Shameless Self-promotion
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viaducting wrote:
Many if not most apps ask for far more permissions than they actually need.
Really? How do you know they do not need those permissions?
"One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson
"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons
"Show me a community that obeys the Ten Commandments and I'll show you a less crowded prison system." - Anonymous
for an example, there would be no reason for a solitaire card game to need permissions to the contacts list etc...I have seen that type of thing and it makes me suspect one of the two following #1. The developer doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground and just gave random permissions to the app, in which case I would not trust the app to not be buggy as hell since he did not know what he was doing. #2. he is up to something nefarious.. (Yes I know a little about droid development as I have an app out and am working on another, no I am most certainly NOT an expert however)
Common sense is not a gift it's a curse. Those of us who have it have to deal with those that don't.... Be careful which toes you step on today, they might be connected to the foot that kicks your butt tomorrow. You can't scare me, I have children.
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for an example, there would be no reason for a solitaire card game to need permissions to the contacts list etc...I have seen that type of thing and it makes me suspect one of the two following #1. The developer doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground and just gave random permissions to the app, in which case I would not trust the app to not be buggy as hell since he did not know what he was doing. #2. he is up to something nefarious.. (Yes I know a little about droid development as I have an app out and am working on another, no I am most certainly NOT an expert however)
Common sense is not a gift it's a curse. Those of us who have it have to deal with those that don't.... Be careful which toes you step on today, they might be connected to the foot that kicks your butt tomorrow. You can't scare me, I have children.
gavindon wrote:
for an example, there would be no reason for a solitaire card game to need permissions to the contacts list etc
The only time I've ever seen this is when the app uses ads.
"One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson
"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons
"Show me a community that obeys the Ten Commandments and I'll show you a less crowded prison system." - Anonymous
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viaducting wrote:
Many if not most apps ask for far more permissions than they actually need.
Really? How do you know they do not need those permissions?
"One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson
"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons
"Show me a community that obeys the Ten Commandments and I'll show you a less crowded prison system." - Anonymous
I just went to install the Evernote app, and found it needed access to my contacts list, the system status, your location, and it made me increasingly paranoid. It's not that I don't trust the Evernote developers, I just don't believe that they need access to that sort of information. There is a lot of discussion in the Android community about how it is a major requirement for Android to (1) give you finer-grained control over permissions and (2) for apps to accept that you don't want them to have access to certain data.
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gavindon wrote:
for an example, there would be no reason for a solitaire card game to need permissions to the contacts list etc
The only time I've ever seen this is when the app uses ads.
"One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson
"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons
"Show me a community that obeys the Ten Commandments and I'll show you a less crowded prison system." - Anonymous
Ads need Internet access, plus a specific "Ads" permission which is usually not considered critical and thus hidden on the Market.
If you truly believe you need to pick a mobile phone that "says something" about your personality, don't bother. You don't have a personality. A mental illness, maybe, but not a personality. [Charlie Brooker] ScrewTurn Wiki, Software Localization Tools & Services and My Blog
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I just went to install the Evernote app, and found it needed access to my contacts list, the system status, your location, and it made me increasingly paranoid. It's not that I don't trust the Evernote developers, I just don't believe that they need access to that sort of information. There is a lot of discussion in the Android community about how it is a major requirement for Android to (1) give you finer-grained control over permissions and (2) for apps to accept that you don't want them to have access to certain data.
(I use Evernote) I guess they need the conctact list for sharing notes or something like that.
If you truly believe you need to pick a mobile phone that "says something" about your personality, don't bother. You don't have a personality. A mental illness, maybe, but not a personality. [Charlie Brooker] ScrewTurn Wiki, Software Localization Tools & Services and My Blog
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You forgot to ask for full permissions to access the contact list and system status etc...
Root the device, and install LBE privacy guard. :)
"Real men drive manual transmission" - Rajesh.
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(I use Evernote) I guess they need the conctact list for sharing notes or something like that.
If you truly believe you need to pick a mobile phone that "says something" about your personality, don't bother. You don't have a personality. A mental illness, maybe, but not a personality. [Charlie Brooker] ScrewTurn Wiki, Software Localization Tools & Services and My Blog
If you're happy with it I guess I shouldn't worry! :-D
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I just went to install the Evernote app, and found it needed access to my contacts list, the system status, your location, and it made me increasingly paranoid. It's not that I don't trust the Evernote developers, I just don't believe that they need access to that sort of information. There is a lot of discussion in the Android community about how it is a major requirement for Android to (1) give you finer-grained control over permissions and (2) for apps to accept that you don't want them to have access to certain data.
viaducting wrote:
I just went to install the Evernote app, and found it needed access to my contacts list...
They use your contact list for autocomplete when you email a note to someone.
viaducting wrote:
It's not that I don't trust the Evernote developers, I just don't believe that they need access to that sort of information.
Rather than speculate and continue to wonder, why not just simply ask them? I've asked this very question dozens of times, and since I've created several Android apps myself, I can be confident in their answers (since I know what a particular API needs).
"One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson
"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons
"Show me a community that obeys the Ten Commandments and I'll show you a less crowded prison system." - Anonymous
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viaducting wrote:
I just went to install the Evernote app, and found it needed access to my contacts list...
They use your contact list for autocomplete when you email a note to someone.
viaducting wrote:
It's not that I don't trust the Evernote developers, I just don't believe that they need access to that sort of information.
Rather than speculate and continue to wonder, why not just simply ask them? I've asked this very question dozens of times, and since I've created several Android apps myself, I can be confident in their answers (since I know what a particular API needs).
"One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson
"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons
"Show me a community that obeys the Ten Commandments and I'll show you a less crowded prison system." - Anonymous
DavidCrow wrote:
They use your contact list for autocomplete when you email a note to someone.
OK, but Android and the app should be able to work together to allow you to prohibit access to the contacts list and disable that functionality while letting the rest of the app run.
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gavindon wrote:
for an example, there would be no reason for a solitaire card game to need permissions to the contacts list etc
The only time I've ever seen this is when the app uses ads.
"One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson
"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons
"Show me a community that obeys the Ten Commandments and I'll show you a less crowded prison system." - Anonymous
ads need internet access, not contacts. I'm ok with free apps getting internet to run their ads, the developers are just trying to make money. I'm just not ok with them wanting permission to things that have absolutely zero to do with the app or with ads. I've seen simple game apps that want permission to the camera, location, contacts, phone settings, a whole list of seemingly random crap that there is no way in hell the app needs. Those are the ones that bug me.
Common sense is not a gift it's a curse. Those of us who have it have to deal with those that don't.... Be careful which toes you step on today, they might be connected to the foot that kicks your butt tomorrow. You can't scare me, I have children.
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Good point. I shall find the time then.
If you truly believe you need to pick a mobile phone that "says something" about your personality, don't bother. You don't have a personality. A mental illness, maybe, but not a personality. [Charlie Brooker] ScrewTurn Wiki, Software Localization Tools & Services and My Blog
Great. I would definitely be interested in such an article. I recently bought a Kindle Fire and I've written a small Hello World app, but that's about as far as I get. Even that seemed absurdly complex. Not quite as absurdly complex as Win32 C++ (at least the Android version has fewer lines of code, heh), but pretty darn close.... :-\ Flynn
_If we can't corrupt the youth of today,
the adults of tomorrow will be no fun...
_