Develop Reference

Android "Screen Overlay Detected" message if user is trying to grant a permission when a notification is showing

I have Android Marshmallow on a Nexus 6. I am trying to fix the following problem:
If a user is trying to grant permission while a notification is showing, a "Screen overlay detected" message gets displayed and the Request Permission dialog disappears - of course the app does not get the requested permission. (Check screenshot)
I tried to fix the problem by adding "DRAW OVER OTHER APPS" permission - android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW to the manifest but with no luck.
PS: I am sure the problem is caused by the notification. I do not have any app installed that overlays over other apps, I even turned off all apps with "Draw over other apps" permission in the settings. Did not help..
Anyone knows a solution to that problem?

In the circumstance that I ran across, I was causing the problem myself. It was the result of using a Toast to display information to the user at the same time that I was asking for permission. Both of these actions together cause this type of error.
The other answers might resolve someone else's issue. But I wanted to note that you should be cautious of causing your own overlays errors. Be careful of overlaying something in the view while simultaneously asking for permission.

Uninstall Clean Master app. I uninstalled it and problem solved

This problem appear because of some culprit application like Twilight, cleaner-master, drupe etc..
To solve this problem you have to disable screen overlay for those culprit apps.
i have moto g4 plus, and this is how i solve this problem
Go to Setting --> Select Apps ---> again select setting icon in Apps ---> select draw over other apps ---> and disable culprit apps who trouble for other apps.
what i done is checking each apps by disabling this permission and try to run my app, and i found one app this troubling overlay for other apps, so at the end i disabled only this app.
ScreenShots:

Got insights from multiple answers here and other forums .
Consolidating how I got rid of the issue :
Go to Settings > Apps > (your app which is getting issue)
Press on Power button till window for Power off , reboot , airplane mode comes up
Hold on Power off option
Select reboot in Safe mode
Go to settings > apps > (your app which is getting issue)
Select whichever permissions you want
After Android M update , issues can come up in apps like Messenger , Whatsapp , Prisma etc.
Let me know if any issues .
Note : I am having One plus One mobile.

This popup is caused by the manifest.PERMISSION.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW permission declared by the manifest.
The are 3 categories of permissions, that developer must be aware of :
Normal permission - do nothing with them, just declare in the Manifest
Vulnerable permissions - declare in Manifest and ask for permission at first time. They can be changed through system settings.
Above dangerous permissions: SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW and WRITE_SETTINGS belong to this category. They must be granted, but are not visible in system settings. To request for it you don't use a standard way (int checkSelfPermission (String permission)) but you have to check Settings.canDrawOverlays() or Settings.System.canWrite() appropriately and if you not do that you will get exception like
Unable to add window android.view.ViewRootImpl$W#1de28ad -- permission denied for this window type
1-Request this permission by yourself in your code just like given below:
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
public final static int REQUEST_CODE = 10000;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
if (checkDrawOverlayPermission()) {
Toast.makeText(this, "Permission granted", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}
}
public boolean checkDrawOverlayPermission() {
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.M) {
return true;
}
if (!Settings.canDrawOverlays(this)) {
Intent intent = new Intent(Settings.ACTION_MANAGE_OVERLAY_PERMISSION,
Uri.parse("package:" + getPackageName()));
startActivityForResult(intent, REQUEST_CODE);
return false;
} else {
return true;
}
}
#Override
#TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.M)
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
if (requestCode == REQUEST_CODE) {
if (Settings.canDrawOverlays(this)) {
Toast.makeText(this, "Permission granted", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}
}
}

I just deleted my app and turned off my Nexus 6P. After turning it back on, I reinstalled the app and no longer got the "screen overlay" dialogs when giving the app permissions.

You must disable the overlay for all the apps you see in the list. Only this way can you modify authorizations in the app you need.
I've done that in safe mode, and it worked.
At the end I rebooted the phone and now it is working fine.

