Marshmallow Google PLay Services Permissions Question

June 1, 2016 6:35 PM

I didnt think Google Play services should be granted permission to my phone, SMS, biosensors etc on my new Samsung S7. So I switched them off . Now however, when I open a Google app (gmail, camera, Keep, etc) I get a warning pop-up stating that "Google Play Services requires all requested permissions to be enabled. Please click App Setting and review app permissions". I can click cancel and use the app just fine so far, but it is mighty annoying to have to click cancel every time. Assuming i dont want to root my phone, anything i can do about this? Now maybe google play services are totally above the board, but I would rahter not leave it to that as trust seems pretty misplaced these days.
posted by dougiedd to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

Google Play Services is basically part of the operating system at this point; I mean, you can run a phone without it, technically, but the Google ecosystem is the big part of the attraction of an Android phone. It integrates deeply with Android and allows the Google apps to do lots of interesting things by coordinating with each other.

Anyway, if you trust the phone itself, which uses an OS developed by Google that could do whatever it wanted without telling you, there is not really any reason not to trust the Google apps and services on it equally.
posted by kindall at 6:43 PM on June 1, 2016 [6 favorites]

Yes, despite "Play" in the name, Google Play Services is what Google uses to coordinate a lot of Android's moving parts, and they've been trying more and more to put as much as they can into Google Play Services control instead of OS-level control because it lets them push certain kinds of updates (e.g. security patches for the email app) through the Play Store app update process, which they control, instead of having to rely on the OEM or carrier to get around to releasing an OTA update, assuming the OEM/carrier bothers to ever do it at all. It's almost certainly in your best interest to let Google Play Services have what it needs (especially, as kindall says, because you've already trusted Google with your OS in the first place).
posted by dorque at 6:50 PM on June 1, 2016 [4 favorites]

Google Play Services is more or less required for any Google app. And many non-Google apps which are built against it as well. If you trust Gmail/Keep/etc then trusting Google Play Services seems fine, it's all the same place (and while there are various data retention policies/implications for different products, it still more or less boils down to whether you trust them or not).
posted by thefoxgod at 7:18 PM on June 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Seems different to me ; consenting that they can access phone calls etc and them doing so without such consent
posted by dougiedd at 8:12 PM on June 1, 2016

I know you said you didn't want to root your phone, but for others who may read this, there is an app in the Xposed framework that will allow you to run Google apps and not give Google Play the permission and will stop the annoying popup. I use the module to prevent location services being authorized and its annoying popup asking. (I have not checked for this since Lollipop so not sure if it is still available for Marshmallow.)

I would go to the XDA forums and search for this or for an app that will do this or similar. You might have to look in the Xposed forums.
posted by AugustWest at 9:00 PM on June 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

Apps need things like access to phone calls so they know how to react if, say, a call comes in while you are using the app - you wouldn't like an app that refused to lose focus if a call came in. Although many permissions could theoretically be used maliciously, in many cases they're necessary just so everything can play nicely and as you would expect. As mentioned, Play Services is for more than Play, and integrates much of the google machinery running the phone. It needs the permissions, and there's really little point denying them.
posted by quinndexter at 1:52 AM on June 2, 2016 [3 favorites]

Google moved a lot of typical OS type stuff into Google Play Services to work around the lack of upgrades from OEMs/Carriers and the resulting fragmentation of the Android ecosystem. Here is a primer on what they are up to.

Given my druthers I would leave the permission on for Google Play Services and turn the permissions off for individual apps, I think you'll have a better experience that way.
posted by pdoege at 8:00 AM on June 2, 2016 [3 favorites]