Tap on an app and select Allow or Don't allow. Tap the permission type to see which apps allow the selected permission.ĥ. If you'd like to see which apps you've denied or allowed access to a certain permission - like your microphone or location - you can manage your app permissions by permission type.
How to manage Android app permissions by permission type Tap the Info icon in the top right corner of the window that pops up to access the App info menu and tap Permissions from there.įrom the App info menu, you can also enable the Remove permissions if app is unused feature, which removes permissions for the app if you haven't used it for three months. You can also access the Permissions menu from any app by tapping and holding the app's icon on your phone's screen. Tap on a permission to allow or not allow. Scroll down and tap on the app in question (or you can search for the app by tapping the magnifying glass icon).ĥ. If you're concerned about the permissions granted to a certain app on your Android device, you can manage permissions on a per-app basis. How to manage Android app permissions by app Here's how to manage app permissions on your Android device. Note that the steps outlined below apply to devices running Android 11 and up.
And in some cases, you might not even need to give a weather app your location data if you can manually enter your ZIP code or city.įortunately, it's easy to change app permissions on your Android device - and you can choose whether you want to manage permissions by app or by permission type. For example, a weather app or navigation app will naturally need access to your location to function properly, but there's no reason it would need access to your camera or your contacts. Grant your apps permission to access only what they need to access on your device to provide the functionality you require from them. This is why it's important to manage app permissions on your Android devices.Īlways keep app permissions to a minimum.
An app can collect a ton of sensitive personal information from these permissions, which can put your privacy at risk. Permissions like access to your location, camera, microphone, contacts, browsing history and photo library can be particularly invasive if not explicitly required for an app to function.
When an app asks for more permissions than it needs, it's usually to collect as much of your data as possible and sell it off to third parties like advertisers and data brokers. You may have noticed some of your Android apps asking for permissions that seem excessive and entirely unrelated to the app's actual utility - like if a flashlight app requests access to your camera, microphone or location. Lots of mobile apps ask for permissions they have no business asking for.