huge variation in permissions

[androidnewbie5]

I am a new user of a new unrooted android smartphone and am concerned about what seems to be the many seemingly unnecessary permissions in some highly touted android market apps.

Taking the "note" apps, they vary immensely in the permissions they require and my paranoid self wonders if some are even safe to use. But I do not know enough about android which is why I am asking here.

For example, Any.do even asks for SMS permission. None of the other note apps do. Is it safe to use?

The popular angry birds has permission to make phone calls, location, and read storage. Why phone calls and location? Is it safe to use?

I know how to use manage apps to read the permissions of my "downloaded" apps. But it is tedious to go through each one one at a time. Is there an app that would present all the downloaded apps and their permission in table or other form where one can easily compares how similar function apps permissions vary? If not, there really should be.

I hope some of the experienced android users can help. Thanks.

 

[aikiscott]

There are very few absolutes. If you're going to actively manage your permissions, you're going to have to see if the developers explain why they need them. (Check their websites, do Google searches, and ask here.)

A few common ones:

• Internet Access - ad-sponsored SW would use this
• Coarse Location - often used for restaurant finders and such, where it's doing location-based searching
• Read Phone State & Identity - sometimes used to identify you as a specific user based on your phone's ID. Sometimes used to interrupt an app for an incoming phone call. Other uses, too.

There's a decent article on Android permissions here: Use Permissions to Secure Your Private Data from Android Apps.

For Any.do, they explain it on their FAQ page: Any.DO It seems like a pretty salty list of permissions to me. Although it may be entirely on the level, I wouldn't personally give away that many permissions for a to-do list.

For Angry Birds, I believe it can read the phone state, not make calls.

I have passed on apps that seemed to require way more permissions than seemed reasonable. It's ultimately a personal decision.

I hope this helped a little bit.

Good luck!

 

[chanchan05]

I checked Any.Do, but then I still prefer Astrid over the features it gives so, if you want a Task List, try that.