I notice there is a tag named android:permission in android manifest file, but feel confused about it.
Does this tag only specify ONE permission that other components require in order to interact with it? I grep the Android framework and it seems so; and it seems that permission-group is not used for multiple permissions the current component/application requires other applications to grant.
Someone mentions that android:permission in is rarely used. But when it does appear, should the components that also define these permission override this permission requirement or append it? The document says:
It can be overwritten by setting the permission attributes of individual components
However I saw a research paper mentions that:
each component can require extra permission for accessing it
I guess it is still a "override", right?
i guess this answers your question. please check the following link
Can an Android Service have multiple Permissions?
Related
I tried to delete\add at runtime but I found that it is impossible
but I also found there is a way to remove it using tools:node="remove" =, the problem is
that I need to add this attribute to tag at runtime
Do anyone know how to do it or is there a workaround solution to control the permissions
programmatically
In the android manifest, there are sometimes permissions named as:
com.google.android.gms.permission...
or android.permission....
Is this naming arbitrary or is there a reason for having different prefixes?
The reason I would like to know this is to be able to locate the right permissions I usually go to the https://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.permission
This link contains only ones with "android.permission.*" I would like to know if there is a single reference somewhere for all the other permissions?
P.S. Below is an example of ACTIVITY_RECOGNITION being added to the manifest, trying to make sense of it.
<!-- Required for 28 and below. -->
<uses-permission android:name="com.google.android.gms.permission.ACTIVITY_RECOGNITION" />
<!-- Required for 29+. -->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACTIVITY_RECOGNITION" />
Is this naming arbitrary or is there a reason for having different prefixes?
android.permission is used for permissions in the Android Open Source Project.
com.google.android.gms.permission is used for permissions from what we think of as Play Services.
Other apps can define their own permissions, ideally in their own namespaces. But, they are just strings, so you or I could try defining a custom permission that starts with android.permission.
I would like to know if there is a single reference somewhere for all the other permissions?
Permissions are arbitrary strings from arbitrary developers. There is no way to know what all of them are. I am not aware of Google having documentation listing all of Play Services' permissions, but I cannot rule it out.
Below is an example of ACTIVITY_RECOGNITION being added to the manifest, trying to make sense of it.
This was tied to functionality that originally was supplied by Play Services and then moved into Android itself. So, the permission started with the Play Services namespace and then was cloned into the AOSP namespace.
I'm just trying to justify the permissions that my app requires and realize that I can't remember why I needed android.permission.READ_LOGS
I can't seem to figure out which classes I use need this permission. I've commented out the permission and the app builds fine. However it builds fine if I remove all permissions. Running it crashes for some of those missing permissions, however I can't figure out which function uses the READ_LOGS permission.
Is there something in android studio that will flag missing permissions if you comment out ones you need? Or some cross reference of classes to permissions?
I really don't want to ask users for permissions that are not needed nor justified at least.
If you are using any critical Permission then android studio will definitely point out by showing error that permission is missing for function.
If you are specifically asking about android.permission.READ_LOGS so this permission allows an application to read the low-level system log files. Means for the devices when you want to read the log then this is used.
Other way is you can check the Official Doc of permission that which permission is used for which purpose so you can match it with set in your Manifest file. Keep the one you need and remove the one you dont need. But in coding it ll just point for the Critical permissions otherwise it ll give error when you are executing your app during testing.
Hope you got the answer. If any doubt then you can comment below.
I've mentioned the following permission:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.NFC" />
in my manifest.xml. But NFC code is no more in use and I commented the source code. Means NFC is no more in use for my app, but while installing the app, it's still shows in installing window.
So, is it possible in android that don't ask for permissions mentioned in Manifest.xml file, if code is not in use? Thanks
No, it is not possible, because the Android system has no idea which permissions your application requires before run-time. Picture the following scenario:
You are writing an application, not specifying NFC permission as you're not using it in your code, but you ARE using a framework that in 50% of the implementations do use NFC (device manufacturer specific framework).
The Android system has no way of telling if the NFC permission is required and thus it relies on your explicit instruction for permissions
As I'm sure you've noticed, an exception will be raised if the permission does not exist for the specified action
The only way to make sure the requirement is gone is to remove the permission from the manifest (and frankly, is it that much of a deal?)
Besides commenting out the unnecessary codes, you have to remove the permission from your manifest as well.
If I wanted to research how and where permissions [requested in the Mainfest.xml] were used in an Android app for the purposes of removing them is there an easy way of doing this? Does lint or findbugs offer some sort of support for tracking permissions used/abused in a project?
I came from the future to save your lives.
Here (in the future), LINT does check for missing permissions as you can see on LINT checks.
So, go to your AndroidManifest.xml and remove all tags <uses-permission> using Android permissions (meaning, don't delete permissions that belong to your app, such as UA_DATA and C2D_MESSAGE).
Then run LINT analysis. Click on Analyze then Inspect Code...
Look under Android -> Constant and Resource Type Mismatches
You should see all missing permissions.
Then you can just right-click them and select Apply fix "Add Permission". If you select this option, Android Studio will include one permission for every error. So you'll end up with multiple copies of the same permission on your Manifest file, just delete the duplicates. You can do it manually too.
Here is the description of the LINT rule:
ID ResourceType
Description
This inspection looks at Android API calls that have been annotated with various support annotations (such as RequiresPermission or UiThread) and flags any calls that are not using the API correctly as specified by the annotations. Examples of errors flagged by this inspection:
Passing the wrong type of resource integer (such as R.string) to an API that expects a different type (such as R.dimen).
Forgetting to invoke the overridden method (via super) in methods that require it
Calling a method that requires a permission without having declared that permission in the manifest
Passing a resource color reference to a method which expects an RGB integer value.
...and many more. For more information, see the documentation at http://developer.android.com/tools/debugging/annotations.html
I'm using Android Studio 2.1.2.
In your app manifest file you should have a tab "Merged Manifest" there you can see your final manifest and the permissions you request you can click on a permission to see where it came from. (who added it - ex': sdk or what code it came from)
There is also a simple way to remove a permission by adding to manifest:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION"
tools:node="remove" />
Also remember to add the tools at the top:
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
package="...">
The way I would do it for an app for which I didn't write the code would be to remove the permissions one by one and test the app end-to-end each time. When it fails, narrow it down. If not, that permission may not be used.
You will have to try removing them one by one and checking i fthe app still works OK. This is not checked by lint in any way (it should be).
When they come back (they are currently down), you can upload your apk to this website (if that's ok with you) and let them statically analyse the permissions you are using: http://www.android-permissions.org/
Best way is to understand what the may actually do. If it is ever going to use the camera then you know you need the camera permission.
Or you could just learn what your app does and then go through the permissions and see which ones are extra. What does your app do, what phone features does it use. There should be some documentation somewhere on what it should do and what methods are in there