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Comment by rplnt | Hacker News Reader

Android is in desperate need of allowing users to change permission for app. It's ridiculous that the application decides what it has access to (and android it is not making it easier with a bad permission granularity). And I believe this functionality was in some pre-release 5.0 versions. They removed it because apps would just crash if permissions were removed. However, there are apps that solve this (for rooted phones) by providing dummy (null) data on API calls that you blocked.

For example, there is absolutely no reason my facebook app should ever have access to a microphone.

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I am currently running Android 6 (Marshmallow), the official version pushed to my phone as an OTA update, and I am able to turn on and off individual permissions for apps. When installing a new app, it initially has zero permissions enabled.

Let's see how this works in practice, but so far I am hopeful that this is in fact solved in Android. (Modulo actually disseminating the fix)

Android 6.0 has the functionality you describe - there's a warning if you try to disable it for certain apps (presumably for older API levels) though that it may cause them to crash. I imagine this'll go away with time.

Good to hear. Too bad one usually has to buy a new device to get an update.

One does? Hasn't been an issue yet on my almost 2 years old (so, 2 major-revision updates) nexus 5 yet.

Out of 5 android devices I've owned only one received major version update (and it didn't work). So, anecdotally, one does. But I believe my case is more common than yours.

Just to be fair, are the 5 android devices non-nexus devices? If so, that's because of the carriers and that's why it's a common problem.

They are. But only one of them was bought through a carrier (so it's "branded"). Others are "OEM", so could be updated by the manufacturer.

Welp, that just sucks. I doubt the manufacturers have as much desire to update as carriers do.

I just got a Motorola Moto G to replace an aging iPhone 5s. I do like Android, but there are so many features of it that I find just completely irksome.

For example, Google release Android 6.0 but I can't upgrade until Motorola decide when and if I can update my phone. Why can't I upgrade at the same time as everyone else, like on iOS?

Second is the abysmal permissions system which grants access to everything and anything - else you can't talk to your friends on Whatsapp.

>> Why can't I upgrade at the same time as everyone else, like on iOS?

Because Google doesn't control updates for your phone and most likely neither does Motorola, complain to your carrier. The carrier has the option to offer a vanilla Android that can be updated whenever new versions are available, but most don't to offer their own customized versions.

I bought the phone from Amazon, SIM-free, so I'm not sure if Vodafone are the right people to complain to here?

Nope, you're probably on your own in that case.

> Nope, you're probably on your own in that case.

Right, and this is the very problem with Android.

This is in Android Marshmallow (6.0). Unfortunately, it will take a couple of years before the majority of Android users has this :/.

Definitely, considering there are still 2.x devices out there. I have Android 4 on Samsung and on Motorolla, both of them really not that old (released on 07/2013 and 05/2014 respectively). And no sign of an update...

However, I was forced to update my Nexus 7 to 5.x, and the device became absolutely unusable. So I wonder whether I want the upgrades if even Google can't handle them properly.

How were you forced to update your Nexus 7? I have a Nexus 7 and every update it's ever received had to be approved by my clicking on the button saying I wanted to update. Can you not do a system restore to get it back to its original version when you purchased it?

I know it's pointless to say that my Nexus 7 runs Android 5 just fine though, just to counter your comment about Google not handling updates properly.

There was a permanent notification that I could not get rid off. I consider that forcing an upgrade.

It was the 2012 version of Nexus 7 and while not everyone had these issues, it was a pretty common problem and I consider it a huge failure on Google's part. As far as a I know, there is no way to downgrade without rooting the phone. Some people reported that factory reset helped with the performance. I haven't used it for several months and then installed CM - not as fast as the 4.x was, but somewhat usable.

Ah, you were annoyed into updating. I understand your point now.

Which is why I use almost 0 application on my telephone. I prefer to use website which do not have creepy permissions to spy on me.

Ironic, because the Facebook graph API actually has excellent granularity on what you can access. They've even taken steps to limit data leaks from your profile - e.g. you can't access someone's friends' status information anymore.

Do you need mic access to record video with sound?

Cyanogenmod had this for a long time now.

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