6 ms·

It's up to app maker to ensure it will work without permissions granted. ...but ofc most app makers are lazy and just throw up error whenever they don't get wh

by Xeamek 2y ago

It's up to app maker to ensure it will work without permissions granted. ...but ofc most app makers are lazy and just throw up error whenever they don't get what their wont, forcing users to give up. I guess google could introduce a dummy system for every single service and feed that to the apps when the permission is not granted, but I imagine that would be a lot of work. Maybe some day...

bzzzt 2y ago
Providing dummy data would also diminish the value of Android users to Google itself, unless they give themselves an exemption from such a setting which would mean they would be dragged to court by the competition.
xmprt 2y ago
Android already does something like this for location services. For example, give precise location vs approximate location. And then for other permissions, there's a popup for whether to give permissions only this time, always, or to not. I guess there could be a 4th option for "mock" permissions. I wonder if an OEM could provide something like this because at the end of the day, the OEM has control over the sensors that are providing the data that's consumed by these apps.
- cqqxo4zV46cp 2y ago
  Just to drag us out of the techie land of make-believe, this presents such a horrendous user experience for everyone except advanced users that Google or any mainstream OEM is completely sensible to dismiss it on those merits alone. It’s just another layer of crap that moves smartphones one step closer to being as ridiculously complex as Windows PCs.
  - Hasu 2y ago
    > It’s just another layer of crap that moves smartphones one step closer to being as ridiculously complex as Windows PCs. So, useful computing devices? I'm for anything that pushes this plastic toy towards being a real tool.
- izacus 2y ago
  I have apps constantly refuse to work if I only allow Approximate location on Android. Even stuff like weather apps.
  - catlikesshrimp 2y ago
    Tangential: there are websites which provide good weather info. (eg, not affiliated https://www.windy.com https://www.windy.com ) Everything weather related, I uninstall, and if it is bloatware I "pm disable-user" in shell
- prirai 2y ago
  There is an exact same feature in developer options called Mock location app. Just download an app which does this and enable it there. It works.
noirscape 2y ago
Dummy/empty data is already a thing in Android if I'm not mistaken. It just needs ADB/App Ops to activate it. There's three states of permissions in android land from a permission request perspective: * Granted. Just full access to all things behind the permission, no questions asked. * Ignore. Returns no rejection, but all permission-restricted functions will return no/default data. This can technically be checked for by the app but usually isn't. * Deny. No data, return an explicit error to the app to tell them the permission isn't granted. For some reason that second one isn't available for the default UX; you need to manually set it with ADB or use App Ops to do it.
- capybara_2020 2y ago
  Don't apps just refuse to work now a days if ADB is activated? It has been a few years since I tried it. But I remember my bank app refusing to working with the developer options(forgot what this is exactly) turned on. Also if I remember right, some apps do not work on rooted phones. Or are we talking about different things?
  - noirscape 2y ago
    ADB requires USB debugging to be enabled, yes, although modifying the appops settings (App Ops = app that can modify appops on the device itself using ADB, appops = android service that handles application permissions and application operations) doesn't need it to be continuously enabled. You can just activate it, change the settings and disable it afterwards. Pretty annoying but it is what it is. This doesn't require root either, although enabling USB debugging is an important step towards rooting, which is probably why you think it's related.
  - sgc 2y ago
    I have never had an app refuse to work because of developer mode, but several if rooted. Anecdotal, but it would seem the two are treated differently by developers.
    - baseballdork 2y ago

by Xeamek 2y ago

bzzzt 2y ago

Providing dummy data would also diminish the value of Android users to Google itself, unless they give themselves an exemption from such a setting which would mean they would be dragged to court by the competition.

xmprt 2y ago

Android already does something like this for location services. For example, give precise location vs approximate location. And then for other permissions, there's a popup for whether to give permissions only this time, always, or to not. I guess there could be a 4th option for "mock" permissions. I wonder if an OEM could provide something like this because at the end of the day, the OEM has control over the sensors that are providing the data that's consumed by these apps.

cqqxo4zV46cp 2y ago
Just to drag us out of the techie land of make-believe, this presents such a horrendous user experience for everyone except advanced users that Google or any mainstream OEM is completely sensible to dismiss it on those merits alone. It’s just another layer of crap that moves smartphones one step closer to being as ridiculously complex as Windows PCs.
- Hasu 2y ago
  > It’s just another layer of crap that moves smartphones one step closer to being as ridiculously complex as Windows PCs. So, useful computing devices? I'm for anything that pushes this plastic toy towards being a real tool.
izacus 2y ago
I have apps constantly refuse to work if I only allow Approximate location on Android. Even stuff like weather apps.
- catlikesshrimp 2y ago
  Tangential: there are websites which provide good weather info. (eg, not affiliated https://www.windy.com https://www.windy.com ) Everything weather related, I uninstall, and if it is bloatware I "pm disable-user" in shell
prirai 2y ago
There is an exact same feature in developer options called Mock location app. Just download an app which does this and enable it there. It works.

noirscape 2y ago

Dummy/empty data is already a thing in Android if I'm not mistaken. It just needs ADB/App Ops to activate it. There's three states of permissions in android land from a permission request perspective: * Granted. Just full access to all things behind the permission, no questions asked. * Ignore. Returns no rejection, but all permission-restricted functions will return no/default data. This can technically be checked for by the app but usually isn't. * Deny. No data, return an explicit error to the app to tell them the permission isn't granted. For some reason that second one isn't available for the default UX; you need to manually set it with ADB or use App Ops to do it.

capybara_2020 2y ago
Don't apps just refuse to work now a days if ADB is activated? It has been a few years since I tried it. But I remember my bank app refusing to working with the developer options(forgot what this is exactly) turned on. Also if I remember right, some apps do not work on rooted phones. Or are we talking about different things?
- noirscape 2y ago
  ADB requires USB debugging to be enabled, yes, although modifying the appops settings (App Ops = app that can modify appops on the device itself using ADB, appops = android service that handles application permissions and application operations) doesn't need it to be continuously enabled. You can just activate it, change the settings and disable it afterwards. Pretty annoying but it is what it is. This doesn't require root either, although enabling USB debugging is an important step towards rooting, which is probably why you think it's related.
- sgc 2y ago
  I have never had an app refuse to work because of developer mode, but several if rooted. Anecdotal, but it would seem the two are treated differently by developers.
  - baseballdork 2y ago