[APP][7.0+] Permission Manager X - manage AppOps and manifest permissions

[doggydog2]

Good point. Actually it's no way a problem for PMX to drop permissions when it's already showing a notification for a new app. But there is nothing to drop when a new app is installed. All the revokable manifest permissions are already revoked until the user does not grant them. And the AppOps: many of them don't appear until at least once used by the app e.g. VIBRATION and READ_CLIPBOARD. Many others have their corresponding manifest permissions e.g. READ_CONTACTS, which are already revoked, as pointed out.

Profiles / templates is an upcoming feature. We are working on it.


Contacts cannot be read in background without the permission explicitly granted by the user. And even after that, Schedule Checker is there to remind you that you haven't reviewed a newly installed app so far.

Thanks for the feedback. It's appreciated.

Thanks. I hope the templates will be applied to new apps not just to all (or selected) apps per request. By dropping permissions i ment disabling as many appops as possible, rendering user choices ineffective (thanks to "ignore" setting). Because once again, the lazy users don't care, they just click "yes yes yes". Both mentioned apps do this right after app installation and it works quite well. Thanks for your work, I will watch the changes and happily test the new builds.

 

[mirfatif]

the lazy users don't care, they just click "yes yes yes"

Privacy cannot be enforced on those who aren't conscious about it

Both mentioned apps do this right after app installation and it works quite well

XPrivacyLua does not set permissions. That does something entirely different. See https://mirfatif.github.io/PermissionManagerX/help/help#faq24.

For AppOps, there are nearly 100 AppOps in AOSP code (and OEMs may add more). So all of them should be ignored for every new app? Because, as I already mentioned, system reports only a few AppOps (for new apps) which have their corresponding manifest permissions already revoked. Other AppOps are associated to the apps when they use them at least once. So at the time of app installation it's not predictable which AppOps should be ignored. However user may apply one of the multiple Profiles they already defined, to the new app.

I will watch the changes and happily test the new builds.

Thank you. Beta builds are released in Telegram group. You may want to join us there too.

 

[doggydog2]

Privacy cannot be enforced on those who aren't conscious about it

I respectefully disagree, users desperately need help and second judgement over permissions I use AppOps and XPrivacy for the same purpose (doesn't really matter there are 2 approaches). Yes in my mind the new apps should get all/template manifest permissions revoked in your app, in order to watch it by the Scheduled Checker. That should make sense now.

Nice FAQ really. I see the profiles is the sweet functionality to look for:
"But a notification is displayed when a new app is installed (if using Permission Watcher) so the user can set permissions one by one or apply a profile (upcoming feature)."

 

[doggydog2]

permissions
Re UI, the permissions are mentioned 2 times (or even 3x if there's a checkbox - that's probably a normal permission not AppOp) which is pretty confusing. I dont see a point in keeping both normal and uid. All of these couples have different values in my case. Now i set the reference for one of them, and the other one will trigger alert because it's unset. So i need to sync around 1000 permissions manually (before even going to next step - references).

references
Not sure why references even exist. Why simply what is currently set isn't a reference already. Set it, and start watching. That's it.
When a reference is set, it is only valid for ONE app (so possibly several 1000 combinations). Quoting FAQ, this kind of reference setting will take waaay more than a Sunday:
Suppose you spent a whole Sunday setting wanted permissions on 200+ installed apps
I could set all references for one app tho (that will take a weekend only). I wouldn't mind having function to set all references for all apps. Exactly the feature of LSPosed the users beg for (Select all)..hehe.

But the best would be to long click on a permission (or in a separate window) and set a GLOBAL reference (with either the currently visible value apply to all apps or apply value currently set per each app). That would be half of Sunday job and easily the fastest way.
Or have templates to apply to all apps, then tweak couple of apps manually.

I'm now stuck, because there's no way of transitioning in a reasonable time. Current approach is way slower than wgat XPrivacyLua or AppOps app, or LineageOS privacy app, or basic permission settings offer. I support the app and hope to get some ideas in the future. Unfortunately, Telegram registration failed for me, so i watch GIT.

 

[xyzqwerty500]

Can somebody tell me in which file are these appops stored? I have android 6 and this app requires android 7. I will manually update the file.

 

[mirfatif]

Can somebody tell me in which file are these appops stored? I have android 6 and this app requires android 7. I will manually update the file.

