Managing app permissions gets a lot easier in Android Marshmallow. Here's what you need to know. In Android Marshmallow, Google to...
Managing app permissions gets a lot easier in Android Marshmallow. Here's what you need to know.
In Android Marshmallow, Google totally revamped how you
manage app permissions: It’s a change that’s apparent every time you download
an app from Google Play. You’ll get a new, more detailed permissions notice—but
it goes much deeper than that.
Don’t want Chrome to be able to see your location? Not a
problem. With Android Marshmallow, You can pick and choose what sorts of
information and which system resources any given app can access. Here’s how to
find and use this new feature.
Open the Settings app, then tap Apps under
the Device subheading. Next, tap the Gear icon in the
upper-right corner, and then tap App permissions on the
following screen. From here, you’ll get a list of all the sensors, information,
and other features of your phone that apps can access. Tap on any of these to
see which apps can get at that particular feature. For the sake of this
tutorial, I’ll take a look and see which apps can access my phone’s camera and
snap photos, so I’ll tap Camera.
Here you can see every app that can use your
phone’s camera.
To revoke an app’s permission, tap the toggle switch to flip
it to the Off position—it’ll switch from blue-green to gray. To re-grant
permission, simply tap the toggle switch again.
By default, you’ll only see apps here, not Android system
services. To see which system services have permission to access something, tap
the Options button—those three dots in the upper right—then
tap Show system.
Viewing permissions on a per-app basis.
If you prefer to view permissions on a per-app basis rather
than a per-feature basis, go to Settings > Apps,
tap an app’s name, then tap App permissions. From there, you’ll be
able to see what features and information that particular app can access, and
toggle permissions accordingly.
Google Play’s permissions alert in Android
Marshmallow.
Tap
the downward-pointing arrows to get
more information on what each means.
When you download an app from Google Play, you’ll get a
message that explains the permissions an app requires, just as it has before,
but it’ll now provide a little more information on the privacy implications.
Unfortunately, most Android apps still don’t specifically
say how they’re going to use your information up front, but Android
Marshmallow’s improved permissions features do make it easier to make sense of
what had been a confusing state of affairs.
Note that some applications haven't been adjusted to account
for Android's new pick-and-choose permission model. You can still toggle
individual permissions, but it could cause those apps to behave weirdly or not
work at all. If you have an app that isn't working right, you may want to
revisit its permissions.
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