I updated my Sony Xperia Z3 (Dual Sim) to Android 6.0.1 (Marsmallow). I have been having screen overlay issues. For me i do not have Clean Master, Du Speed, or Du Booster(as the solutions i have read).
So i solved mine looking for any screen overlay apps.
A screen overlap app, is an app that you can use to access other apps on your main home screen without leaving your home screen. So for me the Screen Overlay App here in my situation was the OMNI SWIPE. So if you are facing this problem you need to calm down and check which of your app fits the definition of a screen overlay app.
locate the app and uninstall then restart your phone ..
i just finished doing this and am having a good time with the phone
Best of Luck

As long as Android 6.x is buggy on some devices where this "overlay alert" is displayed without any reason (on 2 to 5% of the devices according to my analytics data), the best solution is to avoid the whole permission process by defining the targetSdk to 22.
Take care that you can't downgrade the target sdk for a new version or this will induce a INSTALL_FAILED_PERMISSION_DOWNGRADE error when the user updates requiring an unisntall/install of the app.

solution is
remove Toast messages from onRequestPermissionsResult method

This happens when you have granted overlay permission to malicious apps. Go to overlay settings and disable the overlay feature on all apps that don't belong to google and you will be good to go.

I got this problem when installing a new app.
The way I got around this problem is to manually enable the permissions for the newly installed app (before running the app).
I’m pretty sure this is a problem with Android and Samsung devices in particular.
Hope this helps

Delete the apps which have screen overlay like CM security, Clean Master, etc.
Even delete and try with Messenger (FB app) if needed.

android.provider.Settings.ACTION_BLUETOOTH_SETTINGS crashes on Samsung

Anybody have any idea why
Intent pairIntent = new Intent(android.provider.Settings.ACTION_BLUETOOTH_SETTINGS);
startActivityForResult(pairIntent, 0);
Crashes on all Samsung devices, but works fine on emulator, HTC, Sony, LG etc.
EDITED -----------------------------------
Turns out Samsung also requires BLUETOOTH_ADMIN in the manifest
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.BLUETOOTH_ADMIN" />

If you have an app in production, you need to have something that will allow you to get crash logs. That could be the default stuff that you get from shipping through the Play Store, or an open source solution like ACRA, or any number of service providers.
With regards to your crash, there is no guarantee that this activity is available. Quoting the documentation:
In some cases, a matching Activity may not exist, so ensure you safeguard against this.
The "safeguard" could be wrapping your startActivity() call in an exception handler, watching for ActivityNotFoundException.
Also, please note that you use startActivity(), not startActivityForResult(), with this Intent action. Again, quoting the documentation:
Output: Nothing.
This means that there is no result, and using startActivityForResult() is a waste of time.

Error in Manifest.xml when adding PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS [Android Lollipop]

I am trying to use "android.permission.PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS" in my app. Here it says that NOTE: This API requires the permission android.permission.PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS, which is a system-level permission and will not be granted to third-party apps. However, declaring the permission implies intention to use the API and the user of the device can grant permission through the Settings application.
It seems that I will need the user to explicitly give my app the permission to give access to the access the usage stats.
In addition, I used the intent code below to open the screen to allow user to give access to my app, but my app is not in the list.
Code I used:
Intent intent = new Intent(Settings.ACTION_USAGE_ACCESS_SETTINGS);
startActivity(intent);
When *startActivity(intent)' is fired (or going to *Settings>Security>Apps with Usage Access), a blank screen below pops up, my app is not part of it.
Bottom line question is -- How to use UsageStatsManager in Android Lollipop? Anyone tried it?

This is what worked for me.
<uses-permission xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:name="android.permission.PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS"
tools:ignore="ProtectedPermissions" />

You can simply make this on the manifest, ignoring just this permission error:
<uses-permission
android:name="android.permission.PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS"
tools:ignore="ProtectedPermissions"/>

The AndroidManifest.xml error can be fixed by disabling lint errors. Specifically
Security - SignatureorSystemPermissions
I guess after that the settings app will show your app.

Android App reports "not installed" due to permission error

On a tablet I installed a apk develloped in Eclipse under Ubuntu. The App works on the AVD and is already installed on a phone and working.
The installation of the apk gives no error, however when starting the App it gives a "not installed" toast message.
In the aLogCat output I see a Permission denial message of the Launcher for WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE. Note that the USB connection is not connected when I started the App.
Furthermore I noticed the following line in aLogCat and I noted that the "-1" was added to the package name.
New package installed in /data/app/com.company.AppName-1.apk
In the manifest the lines
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="8" android:targetSdkVersion="15" />
are in the manifest block and
<android:permission="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE">
in the application block.
Why is this working on a Android 2.3 phone and in a Android 4.0.3 AVD, but not on a Android 4.0.3 tablet?
Platform info: Eclipse 3.7.2, Tablet: Yarvik TAB461EUK; Installed with "ES File Explorer"

Try removing the permission from the application block. I dont know for sure but from personal experience ICS do not support permission attribute in application block which has already been defined in the main block. It inherits from the main block. Please tell if that solves the problem.
I dont know why it works on the AVD, may be because AVD do not have any external storage.

