Android 11 permission auto-reset feature could come to older Android phones. How old? To phones that are using as early as the Android 6 Marshmallow!
Mobile Phones Permissions System
According to SlashGear, mobile platforms, actually almost all of the different software these days, hinge their reported privacy and security features directly around the permissions systems. Apps that reportedly do not require access to certain features or hardware should not be able to access them.
When apps are able to access them, however, they would still need to get the users' consent before doing so. Android has refined that particular system over time and has allowed its users to easily grant or even revoke certain apps' permission at any particular time. Learn more about the Android 11 update and what new features it is bringing.
Auto-Reset Feature
Not all of them realize, however, that some might actually have even forgotten that they have some apps actually already installed. That's reportedly what the permission to auto-reset feature was designed for. The feature is finally coming to phones running certain software as old as the Android 6 Marshmallow.
As of the moment, it is almost too easy to install Android apps and is also just as easy to grant them permissions that they might not actually need. That might be good for certain one-off apps, but certain people have a tendency to let particular apps linger on their phones despite being unused for months.
Google Android 11
With the help of the proper permissions, these particular apps can also become vulnerabilities that would potentially allow malware to be able to infect the device. This is why Google has developed a feature in the new Android 11 that automatically resets permissions if an app has not really been used for a couple of months.
Although it actually has exceptions for particular types of apps, the general behavior is that users will grant permissions again if ever they open an app for the first time after a long period. This would keep the late 2020 to 20121 phones still secure but also leaves the majority of the large Android-using population vulnerable.
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Google Play Services
Google is also pushing the feature to support Android 6 and its later devices. Once the upload has finally been rolled out, permission auto-reset will reportedly be enabled by default on certain compatible devices.
This means Android phones, tablets, and other devices that have Google Play services. With this being said, users can still opt to automatically enable the resetting permissions even without the help of Google Play services.
This is the case with custom ROMs or other uncertified devices. It will also not be the default behavior, and users will still have to do it manually per app, which can still be quite tiring. For those that aren't using Android 11, click this article to learn more about Android 11.
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This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian B.
