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Permissions "We are giving users control of app permissions in the M release. Apps can trigger requests for permissions at runtime, in the right context, and u

by frik 11y ago

Permissions "We are giving users control of app permissions in the M release. Apps can trigger requests for permissions at runtime, in the right context, and users can choose whether to grant the permission. Making permission requests right when they’re needed means users can get up and running in your app faster. Also, users have easy access to manage all their app permissions in settings." Great, finally Google got it. Hopefully with the old Android 2.3 style fine granular permissions and not the few permission groups of Android 4/5.

calvin_c 11y ago
They've actually set the number of permission groups to 8. But at least you can accept/decline each individually. EDIT: The permission groups are Location Camera Microphone Contacts Phone SMS Calendar Sensor
- e40 11y ago
  What I see missing, that Xposed + App Ops gives me is the "Keep Awake"... having revoked this permission from almost all non-Google apps, my battery life is a full 50% longer than other people with my phone report.
  - digi_owl 11y ago
    Best i can tell, Doze is supposed to cover that automatically. But then Doze will wake the device up if a GCM priority notification comes down the wire. And i expect Facebook and the rest to start spamming those to make sure they get every nanosecond of your life to their servers.
    - e40 11y ago
      Yeah, I don't see Google allowing me to stop Facebook (and others) from constantly checking for updates, etc.
      - devsquid 11y ago
        Settings>Data Usage>Click app>Disable Background data. Not ideal, but it works if its really an issue. Actually FB does not consume much bandwidth unless you are using it.
- rentnorove 11y ago
  Conspicuously absent: - Read external storage - Internet
  - vardump 11y ago
    Can't agree more. It always bothers me all apps can access my external storage by default. But I have to use Android, because it's the most open established mobile ecosystem. Only system that supports the mobile web browser I find tolerable to use for instance (hint - it's not the default browser or Chrome). Only system that allows developers to map executable pages. Only system that allows me to customize user experience as I see fit, and not offer one size fits all. And so on.
  - Aldo_MX 11y ago
    Application YourTypicalMobileApplication is asking for access to the Internet to display advertisements powered by Google AdMob. [ D̶E̶N̶Y̶ ] [ ALLOW ] (Do you think we would give you the option to easily cut our income?)
    - socceroos 11y ago
      Then please, oh please separate it out. Internet and Advertising. Shouldn't be hard.
      - Manishearth 11y ago
        > Shouldn't be hard. How can the OS tell if an HTTP request is for the Internet or for Ads? It can't. Though Google could special-case AdMob effectively owning the ad scenario for apps which don't use the internet for anything else.
        socceroos 11y ago
        That's what I meant. It covers a good ~95% of all ads. Have any extras register for security exemption. Makes sense to me - in the context of not screwing the user over constantly.
e40 11y ago
Agreed. This is the main reason I root my phone, so I can run Xposed + App Ops.
hyperion_ 11y ago
Using the developer preview now there is no difference when installing new apps, so do developers all have to make manual changes in their apps for it to work, or will Google flip a switch at some point? Currently you can change app permissions once an app is installed, but they gain all the permissions they ask for when installed. If each app has to be updated by the developer for the changes to take place, it might take a while for this to have any large effect on the ecosystem.
- on_and_off 11y ago
  The app needs to target M in order to access to these granular permission. An app targeting a lower API level will work in legacy mode where it gets its permissions at install time, like before. I guess it makes sense in order to give enough time to the devs to update their apps to this new system. As long as the checking/warning becomes more aggressive in N, I am fine with that choice.
  - magicalist 11y ago
    According to the session after the keynote, you'll still be able to at least go back and revoke permissions individually for apps targeting older API levels.
    - biafra 11y ago
      And they will most likely crash if you do, because they are not expecting a SecurityException. I prefer the CyanogenMod way to just give out empty data, if a permission is not given by the user.
      - kllrnohj 11y ago
        What you're calling the "CyanogenMod" way is actually what Google built, it's called AppOps. All CM did was expose it. The actual capability of permission revoking and handing out dummy data instead was all done by Google as part of AppOps and I assume that M is using that same system because it'd be silly not to.

by frik 11y ago

calvin_c 11y ago

They've actually set the number of permission groups to 8. But at least you can accept/decline each individually. EDIT: The permission groups are Location Camera Microphone Contacts Phone SMS Calendar Sensor

e40 11y ago
What I see missing, that Xposed + App Ops gives me is the "Keep Awake"... having revoked this permission from almost all non-Google apps, my battery life is a full 50% longer than other people with my phone report.
- digi_owl 11y ago
  Best i can tell, Doze is supposed to cover that automatically. But then Doze will wake the device up if a GCM priority notification comes down the wire. And i expect Facebook and the rest to start spamming those to make sure they get every nanosecond of your life to their servers.
  - e40 11y ago
    Yeah, I don't see Google allowing me to stop Facebook (and others) from constantly checking for updates, etc.
    - devsquid 11y ago
      Settings>Data Usage>Click app>Disable Background data. Not ideal, but it works if its really an issue. Actually FB does not consume much bandwidth unless you are using it.
rentnorove 11y ago
Conspicuously absent: - Read external storage - Internet
- vardump 11y ago
  Can't agree more. It always bothers me all apps can access my external storage by default. But I have to use Android, because it's the most open established mobile ecosystem. Only system that supports the mobile web browser I find tolerable to use for instance (hint - it's not the default browser or Chrome). Only system that allows developers to map executable pages. Only system that allows me to customize user experience as I see fit, and not offer one size fits all. And so on.
- Aldo_MX 11y ago
  Application YourTypicalMobileApplication is asking for access to the Internet to display advertisements powered by Google AdMob. [ D̶E̶N̶Y̶ ] [ ALLOW ] (Do you think we would give you the option to easily cut our income?)
  - socceroos 11y ago
    Then please, oh please separate it out. Internet and Advertising. Shouldn't be hard.
    - Manishearth 11y ago
      > Shouldn't be hard. How can the OS tell if an HTTP request is for the Internet or for Ads? It can't. Though Google could special-case AdMob effectively owning the ad scenario for apps which don't use the internet for anything else.
      - socceroos 11y ago
        That's what I meant. It covers a good ~95% of all ads. Have any extras register for security exemption. Makes sense to me - in the context of not screwing the user over constantly.

e40 11y ago

Agreed. This is the main reason I root my phone, so I can run Xposed + App Ops.

hyperion_ 11y ago

Using the developer preview now there is no difference when installing new apps, so do developers all have to make manual changes in their apps for it to work, or will Google flip a switch at some point? Currently you can change app permissions once an app is installed, but they gain all the permissions they ask for when installed. If each app has to be updated by the developer for the changes to take place, it might take a while for this to have any large effect on the ecosystem.

on_and_off 11y ago
The app needs to target M in order to access to these granular permission. An app targeting a lower API level will work in legacy mode where it gets its permissions at install time, like before. I guess it makes sense in order to give enough time to the devs to update their apps to this new system. As long as the checking/warning becomes more aggressive in N, I am fine with that choice.
- magicalist 11y ago
  According to the session after the keynote, you'll still be able to at least go back and revoke permissions individually for apps targeting older API levels.
  - biafra 11y ago
    And they will most likely crash if you do, because they are not expecting a SecurityException. I prefer the CyanogenMod way to just give out empty data, if a permission is not given by the user.
    - kllrnohj 11y ago
      What you're calling the "CyanogenMod" way is actually what Google built, it's called AppOps. All CM did was expose it. The actual capability of permission revoking and handing out dummy data instead was all done by Google as part of AppOps and I assume that M is using that same system because it'd be silly not to.