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Android permissions explained, security tips, and avoiding malware

Hey Rico! :)

Yeah, I think that this entire area involves some sourcery (shameless pun, sorry) but anyway, this is a must-read in my opinion if you're interested in permission blocking -

http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/0...ager-control-permissions-for-individual-apps/

Notice what they say about the permission change not always showing up right away.

I'd read in an app comment that the hidden feature was removed from 4.4.2 - I'm running 4.4.2 and Nova, so I just tested the article's instructions.

It's still there and working.

From various app comments, people's mileage on this working varies a lot by app and user.

Maybe if you have 4.3 or later, the article can help.

Let me know what you find out compadre! :)
 
Hey EarlyMon i will do sn updqte and post my results! thanks for the neat info! I had no idea there coild be such a variance! checking out the reference article! Thanks, guy!
 
Well that's just weird.

I was going to question why you would want to block voice to text on your keyboard - I noticed long ago that my HTC keyboard included record audio.

But - SwiftKey works the same way without that permission.

I bet it has to do with how permissions used to work for things - keeping up legacy compatibility has to be a pain for devs. :(

And I just tried voice input, successfully, with my HTC keyboard - notice the results -

1411269922810.jpg

Yeah, I'm betting it has to be some sort of legacy thing.
 
I had read somewhere that this permission was no longer needed too, but wasnt sure if voice-texting access was updated where it did or didnt use this permission. Youve just helped me figure it out.

cool
 
I have been an Android user for couple of years now and still now very familiar with it. This article has been a great help for users like me. Though still need to explore since there are a lot of apps coming out in the market. Thanks! :)
 
I am a little late to this thread but one app that I found and that I find to be indispensable is called XPrivacy. It's a bit tricky to install as it needs another app (whose name I can't remember just now) to run and install first and it only works on certain Android versions BUT for me...it's an absolute must.

It lets ME take control of what permissions an app is given! Sure an app says it needs this or that and I am only given the choice of accepting what it says it needs at install time or not installing at all (a really poor freedom of choice if you ask me).

But...with XPrivacy...that apps permissions are MINE to control AFTER installation.

I routinely DENY permissions after installations on a first run of an app for Location information, for Identity, and a whole host of other things that in my opinion apps have no business knowing.

Seems to work very well. Occasionally I close down permissions too much and must go into XPrivacy and loosen them up a bit but that's rare.

I also use AFWALL+, a free Firewall app, to keep apps from calling home shenanigens without my EXPLICIT permission. You wouldn't believe how many apps are constantly calling home or otherwise connecting to the Internet behind your back!

Be forwarned that these apps are NOT for non-tinkering users who just want things to work and be as easy as pie. They do require some work to set up and you CAN mess up the ability of an app to run (temporarily) if you deny it too much.

For what it's worth.

Carlos
 
JackieCabe said:
Thanks for all the helpful info. I just came here to find out why an app would want access to the vibrator on my phone, but I found so much useful info. I couldn't stop reading it. Great job. Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Yup its amazing the legitimate reasons (and not so legitimate) these apps have for needing these permissions.
Why did it need the vibrator (teehee) by the way?
 
First of all, thank you for the very informative post Alostpacket! I enjoyed reading through it and gained a lot of insight.

I have a rooted Galaxy Note 4 (lollipop 5.01). I was looking for some sort of app to enable me block the permissions some of my apps request. I ended up with "app ops", but there are at least FOUR of them in the Play Store!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.findsdk.apppermission&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=droidmate.appopsinstaller&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.slvn.appops&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.erickdkfz.appops&hl=en

How do I know which one is safe(r)?

Cheers,

Catherine
 
Catherine_note4 said:
First of all, thank you for the very informative post Alostpacket! I enjoyed reading through it and gained a lot of insight.

I have a rooted Galaxy Note 4 (lollipop 5.01). I was looking for some sort of app to enable me block the permissions some of my apps request. I ended up with "app ops", but there are at least FOUR of them in the Play Store!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.findsdk.apppermission&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=droidmate.appopsinstaller&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.slvn.appops&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.erickdkfz.appops&hl=en

How do I know which one is safe(r)?

Cheers,

Catherine
Click to expand...
None of them - app ops isn't supported in Lollipop, it was a Jellybean feature.

If you're concerned about privacy-related permission and use Xposed, check out "[ROOT] X Privacy Installer"

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=biz.bokhorst.xprivacy.installer
 
EarlyMon said:
None of them - app ops isn't supported in Lollipop, it was a Jellybean feature.

If you're concerned about privacy-related permission and use Xposed, check out "[ROOT] X Privacy Installer"

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=biz.bokhorst.xprivacy.installer
Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply.

X Privacey would be my first choice, however, given I have lollipop I need to install Xposed alpha manually, and Xposed alpha version for Lollipop still has some problems with Samsung phones!

I have another question:

If an app does not require any special permission, how certain you can be about it's being safe?

Cheers,

Catherine
 
Catherine_note4 said:
If an app does not require any special permission, how certain you can be about it's being safe?
Click to expand...
Highly certain if obtained directly from the Play Store.

When a developer includes hooks in the app to gather information from outside that normally available to any app or access extra resources on your device, permission requirements are made automatically.

When an app has no special permissions required, it means that it's not included any code that can get to your data or device in a harmful way.

Nefarious methods have been hatched where loopholes have been found in the scheme but Google is diligent about looking for those, expelling the apps, and upgrading the development tools to prevent further occurrences - along with a software robot called a watchdog that is constantly scanning apps for violations, and removing them from the Play Store. If you've installed one that it's found to be bad, it can and will reach out to your device and remove it - and you can't stop it and there's no waste of time with dialogs. If the watchdog finds something wrong, it takes it out.

No system built by people can be perfect so never say never.

But within what's known and available, apps requiring no special permissions are the safest possible.
 
WOW! I really learned quite a lot here. To this minute, many years after this thread created, I still won't use many apps due to permissions requested that make NO sense. For example, I do not know WHY my bank or dog's medical insurance needs to be able to access my photos and other such items. Makes NO sense to me at all.

Yelp demands access to location and other things I find disagreeable also. Generally, I use my browser to find and bookmark content I wish to view regularly and download only apps that I use quite regularly such as creative type apps (PicsArt, etc.).

I've also gotten into the habit of immediately uninstalling any app. that has pop up advertising from certain companies known to be problematic to Android and/or other products such as alarms popping up saying that my phone is infected and to download their software right away and there is one other that actually comes preloaded on many Android devices that is, IMO, useless and poses risks. I just uninstall the app. immediately no matter how appealing I might find it.

T really like the info provided here. Makes me think and double and then think again about downloading that seemingly appealing app. without evaluating the need vs. want for it and the soft cost of it.

Looking at reviews of a relatively new app. that rant and rave about how great it is are USELESS to me and big giant red flags. Reminds me of the people in Facebook that post and then "like" their own post (can anyone figure those people out? Do they KNOW that we can all see that they like what they have to say?).

Thank you for this plethora of information!
 
The thing I'm most concerned and unclear about regarding permissions is apps connecting to the internet (whether via wifi or other means) without me asking them to do so.

From the details in the first two posts, obviously "Change WiMax state" does this. Are there any other permissions that can do that?

Thanks~
 
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