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We can't check the app permissions on Google Play anymore

bluespace.tech

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Re: We can't check the app permissions on Google Play anymore

#11

Post by arsome »

cowtools wrote: post #5
yieldcrv wrote: post #3

right, since the popup for permissions is in the app when its requested I would like more permissions to be different than all or nothing though. I wish you could segregate contacts. like, if I don't tell people around me that I know a high ranking official, why should a random app just because one of us uploaded our contact list.

I agree. An inportant one for me ia the filesystem. Why can't I segregate Whatsapp to a single directory?

Google "solved" this by making storage access between apps no longer a thing:

https://developer.android.com/about/versions/11/privacy/stor...

3rd parties solved this with optional Storage Isolation:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=moe.shizuku.re...

Re: We can't check the app permissions on Google Play anymore

#12

Post by admax88qqq »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #9
cowtools wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. An inportant one for me ia the filesystem. Why can't I segregate Whatsapp to a single directory?

Well, that would imply one of two things: - Whatsapp keeps all its internal data in your Photos folder. - Whenever you want to send someone an image, you need to manually copy the image from wherever it is to the Whatsapp folder.

Nonsense. Selecting a file to share without giving access to all files is already a solved problem via file pickets.

Re: We can't check the app permissions on Google Play anymore

#13

Post by ggm »

in unix, xattr and setfattr drive me crazy. As a PM, I do sometimes realize that the UX drive here would be "lets just remove these extended attributes, people hate them" instead of thinking about what they do, and how people (mis)understand them.

I think Android permissions are like xattr. its the noise behind chmod, it shows up in odd ways like when you can't move or delete a setuid file, or in ls - contexts if you tickle it right. its the nitty gritty, the details. Not "does this s/w respect my privacy" but "of 100+ distinct attributes, data items about 'me', can I atomically grant/deny access or apply some conditionality to them"

So I think the same thing about AWS Privs. My god, theres a million of the suckers. Do I want Amazon to simply remove the pane? God no. I just want to understand it better.

Why can't google "do both" and have a path to see these, but feature-parity with Apple and simplify it on the surface?

Re: We can't check the app permissions on Google Play anymore

#14

Post by joecool1029 »

cowtools wrote: post #5
yieldcrv wrote: post #3

right, since the popup for permissions is in the app when its requested I would like more permissions to be different than all or nothing though. I wish you could segregate contacts. like, if I don't tell people around me that I know a high ranking official, why should a random app just because one of us uploaded our contact list.

I agree. An inportant one for me ia the filesystem. Why can't I segregate Whatsapp to a single directory?

Google made scoped storage mandatory in Android 11 and later[1], this can restrict to just the app's own directory but people usually want to share media from outside the app's directory so they request the additional access.

[1] https://source.android.com/devices/storage/scoped

Re: We can't check the app permissions on Google Play anymore

#15

Post by xnx »

paradite wrote: post #4

I publish both Android and iOS apps regularly, this is just Google getting to feature parity with Apple. Apple had data safety, Google now has it. Apple didn't show permissions, now Google also doesn't. Presumably most people don't really care about permissions anymore.

Android still has permissions

Re: We can't check the app permissions on Google Play anymore

#16

Post by david_allison »

yieldcrv wrote: post #3

right, since the popup for permissions is in the app when its requested I would like more permissions to be different than all or nothing though. I wish you could segregate contacts. like, if I don't tell people around me that I know a high ranking official, why should a random app just because one of us uploaded our contact list.

That's only for 'dangerous' permissions as defined by Android.

As an example: NFC is defined as a 'normal' permission.[0]

As far as I'm aware [not an expert here], there's nothing stopping an app developer from updating their app with the ability to steal credit card/passport information (if the card is tapped against the phone).

[0] https://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.per...

Re: We can't check the app permissions on Google Play anymore

#17

Post by manchmalscott »

xnx wrote: post #15
paradite wrote: post #4

I publish both Android and iOS apps regularly, this is just Google getting to feature parity with Apple. Apple had data safety, Google now has it. Apple didn't show permissions, now Google also doesn't. Presumably most people don't really care about permissions anymore.

Android still has permissions

Not presented in the App Store; both android and iOS still have a permission system, but you need to download the app before you can see what permissions the app has asked for.

Re: We can't check the app permissions on Google Play anymore

#18

Post by pixl97 »

ggm wrote: post #13

in unix, xattr and setfattr drive me crazy. As a PM, I do sometimes realize that the UX drive here would be "lets just remove these extended attributes, people hate them" instead of thinking about what they do, and how people (mis)understand them. I think Android permissions are like xattr. its the noise behind chmod, it shows up in odd ways like when you can't move or delete a setuid file, or in ls - contexts if you…

Heh, that first time you work with an immutable file.

Re: We can't check the app permissions on Google Play anymore

#19

Post by duskwuff »

paradite wrote: post #4

I publish both Android and iOS apps regularly, this is just Google getting to feature parity with Apple. Apple had data safety, Google now has it. Apple didn't show permissions, now Google also doesn't. Presumably most people don't really care about permissions anymore.

> Apple didn't have permissions

Huh? Apple has always had permissions; Apple calls them "entitlements". Some of them are granted on install (like Game Center or Siri intents); some of them also require explicit user permission (like push notifications or contacts access).

What Apple doesn't do is list entitlements in the App Store. This is because users don't generally need to be aware of them; entitlements with significant security or privacy implications are always coupled with an explicit permissions prompt, and many entitlements represent internal details of how an app works which users don't need to be aware of.

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/en...

Re: We can't check the app permissions on Google Play anymore

#20

Post by ggm »

pixl97 wrote: post #18
ggm wrote: post #13

in unix, xattr and setfattr drive me crazy. As a PM, I do sometimes realize that the UX drive here would be "lets just remove these extended attributes, people hate them" instead of thinking about what they do, and how people (mis)understand them. I think Android permissions are like xattr. its the noise behind chmod, it shows up in odd ways like when you can't move or delete a setuid file, or in ls - contexts if you…

Heh, that first time you work with an immutable file.

That first time you think you've upgraded your BSD operating system and three mysterious files refuse to go away.. which is precisely how I first found this, as you say, immutable file problem.
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