Upon the initial launch of a newly installed app, you might have came across with a dialog box looking like this:
By tapping on ‘YES’, you are specifically giving the app (in this case, Shazam) the permission to use your phone’s Microphone to record audio.
Well, it’s perfectly okay for Shazam to have access to your device’s microphone, denying it will make the app pretty much useless, right?
But there can be cases where a particular app requires a particular permission which the app should have nothing to do with.
Just like in this case.
UC Mini, a web browser, has been granted permission to make phone calls and I am not sure why, because a browser has got nothing to do with that.
That was just one example out of many.
Rising security and privacy concerns demand that you start paying attention before giving any kind of permission to an app on your smartphone. Prevention is better than cure, remember?
That was for all the future installations, but what about the apps which you’ve already installed on your Android device?
The Android Operating System allows you to not only view all the permissions used by an app but it also lets you manage(read change) those permissions.
So, here’s how you can do that:
How To Check And Manage App Permissions on Android
First of all, you need to find the list of App Permissions on your device. Here’s how you can do that:
1. Jump into your device’s Settings.
2. Look for ‘Apps’ and tap on it. Tap on the little ‘gear icon’ located on the top-right.
3. Finally, tap on App Permissions and you’ll be presented with the list of all the permissions. Tapping on a particular permission will reveal a list of all the app which requires that permission.
If for some reason you didn’t find the App Permissions then you can perform a search in your Settings. Search by typing App Permissions and you’ll find it for sure.
Now from here knowing which app is using which permissions is pretty much obvious. You need to tap on a particular permission, and from the app list the ones which are checked are allowed, while others are not.
So that was how you can check app permissions. As far as managing them is concerned, it is a matter of self-understanding. The Golden Rule is that an app shouldn’t be given a permission when it has got absolutely nothing to do with it.
Just like the above example. A web browser doesn’t require a ‘permission’ to make phone calls.
So scan through all the permissions and apps using them. Upon finding something suspicious, tap the toggle to turn it off. That’s about it.
But you need to remember one thing…
There might be some instances where after denying any kind of a permission to an app it may stop functioning.
Therefore, it is recommended to check whether the app is working as it should be after denying the permissions. If yes, then you are good to go. If no, there are only two things that you can do.
Either contact the developer and ask them why their app needs a particular permission. (And hope to get a reasonable response from them.) Or, you can look for alternatives of that app on the Play Store. An alternative which doesn’t requires such dubious permissions.
That’s it. This is how you can check and manage app permissions on Android. Did you scan your App Permissions? Share it in the comments section in case you find an app which requires a useless permission.
And don’t forget to share this post with your family and friends on your social networks.
