Report says be aware of what your Android app does

[Oj467]

Report says be aware of what your Android app does | InSecurity Complex - CNET News

Anyone else read this article - and if so - what are your feelings on this?

For me - I'm guessing it's not much worse than some iPhone apps and at least they're telling you in the Android Marketplace - unlike the iPhone market. But I could also see some folks concern.

 

[Phil Nickinson]

That "report" was debunked a long time ago. It's BS. Android is the only OS that tells you exactly what permissions an app has.

 

[Oj467]

Thanks for the reply Phil.

Last night - I downloaded "LauncherPro" and the list of permissions it had was sort of unsettling. I looked at them 4-5x before finally clicking install - but wow.

Maybe I'm just being overly cautious - or don't understand how Droid app permissions work - but why on earth would Launcher Pro say it needs full access to my email - and can make calls to premium services that cost money - in addition to a few other permissions that just don't seem necessary?

Is there somewhere that explains the why's and so forth of app permissions?

It very could just be that being new to Droid I don't quite understand how the app permissions work and they're all typical. Thanks!

 

[MowDownJoe]

You just need to think about what the app does. I'll use the two examples from LauncherPro as examples.
LauncherPro, like any home replacement and hell, the stock home screen, has to be able to leave speed dial icons on your home screen. If it didn't have the "making phone calls" permission, and you left a speed dial icon on you home screen, LauncherPro would force close when you press it because it's trying to do something it doesn't have permission for. As for access to your e-mail, well LauncherPro did add a feature that allowed notifications to appear in the bottom dock. In order to tell you how many unread e-mails you have, it has to declare permission to have access to your e-mail. Sadly, there's no way to declare partial permission to e-mail.

 

[Oj467]

Thanks Joe. That is the sort of info I was curious about - and that does make sense. I appreciate the reply.

 

[Kegman]

I know the iphone apps have access to all this info as well, but from what I heard, apple never told you what you were giving out.