Do mobile apps have cookies?

Neil_Jones

goodValue said:

I have had a look at the Android Settings for the app (HSBC).
There were no permissions for the app, though it does appear to have somehow stored data.

User data   5MB
Cache        1MB

There are buttons for "Clear Storage" and "Clear Cache".
Is there any value in clearing this data?

If you like, but it'll just repopulate again afterwards.  User data may be remember log-in details, preferences, things like that so if you wipe them, then you'll have to set those up again..

km1500

Clearing cache will be OK although why you'd want to do it I don't know

Clearing data will reset the app as if you had just downloaded it so you will have to sign in again

goodValue

As the app stored data, even though it shouldn't according to the Permissions, does this mean other Permissions, such as Location will not be honoured?

[Deleted User]

goodValue said:

As the app stored data, even though it shouldn't according to the Permissions, does this mean other Permissions, such as Location will not be honoured?

I think you are misunderstanding, all apps store data, they won’t work without data and therefore don’t require your permission to store it. 

goodValue

For this app, it says "No permissions allowed", and they are listed as:
Camera
Contacts
Location
Phone
Storage

So what does Storage mean in this context?

Neil_Jones

goodValue said:

For this app, it says "No permissions allowed", and they are listed as:
Camera
Contacts
Location
Phone
Storage

So what does Storage mean in this context?

Android changed the way permissions work from Android 6 onwards, and split them into two types;  normal and runtime.  There is also such a thing as Permission Groups which basically means you approve a higher "level" of permissions as it were.  So one particular permission will be part of a higher level that generates self approval.

So in other words:  If you have a typical company structure:

HB <-- owner

Fred Quimby <-- Manager

Mammy Two Shoes <-- supervisor

Tom and Jerry <-- the key workers

Milk and Cheese <-- the underlings.

Then if you consider Tom was an android feature, then if you was to use that in an app, then that's lumped in with Mammy Two Shoes and her features.  So Android grants permissions for Fred but asks you to approve them for Mammy.

This may be because the permission of your app uses something that is lumped into one of these groups.

https://guides.codepath.com/android/Understanding-App-Permissions might be of interest.

[Deleted User]

goodValue said:

For this app, it says "No permissions allowed", and they are listed as:
Camera
Contacts
Location
Phone
Storage

So what does Storage mean in this context?

So you these permission are all about granting access to data that pre exists on the phone outside of the app itself. 

The app itself is allowed to store data for its own purpose and does not require your permission and never will because all apps need data to work. By refusing permission for an app to store its own data you would make it totally unusable. 

km1500

as an analogy you would always be able to store your food shopping in your own kitchen cabinets without needing permission

you would however need storage permission to store it (and retrieve it) in your next door neighbour's kitchen cabinets.

[Deleted User]

km1500 said:

as an analogy you would always be able to store your food shopping in your own kitchen cabinets without needing permission

you would however need storage permission to store it (and retrieve it) in your next door neighbour's kitchen cabinets.

Wonderful analogy, I always love hearing food analogies to explain technology!

goodValue

Thanks for the further explanations, which brought enlightenment.

Following the codepath link, I could see that Storage was a group Permission that is:
"Used for runtime permissions related to the shared external storage."

Does the Location permission have similar complications? Otherwise, it seems that a company could always know where you are when you accessed their website, but not when you use their app!