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I think that presenting a list of toggleable permissions isn't the problem. The problem is that all the apps out there right now depend on having all the permi

I think that presenting a list of toggleable permissions isn't the problem. The problem is that all the apps out there right now depend on having all the permissions that they ask for, and you'll end up with random crashes all the time when users deny permissions. I think that eventually app coders would change their code to degrade gracefully when denied access to something, but in the short-term, people would think that Android was unstable.

x1798DE 12y ago
I've been using App Ops for a few months now on a rooted phone and I've turned off a good deal of permissions for various apps. I haven't had any force crashes from that so far. I expected it to be a bigger problem than it is.
- SnacksOnAPlane 12y ago
  That's good to hear, but how representative of a sample are your apps? I think more tech-oriented people gravitate towards well-coded apps that deal with exceptions well. There's lots of poorly-coded apps that don't.
  - x1798DE 12y ago
    You may certainly be right on that front. I have no idea how well-coded most of the apps are, but my most heavily-used apps tend to be stable ones just by virtue of the fact that when apps become unstable, I find replacements. My guess is that many people have the same workflow. That said, I don't use any social networks, I don't play very many games on my phone, and I don't have any children, so I don't have any of these apps where you interact with a cartoon cat, or that show you arbitrary colors and play noise or otherwise distracts children, so there are certainly large subsets of the app ecosystem that I really am not taking advantage of.
pan69 12y ago
I think this would only work with a new "advance" permissions sub-system. Introducing a new permissions sub-system has three benefits; 1) old apps will continue to work 2) the old system can be deprecated at some point in time giving developers ample time to upgrade their apps 3) new apps can start to use the new system creating more trust between the developer and the user.
ISL 12y ago
This is a solvable problem - the trouble is that the various platforms are competing for developers and for app-ecosystem size. It's extra work for a developer to handle a "permission denied" exception for each external call, but they can do it. A changeover could be done by grandfathering old apps, but requiring all new apps and updated apps to accommodate fine-grained permissions. If customers had fine-grained control, many apps could no longer be monetized without direct payment from the consumer. An example: The free 2048 app surely doesn't need internet access to run, but it needs it to serve ads. Extra work and loss of revenue --> grumpy developers switching to other platforms.
- SnacksOnAPlane 12y ago
  It's solvable but it would lead to a lot of short-term pain that Google's not willing to put up with. Who do you think would get blamed when all the apps stopped working correctly?

x1798DE 12y ago

I've been using App Ops for a few months now on a rooted phone and I've turned off a good deal of permissions for various apps. I haven't had any force crashes from that so far. I expected it to be a bigger problem than it is.

SnacksOnAPlane 12y ago
That's good to hear, but how representative of a sample are your apps? I think more tech-oriented people gravitate towards well-coded apps that deal with exceptions well. There's lots of poorly-coded apps that don't.
- x1798DE 12y ago
  You may certainly be right on that front. I have no idea how well-coded most of the apps are, but my most heavily-used apps tend to be stable ones just by virtue of the fact that when apps become unstable, I find replacements. My guess is that many people have the same workflow. That said, I don't use any social networks, I don't play very many games on my phone, and I don't have any children, so I don't have any of these apps where you interact with a cartoon cat, or that show you arbitrary colors and play noise or otherwise distracts children, so there are certainly large subsets of the app ecosystem that I really am not taking advantage of.

pan69 12y ago

I think this would only work with a new "advance" permissions sub-system. Introducing a new permissions sub-system has three benefits; 1) old apps will continue to work 2) the old system can be deprecated at some point in time giving developers ample time to upgrade their apps 3) new apps can start to use the new system creating more trust between the developer and the user.

ISL 12y ago

This is a solvable problem - the trouble is that the various platforms are competing for developers and for app-ecosystem size. It's extra work for a developer to handle a "permission denied" exception for each external call, but they can do it. A changeover could be done by grandfathering old apps, but requiring all new apps and updated apps to accommodate fine-grained permissions. If customers had fine-grained control, many apps could no longer be monetized without direct payment from the consumer. An example: The free 2048 app surely doesn't need internet access to run, but it needs it to serve ads. Extra work and loss of revenue --> grumpy developers switching to other platforms.

SnacksOnAPlane 12y ago
It's solvable but it would lead to a lot of short-term pain that Google's not willing to put up with. Who do you think would get blamed when all the apps stopped working correctly?