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All these are sort of explainable, Hardware and Audio is to allow the user to control volume or widgets for feeds and multimedia. Network access is usually res

All these are sort of explainable, Hardware and Audio is to allow the user to control volume or widgets for feeds and multimedia. Network access is usually reserved for multimedia Phone Calls - status - is usually because if you receive a phone call any multimedia knows when to stop storage - to store things to your sd card or move the app to your sd card prevent from sleeping - if you're watching a video you don't want the screen to sleep.

fauigerzigerk 14y ago
Right, so in order to duplicate everything the browser already does, they "need" these overly broad permissions. That's exactly the point the OP was making. I think the real problem is that permissions are either too broad for the purpose of displaying some content, or they are too many for anyone to understand. My conclusion is that such apps simply make no sense.
scanr 14y ago
They may be explainable but do you really want to install an app that _could_ keep track of the numbers you call and then send them back to a central server? In this case it is the BBC, so its probably only likely that the british government, the metropolitan police or mi 5/6 would be able to convince them to do it but a whole lot of less scrupulous organisations ask for that permission.
- epochwolf 14y ago
  Looks like android needs to fix it's permissions system.
  - angryasian 14y ago
    the only difference between ios and android is android tells you the permissions an app requires. All mobile os need their permission systems fixed
  - jcomis 14y ago
    I think Android permissions are probably the best at the moment, because they actually exist, are centrally located, and are easy to read. You won't see any certain permission detail longer than a few sentences. They also are shared, so if you have seen one permission for an app to access your contacts, it will be the same in all apps. Apple requires less permissions disclosure and they can be listed in the app store, or on the developers site. However, ideally I would like to see the current Android permissions segmented further. Right now they act as a catch all to ensure all bases are covered. This is often way beyond what most apps need and actually use, making users second guess what they are installing (at least, they do for me).

fauigerzigerk 14y ago

Right, so in order to duplicate everything the browser already does, they "need" these overly broad permissions. That's exactly the point the OP was making. I think the real problem is that permissions are either too broad for the purpose of displaying some content, or they are too many for anyone to understand. My conclusion is that such apps simply make no sense.

scanr 14y ago

They may be explainable but do you really want to install an app that _could_ keep track of the numbers you call and then send them back to a central server? In this case it is the BBC, so its probably only likely that the british government, the metropolitan police or mi 5/6 would be able to convince them to do it but a whole lot of less scrupulous organisations ask for that permission.

epochwolf 14y ago
Looks like android needs to fix it's permissions system.
- angryasian 14y ago
  the only difference between ios and android is android tells you the permissions an app requires. All mobile os need their permission systems fixed
- jcomis 14y ago
  I think Android permissions are probably the best at the moment, because they actually exist, are centrally located, and are easy to read. You won't see any certain permission detail longer than a few sentences. They also are shared, so if you have seen one permission for an app to access your contacts, it will be the same in all apps. Apple requires less permissions disclosure and they can be listed in the app store, or on the developers site. However, ideally I would like to see the current Android permissions segmented further. Right now they act as a catch all to ensure all bases are covered. This is often way beyond what most apps need and actually use, making users second guess what they are installing (at least, they do for me).