In this guide, we will tell you how to change app permissions on Android. In the recent years, a lot of Android users have become more and more concerned about their devices. As more and more apps are being created, people want to know that if their smart phone apps and their devices are collecting any of their personal data and that if their data is safe or not. In correspondence to this concern of the users, smartphone updates also look to facilitate the users by providing privacy options and permissions for app activity.
Nowadays, every app that is present on our Android devices depend entirely on our permissions to work properly. They need the user’s permission in order to make use of hardware on our device or other software present on the device so that the app can work properly. This eventually means that the more permissions you grant to a particular app, the more control it would have on your device.
If you give too many permissions to an app on your device will mean that it has access to a lot of information on your phone. If you want to keep your information safe, then the only way around this is to change the permissions that you have allowed for these applications. The process to do that on Android devices is very simple. So in this guide, we will be showing you how to change app permissions on Android devices. So without any further delay, let’s get into it.
Change App Permissions on Android smartphone:
Giving permissions to an app on your device means that you give it access to your device’s hardware and data present in your device’s software. But the problem arises when apps ask for permissions to access certain hardware or software that do not correspond to their functionality in any way. Furthermore, there is also a risk of applications gathering your personal data such as Location, Microphone, Camera or Call logs. So in this situation, it would be better that you do not grant permissions which are not related to an app’s functioning.
App Permissions that are available in a smartphone running on Android 6 or above:
Any Android device which runs on any Android version above Android 5 has the following app permission list:
- Body sensors
- Calendar
- Call logs
- Camera
- Contacts
- Location
- Microphone
- Phone
- Physical activity
- SMS
- Storage
What is suspicious is that apps, that do not need your device’s location to work, also ask access to your location. Along the same lines, you should also be vary of apps that ask for access to your device’s camera, microphone, contacts or storage. All of this information is sensitive and should be kept safe. If you are worried about applications on your device gaining access to this information, then the following guide will help you keep your data safe.
In order to manage app permissions, you have to go through the Settings app on your device, and for every other UI that is offered by different devices, the process of granting permissions or revoking them are a little different. Our guide will take you through the steps to manage permissions for apps on your device running on Oxygen OS. Even though other Android devices will have a different interface, the overall functionality in general remains the same.
Instructions
- Whenever you install a new app from the Play Store or from an APK file, the applications asks for certain permissions that it needs in order to work properly. If you want to choose the permissions and the amount of data that you want to grant access to that app, you will have to work in the settings for the application. For that, head over to the Settings app on your device and then go to “Apps and Notifications”.
- Over there, you will be able to see an option that says “See all apps”. You will probably see something different in any other UI, but the concept will be the same.
- Now in the list that appears, search for the app that you want to set the permission settings for. When you find the desired app, tap on it. This will open the settings page for the app. Then tap on the Permissions option. Now you will see the list of permissions that are granted to this app and denied or the permissions will be available with a toggle turned on or off.
- If you want to change a certain permission from allow to deny, then simply tap on that permission under allow and then tap on deny. Similarly, if you want to change a permission from deny to allow, then tap on that permission under deny and then press allow. If you see toggles for your permissions, then you can simply turn them on or off as per your satisfaction.
Along the same lines you can also choose which permissions you want to grant to which applications. There is a category based selection for every permission that is available. This method of granting and denying permissions is slightly better than the previous one if you want to set permissions for a collection of apps. Follow the steps below:
- First proceed to the Settings app on your phone, then go to Apps and Notifications and then go to App Permissions.
- Once you have opened app permissions, then you will be able to see Body sensors, Calendar, Camera, Contacts, Call logs, Microphone, Phone, Location, Physical activity, SMS, Storage and Additional permissions. Once you tap on any permission that you see, it will open a list of all the apps that have been granted this permission. These are all the apps that can access the hardware or data on your device.
- You can choose any permission that you want to and then take a look at all the applications that have been allowed or denied access. If you find an application that you do not want to grant the permission, simply tap on the app and then tap on Deny.
For devices running on Android 10 or higher, you will also see the option of “Allow only while using the app” other than “Allow all the time” and “Deny”. If you are concerned about your privacy, then it is better that you set the option to Allow only while using the app. This way you can be assured that no application will access any of your device’s hardware or data while it is running in the background.
In addition to that, Android 11 devices also come with the option to allow one time access to location, camera and microphone. Every time you open an app, it will ask for your permission for access to the microphone, camera and location and the permission will be denied once you close that app.
So that was it from our side on how to change app permissions on Android. You should always look out for suspicious app activity on your device because your personal data is very important. We hope that you found our guide helpful. If you have any queries, feel free to post them in the comment section below. Stay safe.