AppOps are stored in /data/system/appops.xml. But do not edit this file directly. Instead use appops cmdline tool. Also PMX is not only about AppOps. It also sets manifest permissions which you can set with pm cmdline tool.

 

[xyzqwerty500]

AppOps are stored in /data/system/appops.xml. But do not edit this file directly. Instead use appops cmdline tool. Also PMX is not only about AppOps. It also sets manifest permissions which you can set with pm cmdline tool.

Here in this file only. How can I identify which <op n=""> is which appops code. Can you provide me the list?

 

[xyzqwerty500]

Here in this file only. How can I identify which <op n=""> is which appops code. Can you provide me the list?

I want to turn off this BOOT_COMPLETED permission for many apps. pm revoke com.google.android.apps.docs android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED. But it fails.

 

[mirfatif]

Here in this file only. How can I identify which <op n=""> is which appops code. Can you provide me the list?

There's no standard list. It changes with every Android release. OEMs and custom ROM developers can also add or remove AppOp permissions.

I want to turn off this BOOT_COMPLETED permission for many apps. pm revoke com.google.android.apps.docs android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED. But it fails.

BOOT_COMPLETED is not an standard AppOp. android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED cannot be changed because its protection level is "Normal".

Please see:

• What are manifest permissions and AppOps?
• Disable autostart on boot and restrict background execution

 

[Schroeder09]

Is this dead? I was considering trying it

 

[x-pve]

I think AppManager can do the same things (and much more)

 

[mirfatif]

Is this dead? I was considering trying it

No. It's not dead.

 

[Schroeder09]

I think AppManager can do the same things (and much more)

Is this preferred for some reason? What are the pros and cons? Is it working on A13? Where does this fall in relation to xprivacy Lua with respect to restricting apps' ability to spy and track? Is this an app that does the same thing through a different means?- this app would prevent the spying whereas xprivacy Lua allows the spying to occur but provides the spying app junk data?

No. It's not dead.

Is it working on A13? There was a recent update I saw on the playstore but the description still doesn't explicitly state that it's compatible with A13.

 

[Schroeder09]

Delete

 

[mirfatif]

Is this preferred for some reason? What are the pros and cons?

PMX and App Manager are different apps. They do have some overlapping functionality but they do not replace each other. To better understand PMX please check What are manifest permissions and AppOps? and What is PMX?

Is it working on A13? There was a recent update I saw on the playstore but the description still doesn't explicitly state that it's compatible with A13.

Android 13 users have reported in our Telegram group that it works fine. Please let us know if you find any issues. They'll be fixed.

 

[Schroeder09]

PMX and App Manager are different apps. They do have some overlapping functionality but they do not replace each other. To better understand PMX please check What are manifest permissions and AppOps? and What is PMX?



Android 13 users have reported in our Telegram group that it works fine. Please let us know if you find any issues. They'll be fixed.

I ended up downloading permission manager. It has an app ops tab for every app. I've been denying access to different things for different apps. What are your thoughts on blocking wakelocks? Snapchat seems to have a lot of them. Facebook has some. I blocked wakelocks from these. Will blocking wakelocks from these 3rd party apps reduce battery drain? If those wakelocks are when the phone and app checks for notifications I don't care. Battery is more important. I couldn't care less about checking in on my newest FB or Snapchat comment.

 

[EngineerMind]

Blocking wakelocks might help battery life.

 

[mirfatif]

What are your thoughts on blocking wakelocks?

You can use our sister app WhatsRunning to analyze the impact of wake locks on battery life in better way. Please see:

• Which Android apps are holding wake locks? and
• Which Android apps are draining battery?

PMX is also integrated with WhatsRunning.

 

[Schroeder09]

Blocking wakelocks might help battery life.

That's what seems to intuitively make sense. I've seen discussion on here that doing so can make apps "misbehave" though. Whether that means they actually use MORE battery or simply just don't function correctly was the question. Thank u for the input.

 

[mirfatif]

Whether that means they actually use MORE battery or simply just don't function correctly was the question

It's not possible to define a general rule how an app will behave if it's not allowed to hold wake locks. It depends on the nature of task it performs after holding the wake lock. It may crash, may not function properly, may show errors, may stop functioning silently, may delay its tasks, or it may keep on functioning as normal.