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The problem with the Android permissions page, in my opinion, is that it doesn't give enough information for people that care, and it gives too much information

The problem with the Android permissions page, in my opinion, is that it doesn't give enough information for people that care, and it gives too much information for people that don't. It's pretty much impossible to create any non-trivial app without at least one permission that will cause the permissions pop-up on install. That's the "too much" part. But then, it doesn't show you the actual permissions requested, but instead some general grouping that makes it extremely difficult to know exactly what you're agreeing to without feeling paranoid. That's the too little part.

kijin 10y ago
The Android permissions system has changed a lot in Marshmellow. Now the system ask for your permission when an app actually requests personal information, not when you install an app for the first time. It's still inferior to Cyanogenmod's Privacy Guard feature that can silently revoke permissions without the app being aware of it, but I think it's a step in the right direction.
- tdkl 10y ago
  ... and still almost no-one has it. Those who are eligible for it are also omiting it because it takes away vendor features like STAMINA that's superior to Doze on Sony devices. Some are also omitting it because of the various Bluetooth audio issues. What I'm trying to say is that there are various other reasons people care about then just permissions and security.
- jdmichal 10y ago
  I have it. All it did was move the prompt from installation to app startup. AFAIK the permissions themselves did not change, and it definitely still has the problem of overly-broad generic groupings.
- whostolemyhat 10y ago
  You can remove permissions you've given to an app as well, under Settings > Apps > [App] > Permissions. I think it will cause the app to ask you for permission again when it starts, but it's good to know it's not a one-time-only option.
apatters 10y ago
This might just be me, but I feel like the big win would be exposing the permissions an app requests in the Play store search/browse experience. The store often returns 5 or 10 apps which all seem to do basically the same thing and I don't know which to install. If I can sort them by least Orwellian first, my decision is made.

kijin 10y ago

The Android permissions system has changed a lot in Marshmellow. Now the system ask for your permission when an app actually requests personal information, not when you install an app for the first time. It's still inferior to Cyanogenmod's Privacy Guard feature that can silently revoke permissions without the app being aware of it, but I think it's a step in the right direction.

tdkl 10y ago
... and still almost no-one has it. Those who are eligible for it are also omiting it because it takes away vendor features like STAMINA that's superior to Doze on Sony devices. Some are also omitting it because of the various Bluetooth audio issues. What I'm trying to say is that there are various other reasons people care about then just permissions and security.
jdmichal 10y ago
I have it. All it did was move the prompt from installation to app startup. AFAIK the permissions themselves did not change, and it definitely still has the problem of overly-broad generic groupings.
whostolemyhat 10y ago
You can remove permissions you've given to an app as well, under Settings > Apps > [App] > Permissions. I think it will cause the app to ask you for permission again when it starts, but it's good to know it's not a one-time-only option.

apatters 10y ago

This might just be me, but I feel like the big win would be exposing the permissions an app requests in the Play store search/browse experience. The store often returns 5 or 10 apps which all seem to do basically the same thing and I don't know which to install. If I can sort them by least Orwellian first, my decision is made.