Not seen this before

Daestrum

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I had a pop up on my phone today - "As you haven't used these applications in 3 months all permissions for them have been revoked".

It wasn't the message that surprised me, it's the fact the phone takes more notice of when I use an app than I do.
 

udg

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A nice one would be:
There are xx contact(s) with whom you didn't keep in touch in the last 6 months. They will be permanently deleted from your list.

Another one:
We found 3 free apps that you dind't use in the last 6 months. They were automatically upgraded to their payed subscription-based version (see your phone bill for details). This way you will surely check on them at least once a month..

My phone today:
Weather is nice, you don't have upcoming meetings, your productivity looks terribly low. Go out for a walking!

Ok, stop joking. I share your concern on "devices" spying on us, tracking our actions, profiling us..
 
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Sandman

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I share your concern on "devices" spying on us
From a user perspective I find the feature that the OS auto-remove permissions absolutely great. I don't consider that spying at all, I consider that automatically tightening up things to improve my privacy regarding the apps I use (or not use very often).


From a developer perspective I find this horrible, and I try to mentally prepare for the upcoming support issues:

Customer: "Why doesn't your app do X for me anymore??? We paid you!!!!11!!"

Me: "Sorry, your phone automatically removed the permissions for the features needed. There's absolutely nothing I can do about it. However, if you want to help, I can send you a pdf with 18 illustrated steps to do on your phone to make sure this doesn't happen our app again."

Customer: *silence*

Me: "Hello?"

Customer: *click*
 

Erel

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However, if you want to help, I can send you a pdf with 18 illustrated steps to do on your phone to make sure this doesn't happen our app again."
In most cases it shouldn't be a real concern. rp.CheckAndRequest handles this case easily, the same as after a new install.
 

Sandman

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In most cases it shouldn't be a real concern
In my case I use geofences, and it might very well be that they don't actually start the app in quite a while. I'm guessing that the geofences permission thus will be removed automatically for the app at some point. Hopefully it's considered a "use" if a geofence trigger, which would move the removal-date into the future.

It's not something that's easy to find info about, though. Anyone know how things work with geofences and automatic removal of the background positioning?
 

Daestrum

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It appears that simply starting the app after it has been 'nuked' by android will restore the permissions it had.

The ones it nuked on mine were the bloatware pre-installed that cannot be removed, at least now they can use any data etc.
 

Erel

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My guess is that geofence trigger is not enough. This is the same as starting your app with StartServiceAt, something that all apps can and could have avoided the permission removal.

Real usage probably means that the user started an activity, either by clicking on the app icon or on a notification.
 
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Sandman

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It appears that simply starting the app after it has been 'nuked' by android will restore the permissions it had.
Really? Like automatically, without the app asking the user again? You got a source for where you read this?

My guess is that geofence trigger is not enough. This is the same as starting your app with StartServiceAt, something that all apps can and could have avoid the permission removal.

Real usage porbably means that the user started an activity, either by clicking on the app icon or on a notification.
Yeah, agreed. I suppose I'll add a daily notification where the user can get a LOOT BOX with a funny cat picture, or something like that, just to keep the permissions alive. :rolleyes:

1620215131070.png
 

Daestrum

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Daestrum

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Ok, slight update
1, You do have to allow the permissions again, it doesn't just reinstate the ones it had. (Just tried on one it had removed them from)
2, It stopped a system app - which I have no way of restarting as it doesn't appear in any app list lol. Maybe they should re-think this feature through again.
 

udg

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Update: my phone again..
You had your walking; you even had a quick lunch topping to 1200Kcal (about 4800Kjoule) and a coffe.. Now, would you like to sit down and work, pleeease?

Regarding the Permissions removal issue, shouldn't it suffice to check just before use? I mean, not only at app start, but before using a specific feature that requires a permission.
 

Sandman

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Regarding the Permissions removal issue, shouldn't it suffice to check just before use?
Not for my geofence situation. Remember, the user can get geofence notifications now and then, but go a long time before actually tapping a notification. All of a sudden there will be no more geofence notifications, because the background positioning permission was removed, because the user didn't start the app for a long time. So the user experience will be that the app all of a sudden just goes quiet, effectively stops working as far as they are concerned.
 

rabbitBUSH

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"As you haven't used these applications in 3 months all permissions for them have been revoked"
Some info here . . . . from Android Police

this is from : somewhere on this page

Auto-reset permissions of unused apps
If your app targets Android 11 (API level 30) or higher and isn't used for a few months, the system protects user data by automatically resetting the sensitive runtime permissions that the user had granted your app. This action has the same effect as if the user viewed a permission in system settings and changed your app's access level to Deny.


If your app follows best practices for requesting permissions at runtime, you don't need to make any changes to your app.
 
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