on incoming calls or messages, we need permission to read the phone book.
READ_SMS When displaying SMS, we actually display the first part of the message, so we'll need read permissions of SMS.
WAKE_LOCK, DISABLE_KEYGUARD A requested feature was overwriting the power manager to keep the processor from sleeping or the screen from dimming. This is configurable, but we'll need the permissions in any case (activated or not).
WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE In order to save cover and poster thumbnails locally for caching purpose, we need write access to your SD card. This permission was introduced with Android 1.6.
RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED Feature that makes the remote being launched at system bootup. The feature is optional and turned off by default.

If you're rooted (and have Xposed), you can use either Apps Ops or App Settings to control individual permissions on a per app basis.

 

[poofyhairguy]

https://code.google.com/p/android-xbmcremote/wiki/Permissions



If you're rooted (and have Xposed), you can use either Apps Ops or App Settings to control individual permissions on a per app basis.

Jeez Xposed is so useful. I am going to miss it, I looked today and I have like 8 modules.