Android Market & Permissions

[BoomerBud]

I am new to Droid and the Android Market, so please bear with me; I’m not even sure this is the proper forum for this.

When I go to buy apps from the Android Market; just prior to the completion of the purchase a “Permission required” or something like that has to be given.
So, I read below at a bunch of nightmare things that can happen to my Droid 2 Global if I purchase the app.

Now, here is where I am confused; a person would think after reading all those nightmare challenges that can impact my phone, that they are trying to persuade me not to buy the app. That doesn't make any sense!!

Why would anyone want to buy an app with the nightmares that come with it?
Is it just possibilities that can happen to you? Is it a joke of some kind?

What?!!

I can't seem to get my head around this idea of a buying an awesome app that might or might not destroy my phone and make my life miserable.

How do you know what app to buy? Do you look for the app with the fewest nightmares? Are there any apps that don’t have an “I want to destroy your phone list”?

There are many apps I want to buy/free for my phone; but I see a list that says “take your chances” on just about everyone of them.

How or what do you look for in the app without having the possibility of having your phone destroyed?

I really don’t understand some of the nightmares; so destroying my phone might be a bit of a stretch……..all I know is, when I look at the list; if one of those things happen to me, I’m going to have trouble.:unsure:

Sorry, for the book I just wrote; I just want you to know where I am coming from.
I have just wrote and re-read this entry and I don’t understand it.
Please help me understand; I tried a “search” but could not find the topic I needed.

I would appreciate any help…..thanks!!

 

[jstafford1]

Ok....by nightmares what do you mean exactly?? Could you list some??

Also if you're just talking about the permissions list, well all apps need permissions to work. It all depends on what the app does. Some need less some need more. If you list some of the "nightmares" I'm sure it could be explained pretty easy.

sent from somewhere...

 

[BoomerBud]

Thanks jstafford1 for replying so quick....

Best I can recall of the "lists" in question would say something in the effect:
"Will have access to your phone list" or
"Can have access to your history"
"Well/can have access to...."

Pretty much have access to any or all of my phone.

So, if I am following you right, the app in question would need to have access to those particular areas of my phone to function the way I want it to.

Like, I guess someone requesting access to my house to work on something.

If so that makes excellent sense. I guess I was looking at as if it was going to be a violation of my phone.

Am I close to the explanation you were sharing......

 

[matt2783]

Thanks jstafford1 for replying so quick....

Best I can recall of the "lists" in question would say something in the effect:
"Will have access to your phone list" or
"Can have access to your history"
"Well/can have access to...."

Pretty much have access to any or all of my phone.

So, if I am following you right, the app in question would need to have access to those particular areas of my phone to function the way I want it to.

Like, I guess someone requesting access to my house to work on something.

If so that makes excellent sense. I guess I was looking at as if it was going to be a violation of my phone.

Am I close to the explanation you were sharing......

Yea, that's all it is. As stated above, some apps need more permissions to work, some need less. It is good to be skeptical though, if you're downloading an app and it needs access to you're text messages, for example, you may want to figure out why that is or just not download it at all.

You're pretty safe in general. If an app is malicious it won't take long to figure out and Google will get rid of it.

 

[BoomerBud]

Thanks!!

Thanks matt2783

Now I can rest easier while shopping the Android Market.

And I will take your advice on being skeptical.

Thanks to both jstafford1 and matt2783 for being there to answer my questions.:yr1:

 

[Beka27]

To address your other question on what apps to buy/download: READ REVIEWS. The good ones and the bad ones. If there are 100 reviews and 75 of them are saying that the app makes the phone force close or something like that, I may think twice about downloading. For every app that does "XYZ", there are another dozen that do the same thing. So if one is getting bad reviews, check out a different comparable app. This forum is a wealth of knowledge for "must-have" apps and "stock replacement" apps. Read thru some of the pages in the app section and you'll find lots of good stuff (paid and free) that is tried and true.

 

[jstafford1]

Sorry I didn't get back sooner, but yes your analogy to letting someone in the house to do work fits.

To be sure, look at what the app does, if its a game and wants access to your txt or contacts, that's weird stay away. I think they state why they need the permissions they ask for, so just make sure it makes sense for the app and you'll be fine.

sent from somewhere...

 

[BoomerBud]

Thanks!!

Thanks jstafford1 and Beka27;

Feels like I'm standing on the shoulders of giants to see what the possibilities are for my Droid 2 Global in regards of Android apps.

And Beka27 your right but understated; there is a wealth of knowledge here.
What is understated is that I who barely knows how to turn on my phone; can ask questions here and feel at home doing so.

This forum is a welcome "Port in a storm" of the onslaught of info that is thrown around on the net.

Thanks for everybody's help!!!

 

[jstafford1]

Its what we're here for.

sent from somewhere...

 

[papaandroid]

As a new Droid owner/user, I too feel apprehensive about certain permissions being granted by an application. I can guess that some are for data mining, correct me if I am wrong, but seeing this permission lately really jumped out at me:

Read Phone State and Identity
Allows the application to access the phone features of the device. An application with this permission can determine the phone number and serial number of this phone, whether a call is active, the number that call is connected to and the like

And that is from well known app makers, Google, etc.

How am I able to determine what the purpose of certain permissions are and how that information they have access to can be used?

Thanks in advance for the help.