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I'm wondering if an app has access to the info that shows the other apps on the phone and what permissions they have (i.e. access to your location, contacts, etc). Could I create an app with a feature that displays other apps and their permissions? I know the user can view this info via settings, but I'm wondering if it can be organized and displayed by an app.

jscs
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singmotor
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    Since the various operating systems will have wildly different permissions along with ability and methods to find them out, it doesn't make any sense to have one question for all of them. Please ask separate questions for iOS and Android -- and please search first, as I'm fairly certain that this has already been asked for iOS. – jscs Jul 14 '14 at 18:46
  • yea, you're right there. I'm mainly focused on iOS. Sorry for adding that android tag and not splitting into two questions. And sorry, did search but couldn't find this question elsewhere – singmotor Jul 14 '14 at 18:59
  • You've already got Android answers here; that's why I left that tag. I'd suggest creating a new question for iOS. – jscs Jul 14 '14 at 19:03

2 Answers2

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Yes. Use the PackageManager. Call GetInstalledPackages to list the installed packages, and then check the requestedPermissions field to see the permissions for each package.

Note: the method below assumes this refers to an Activity.

private void getAppPermissions() {

    List<PackageInfo> apps = this.getPackageManager().getInstalledPackages(PackageManager.GET_PERMISSIONS);

    for (PackageInfo app : apps) {
        String appInfo = app.packageName + ": ";
        String[] permissions = app.requestedPermissions;
        if (null == permissions) {
            appInfo += "no permissions requested\n";
        } else {
            for (String permission : app.requestedPermissions) {
                appInfo += "\n    " + permission;                   
            }
        }
        Log.v("App Permissions", appInfo);
    }
}

You may wish to filter the list of returned packages as per this question.

Community
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Memetic
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  • This is great for android, thank you! If I can find the answer for iOS somewhere else then I will mark this as answered – singmotor Jul 14 '14 at 19:01
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Yes you can. For Android, you just go to Settings > Applications

And you just tap on the application that you want to check, and on the bottom it should say the permissions the app possesses.

For ios, you go to Settings > Privacy

And you tap on the desired type of permission, and you can see the apps that have that permission.

Csharper
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  • Ahh, sorry I wasn't clear enough with my question. I'll edit it. I'm wondering if an application already on the phone has access to this info. I know the user can see all of this, but am wondering if I can make an app with a feature that will display permissions of all other apps on the phone. – singmotor Jul 14 '14 at 18:33
  • to make an app to see an application's permissions will require ROOTING the phone. so you can make an app, but you will need root. for example, a root app that can see permissions is Titanium Backup. – Csharper Jul 14 '14 at 18:37