Have you ever wondered why some of the apps that you’ve installed would ask to access your location when it all it does is to change your wallpaper? Well, that’s some tricky app that you’ve got there.
Ways to Keep Your Android Safe from Malicious Apps
How to lock your Android apps and add fake crash reports
Who knows? Perhaps, you’ve downloaded an app that contains malware. The good thing is you can easily avoid such circumstances by simply knowing how to limit and manage your Android app permissions.
Go to Play Store. Search and download the app called Advanced Permission Manager. Install the app on your Android tablet or smartphone.
Open the app from your app drawer then go to “All Apps”.
Choose an app to view its list of permissions. Just browse through each section then check whether the permission that was granted is really needed in order for the app to work.
Like, for example, a game app might want to access your Google Play billing service. This permission is needed in order for you to make some in-app purchases. To deny access for this permission, just tap the section for “Google Play billing service”. You’ll know if you have successfully denied access to a certain section because it will be shown thru its status icon.
Once you’ve modified or updated the permissions that you’ve granted to a certain app, simply press the “Save and Reinstall” button. The Advanced Permission Manager app will then prompt you to uninstall and re-install the app. Just follow the instructions listed on the confirmation window and once you’re done, simply click the “Close” button.
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Double-check the permissions granted to your selected app. You will know if you have successfully denied the app to access a particular section because it will no longer be shown on your app’s list of permissions.
Of course, you may also do the same for the apps that you’ve installed via APK files.
The Bottom Line
Be careful when restricting permissions to certain apps as this may affect the way that they function. Before installing any app, always scan it first using your mobile anti-malware or anti-virus application. This way, you can avoid granting permissions to malicious apps. You should also avoid installing apps that aren’t listed on the Play Store.