4 ms·

At least on recent Android versions the apps only ask for permissions when they actually need them, not on install time, and you can grant/refuse individual per

At least on recent Android versions the apps only ask for permissions when they actually need them, not on install time, and you can grant/refuse individual permissions.

Wowfunhappy 6y ago
This is also how iOS has worked since forever. I think it's helpful, but not that helpful. In practice, apps that want access to my contacts usually keep asking for access every time I try to do anything, until I eventually either relent to make the prompts go away or click allow by accident. And that's me as a computer-enthusiast. I would bet money most normal people just hit allow always. Because it's easier.
- thinkloop 6y ago
  The missing piece is "refusing" permission should instead give dummy data: an empty address book, a random location, etc. Better would be profiles: Full, Basic, Public, Anonymous, etc
  - Wowfunhappy 6y ago
    I'm not necessarily against this but there are some pretty major UX implications for non-tech users who don't understand what's going on. "Who is Foo Smith and why does this app think I know them?"
- the_duke 6y ago
  In Android 10 you "only" need to deny a permission 3 times until it is auto-rejected without a prompt. Some apps even try to circumvent this system by showing a "help" screen with instructions on how to re-enable the permission manually, but I only saw this twice.
enriquto 6y ago
> At least on recent Android versions the apps only ask for permissions when they actually need them, not on install time, and you can grant/refuse individual permissions. Still, this is not practical enough. A true user-centric strategy would be to offer "mock-permissions" to an app, so that if an app says that it needs to read your home dir, you grant mock permission to the app, and it sees an empty home dir, not yours. From the point of view of the app, it should be impossible to know if it has been granted the real permission or just a mock permission.

At least on recent Android versions the apps only ask for permissions when they actually need them, not on install time, and you can grant/refuse individual permissions.

Wowfunhappy 6y ago

This is also how iOS has worked since forever. I think it's helpful, but not that helpful. In practice, apps that want access to my contacts usually keep asking for access every time I try to do anything, until I eventually either relent to make the prompts go away or click allow by accident. And that's me as a computer-enthusiast. I would bet money most normal people just hit allow always. Because it's easier.

thinkloop 6y ago
The missing piece is "refusing" permission should instead give dummy data: an empty address book, a random location, etc. Better would be profiles: Full, Basic, Public, Anonymous, etc
- Wowfunhappy 6y ago
  I'm not necessarily against this but there are some pretty major UX implications for non-tech users who don't understand what's going on. "Who is Foo Smith and why does this app think I know them?"
the_duke 6y ago
In Android 10 you "only" need to deny a permission 3 times until it is auto-rejected without a prompt. Some apps even try to circumvent this system by showing a "help" screen with instructions on how to re-enable the permission manually, but I only saw this twice.

enriquto 6y ago

> At least on recent Android versions the apps only ask for permissions when they actually need them, not on install time, and you can grant/refuse individual permissions. Still, this is not practical enough. A true user-centric strategy would be to offer "mock-permissions" to an app, so that if an app says that it needs to read your home dir, you grant mock permission to the app, and it sees an empty home dir, not yours. From the point of view of the app, it should be impossible to know if it has been granted the real permission or just a mock permission.