Related documentation:
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/manifest-intro.html describes the permission element only for the main manifest block (now)
Changes per version states:
HONEYCOMB: When an application requires a permission to access one of its components (activity, receiver, service, provider), this permission is no longer enforced when the application wants to access its own component. This means it can require a permission on a component that it does not itself hold and still access that component.
Activity states:
The name of a permission that clients must have to launch the activity or otherwise get it to respond to an intent. If a caller of startActivity() or startActivityForResult() has not been granted the specified permission, its intent will not be delivered to the activity.
If this attribute is not set, the permission set by the element's permission attribute applies to the activity. If neither attribute is set, the activity is not protected by a permission.
Not very clear to me

Device Policy Manager - Reset Password - Android 3.0 Problems

I am using Device Policy Manager in my Android App and I have a problem with Honeycomb devices. When attempting to call resetPassword I get an exception thrown. This is not the case in Froyo or Gingerbread, as both of those work fine.
The error is:
java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start receiver Package.Name.Test: java.lang.SecurityException: Permission Denial: writing com.android.providers.settings.SettingsProvider uri content://settings/secure from pid=x, uid=y requires android.permission.WRITE_SETTINGS
My Android Code is as follows:
DevicePolicyManager mDPM = (DevicePolicyManager) context.getSystemService(Context.DEVICE_POLICY_SERVICE);
if ((mDPM.getActiveAdmins() != null) && (mDPM.isAdminActive(new ComponentName(context, DeviceAdmin.class)))) {
mDPM.resetPassword(extra, DevicePolicyManager.RESET_PASSWORD_REQUIRE_ENTRY);
mDPM.lockNow();
} else {
Log.d(TAG, "Could not lock because device admin not enabled");
}
The problem occurs at:
mDPM.resetPassword(extra, DevicePolicyManager.RESET_PASSWORD_REQUIRE_ENTRY);
My Device_Admin.xml is:
<device-admin xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<uses-policies>
<force-lock />
<wipe-data />
<reset-password />
</uses-policies>
</device-admin>
Like I said the device admin works great on Froyo and Gingerbread devices, although I do have some problems with users using different keyguards, an example is the Droid X and HTC Sense. This problem is with timing. When I call lockNow the device will turn off the screen but HTC Sense or MotoBlur will not actually lock the keyguard until the time that was set in Settings, Security, Lock Phone After.
Any help would be awesome! I just recently got a honeycomb tablet at I/O and haven't tested the app out on this device yet, but I see the errors on the market website with users with the Xoom running 3.0. Have not seen any 3.1 devices yet.

I struggled with this also. The solution is also listed on one of your links, but I'll mention it here also in case it helps someone else.
If the device is brand new (or factory reset) the code fails as you describe.
If the user enters a password using the settings menu just once, somehow the same code starts working and keeps on working.
A very weird bug indeed!!

On Android Honeycomb 3.0 platform, the DevicePolicyServiceManager is very different from Gingerbread, the whole flow of resetPassword() is:
DevicePolicyServiceManager.resetPassword() -->
LockPatternUtils.checkPasswordInHistory() -->
LockPatternUtils.passwordToHash() -->
LockPatternUtils.getSalt() -->
LockPatternUtils.putLong(SALT_KEY, salt) -->
Settings.Secure.putLong(SALT_KEY, salt)
Here you should know why WRITE_SETTINGS is required, it seems that this is Google's mistake, they did not put the LockPatternUtils.checkPasswordInHistory() method in Binder.clearCallingIndentity() block.
One more thing, even if you add WRITE_SETTINGS permission in your AndroidManifest.xml file, it will tell you that WRTITE_SECURE_SETTINGS permission is also required.
Hope Google can fix this issue ASAP.
P.S. It seems that this issue has been fixed on ICS platform, Google has removed the checkPasswordInHistory() from resetPassword() block. I do not think this is a good solutoin and i don't know why? Maybe they wanna release ICS as soon as possible?

I also faced this problem, what i can tell is if you didn't set the password manually even single time, the it will give force close asking for write_settings permission but if you try once by setting password manually from there on-wards it will work like charm.

I was looking at this problem (which is readily reproducible on 3.1 as well, btw), but it appears that you already figured it out, based upon the issue you filed. I just wanted to note that here in case anyone else tried to research the answer.