A vast majority of the population of smartphone users spend a lot of time on their devices. Whether it’s for work, play, or just catching up with friends, apps are becoming the predominant entry point into the lives of people digitally.
For an app to function properly, it often needs to ask for permissions from the user. However, with dozens of apps installed on a single device, it can be difficult to keep track of the permissions you’ve previously granted, especially if you haven’t used an app for a long time.
Permission auto-reset is a new feature in Android 11. As soon as an app isn’t used for a while, this feature will automatically reset the app’s run-time permissions, which are permissions that prompt the user for confirmation when requested.
Google says it’s granting more devices access to this by the end of 2021. Specifically, smartphones and other devices running Android 6.0 (API level 23) or higher with Google Play services will have this feature enabled by default. Apps aiming for Android 11 (API level 30) or higher will have the feature enabled by default. Users, on the other hand, can manually enable permission auto-reset for apps targeting API levels 23 to 29.
In order to protect your privacy, this feature prevents inactive apps from having full access to your phone after a period of time. While it may be fun to grant storage access to a novelty camera app while it’s all the rage, chances are you’ll soon forget it’s installed in your phone. As soon as it becomes apparent that an app is no longer being regularly used, Android’s security feature will step in and reset these permissions.
According to Google, this does not apply to certain apps or permissions, such as active Device Administrator apps used by businesses and permissions set via business policy.
