[retox]

This change was when I stopped downloading from the Play store. Prior to that you could easily see that the compass or flashlight app you were going to install needed network access, something that set off alarm bells given the state of malware back then.

[Gigachad]

It was a bit of a pointless permission because literally every app requested it. The android permissions system very quickly fatigued users in to accepting everything. The new model is much better. Allow the user to actually deny the important permissions but just accept that network access is what apps do now.

[mdp2021]

> literally every app requested it

No, not every application requested network access. And surely not a small number of users checked if a calculator or a sound recorder did, and, also checking the developers' justifications for including specific permissions, decided their (dis)trust.

[rrrrrrrrrrrryan]

I agree this is a better set of defaults, but there should be a toggle in the settings someplace, even deep in the developer mode settings, that gives users control over more granular permissions and allows them to choose which permissions to auto-grant and/or auto-deny.

[dotancohen]

Though I agree with you, why is this level of detail demanded of mobile apps but not of desktop apps? I would love to be able to sandbox desktop apps as well.