With the addition of the developer-generated Data safety section this year, Google Play removed the old list of app permissions. The Play Store is now reversing this decision in response to user feedback and will have both coexist.
This was a baffling decision to begin with – the Data safety section relied on developers being honest and truthful about their privacy practices and permissions usage, which was never going to work out with the amount of downright scams and sleaziness targeting children that are in the Play Store (and App Store).
This is what happens when you listen to iOS fanboys’ concern-troling: “I can’t understand Android permissions, they’re too complex (no, I am totally not compensating for the fact iOS has nothing of the sort here)”. They are the same ones who are complaining about Android’s apk sideloading being allegedly dangerous for non-technical people, despte the fact it’s hidden behind scary warnings so that it’s impossible to enable on accident.
Anyway, I am glad the decision has been reversed.
Google repeated Microsoft’s idiocy. Condition generations of users to click OK/Accept on anything and everything until an app was usable.
@tux2bsd yeah, it went hilariously bad when LTT did their Linux challenge and Linus said ‘Yes, I know what I am doing’ and completely broke his Pop_OS! Install. Clearly, he did not know what he was doing…
I remember having tens (hundreds?) different permissions on Android. Each and every programmable option was a GUI label, which did not work.
(I think even basic network access was there at one point).
It is really tough to get the right granularity.
Not only severity are not the same: saving permissions to a local folder, vs full access to your account.
But it also depends on the application: why does a game need access to location?
Anyway, the action was wrong. And they fixed it. Hopefully it will get better instead of getting worse.
The fact that many in the Linux community think its acceptable that one needs IT knowledge to do even the most simple tasks like “Install steam” and “get sound” in a distro that brags its USER FRIENDLY and designed for gaming? Honestly shows just how p*ss poor the state of Linux is in 2022.
As for TFA? Its all just band-aids on bullet wounds as the real problem with Google is they have even sh*ttier quality control when it comes to their store than Valve does with Steam. the number of crypto-miners and identity stealing apps that have been found on the platform in just the last couple of months have been insane and shows Google does not give even a single care about vetting anything thrown on their store as long as they get their 30%.
That is a gross misrepresentation of what happened in the video in question and the Linux community’s reaction to it.