Android users

Andy_L

aliasojo wrote: »

Why on earth does a game of chequers need to know about my contacts? It doesn't.

I would guess it allows you to play games with your friends so needs their contact details to send them your moves

DCFC79

aliasojo wrote: »

I'm seriously thinking about rooting my Nexus so I can disable these permissions. It annoys the heck out of me that all these apps require carte blanche 'control' over my machine.

Why on earth does a game of chequers need to know about my contacts? It doesn't.

If they are facebook games then yes it does for moves etc as Andy says ^^^

aliasojo

Andy_L wrote: »

I would guess it allows you to play games with your friends so needs their contact details to send them your moves

Actually, it's a free Android download and there is no option on this version to play with anyone else unless they are sat next to you and you physically hand them the game to take a turn.

I also have a fish screen saver app. It requires all sorts of (unnecessary) permissions too.

aliasojo

DCFC79 wrote: »

If they are facebook games then yes it does for moves etc as Andy says ^^^

Nothing to do with FB.

AlecEiffel

For most app types there are usually some that only require the absolute minimum necessary permissions (eg note apps often need to write to the sd card). You just need to be careful and check what permissions are being asked for. I only install clock widgets for example that require no permissions or at most internet access if they have an ad in the menu. If there is no need for a permission I just install a different app that does the same thing. That's the beauty of Android, there's always a lot of choice.

Some apps seem to ask for a lot but when you look into it it's clear why - Facebook, LinkedIn etc will always need access to contacts (for syncing), account info (for their own account set up on the handset), web access (to get your updates etc), ability to dial numbers (press someones phone number in the app and it dials it for you), etc.

DCFC79

aliasojo wrote: »

Nothing to do with FB.

Apologies, I thoguht only facebook apps asked for them kind of permissions.

aliasojo

DCFC79 wrote: »

Apologies, I thoguht only facebook apps asked for them kind of permissions.

No worries.

I don't have FB, don't like it myself.

It was an eye opener for me to see just how intrusive these apps are, I'm really surprised they get away with it tbh but then I think a lot of people don't give it too much thought and this lets the software companies do what they want.

tronator

natley wrote: »

Avast mobile security it's wanting permission for

Edit, read, receive, send text messages, modify or delete contents of usb storage, directly call phoe numbers, read phone status and identity, reroute outgoing calls, modify contacts, read call log, read your contacts, write call log.

So which of the permissions you think is not necessary?

Have a look here and you might understand, why certain permissions are required.

And that "most" apps need access to your personal data is simply not true. You gave one example of a security software which needs (surprise!) access to your sms and storage (for removing malware?). What other apps need access to your personal data?

techno12

Some of the apps concerned might not actually use or require most of the items listed.

When writing Android apps there's a default set of permissions, specified in the manifest.xml file, and I bet a lot of developers are just leaving it at default (so it pops up requesting everything).

When I was finalising my first app a couple of months ago I had to go through this manifest and remove all the items I knew my app didn't require, as one of the people we got to test it was concerned that it was asking about accessing the camera and phone location etc (it's a game so needs none of that).

I wouldn't worry too much.

bod1467

techno12 wrote: »

and I bet a lot of developers are just leaving it at default (so it pops up requesting everything).

... is exactly what I was thinking - lazy developers.