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I publish both Android and iOS apps regularly, this is just Google getting to feature parity with Apple.

Apple had data safety, Google now has it.

Apple didn't show permissions, now Google also doesn't.

Presumably most people don't really care about permissions anymore.




> Apple didn't have permissions

Huh? Apple has always had permissions; Apple calls them "entitlements". Some of them are granted on install (like Game Center or Siri intents); some of them also require explicit user permission (like push notifications or contacts access).

What Apple doesn't do is list entitlements in the App Store. This is because users don't generally need to be aware of them; entitlements with significant security or privacy implications are always coupled with an explicit permissions prompt, and many entitlements represent internal details of how an app works which users don't need to be aware of.

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/en...


Yup I meant "Apple didn't show permissions". Edited my comment.


People don't whinge about what they don't know, and they won't know what they aren't shown.


I use iOS and I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of those lists in the App Store. I don’t insta a lot of apps, however, so maybe I’m not the typical user, but one thing that Apple has is that the actual permissions are off by default.

I had Instagram for a while as an example, because I liked to look at miniature painters, but Instagram never had access to my contacts, images, location data and so on. It would ask for permission of course and I would decline.

Does Google do something similar or are permissions on per default? I mean, the info is still a nice feature in the App Store to help people make better choices, but the real protection for people like me is the “This app would like to access your pictures, will you let it?” box that pop ups when you run the app.


> Apple had data safety, Google now has it.

My data and Google's safety. Why does my phone needs access to storage ?


Android still has permissions


Not presented in the App Store; both android and iOS still have a permission system, but you need to download the app before you can see what permissions the app has asked for.


In iOS you see what permissions are requested when the app needs them and, you know, requests them from you with a dialog. That seems good enough?


The issue at hand is seeing what permissions the app wants before you download it, in the App Store


It’s not. It would save me from so many predatory apps if I knew they’d require contact and calendar access, for example, for a utility app.


It's the same for Android.


Same with Android.




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