Hidden “App Ops” Feature in Android 4.3 Lets You Disable Permissions From Apps
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Re: Hidden “App Ops” Feature in Android 4.3 Lets You Disable Permissions From Apps
#2This looks very useful. The Android permission system is pretty good from a technical point of view, but since a lot of apps just require all permissions regardless, and people are trained to disregard this when installing, it's almost moot.
I wonder if Google is using requested permissions in Play rankings. The apps which require _all_ permissions should definitely be ranked lower.
Re: Hidden “App Ops” Feature in Android 4.3 Lets You Disable Permissions From Apps
#3This is an absolutely amazing feature. I've yearned for this for years, I hope it will arrive soon. Some apps just don't need the permissions they request, or I don't want to give them, or I don't want to use the functionality that needs it. This would allow me to disallow my bookmarking app from reading my contact list.
Fantastic.
Re: Hidden “App Ops” Feature in Android 4.3 Lets You Disable Permissions From Apps
#4I really like that Google have added this feature, but unfortunately I don't see it helping things much. I'm willing to be that many of the applications requesting odd and unnecessary permissions will be rewritten to simply not work when any one of those permissions aren't granted to them.
Re: Hidden “App Ops” Feature in Android 4.3 Lets You Disable Permissions From Apps
#5I really like that Google have added this feature, but unfortunately I don't see it helping things much. I'm willing to be that many of the applications requesting odd and unnecessary permissions will be rewritten to simply not work when any one of those permissions aren't granted to them.
Many programs already won't work since they assume that they have the permissions they asked for.
Re: Hidden “App Ops” Feature in Android 4.3 Lets You Disable Permissions From Apps
#6I really like that Google have added this feature, but unfortunately I don't see it helping things much. I'm willing to be that many of the applications requesting odd and unnecessary permissions will be rewritten to simply not work when any one of those permissions aren't granted to them.
Many programs already won't work since they assume that they have the permissions they asked for.
Heaven forbid your app does error checking!
Re: Hidden “App Ops” Feature in Android 4.3 Lets You Disable Permissions From Apps
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
Many programs already won't work since they assume that they have the permissions they asked for.
Heaven forbid your app does error checking!
It does error checking. Would you write a program that constantly checks the config file to see if something changed, or to see if the euid it is running as suddenly changes? Of course not, why would you? And why would an Android app constantly check to see if the permissions it has been granted are suddenly un-granted?
More to the point: why would an app ask for permissions it didn't need in the first place? The most likely thing to happen is that the app would be useless.
Re: Hidden “App Ops” Feature in Android 4.3 Lets You Disable Permissions From Apps
#8I really like that Google have added this feature, but unfortunately I don't see it helping things much. I'm willing to be that many of the applications requesting odd and unnecessary permissions will be rewritten to simply not work when any one of those permissions aren't granted to them.
Many programs already won't work since they assume that they have the permissions they asked for.
Yeah, Google needs to return random or plausibly zero/empty data when a user has disabled the permission. Some Android distros already offer this.
Re: Hidden “App Ops” Feature in Android 4.3 Lets You Disable Permissions From Apps
#9It would be nice if there was also a "simulate" option for some permissions. That way the app would think it has a permission when it doesn't. It could return an empty phonebook for contacts or random location for GPS or confirm a SMS was sent when it never went out, etc.
Re: Hidden “App Ops” Feature in Android 4.3 Lets You Disable Permissions From Apps
#10I really like that Google have added this feature, but unfortunately I don't see it helping things much. I'm willing to be that many of the applications requesting odd and unnecessary permissions will be rewritten to simply not work when any one of those permissions aren't granted to them.
It could be using the same strategy as cyaogenmod's Privacy Guard - when enabled, return junk data to that application. (gps at 0N,0W, contacts list empty, etc)