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Comment by notdonspaulding | Hacker News Reader

This is the only way that permissions should be implemented by any mobile platform. Without it, users are forced to decide at install time whether the payoff of having the app installed is worth the associated risk of granting ALL permissions the app requests. It's a hard choice to make before you've even installed the app.

Jeff Atwood describes the app-installation-headaches nicely here: http://blog.codinghorror.com/app-pocalypse-now/

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No kidding. Not to mention that a lot of Android developers have the mentality to request every permission they could possibly conceive of using in the future so that the user doesn't reject a potential future update for asking for more permissions. So every single app you install nowadays seems to want access to everything and there's no way to prevent it short of canceling the app installation.

I don't really blame them either. Android will not automatically update apps that ask for additional permissions.

I suspect that a lot of users end up never updating apps like this. It makes a lot of sense for the developer to request everything that he might want upfront.

I'm probably in the minority here, but if I try to install an app and it requests any permission that I think is inappropriate for what I want to do with said app, then the app is not installed. Peroid.

And yes, I also decline to update apps that demand additional permissions. Requesting more permissions up front will not help you with this, at least not with me.

My 2c.

root your phone and install: https://github.com/M66B/XPrivacy

I just don't care as long as it's not sending texts or emails on its own. I can't see the point in caring so much.

Facebook is probably the worst offender there - but what else is new.

Yep. I would like to see it written into the rules (Android as well) that any permission that is not the core purpose of the app should be given on a "first touch" basis. Because Words With Friends does not need my GPS location ever.

Uh...unless it's connecting up with nearby players?

That's not core, though. It should be turned on when the user clicks "Nearby Games" or whatever triggers the feature.

Why only mobile platforms? This should be in desktop OS-es too.

In principle, yes. In practice, backwards compatibility makes this hard.

Apple's approach is still flawed, since if a user ever decides "No", it is next to impossible for mere mortals to figure out how to undo it.

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