Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Cyanogenmod Puts Users in Control of Permissions

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the google-version-coming-in-20never dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Cyanogenmod is soon to have a better permissions systems, allowing its users to deny certain permissions to the applications they install. Users are warned that enabling this feature on the nightly build may cause applications to crash or 'force close', but a new dialog allows them to easily return the permissions to stock if they wish. Hopefully Google implements a system similar to this very soon." This is the biggest feature I've missed from Symbian — it never made sense to me why the permissions system didn't put the user in control from the first release.

6 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. Re:So That's What Slashdot Is Today by paziek · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yea, it shows what is app asking for, but doesn't let you to choose what to actually give. Now its either all or nothing, but Cyanogenmod lets you to fine-tune permissions for app, so for example that notepad app won't be getting access to your contacts or internet anymore.

  2. Not gonna happen in stock Android by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This feature will never come to stock Android. Google makes their money from Android by delivering ads, which is what pays for all those free apps. If I could download a free app and block it's ability to connect to the internet, I instantly block the ads. You can like it or hate it, but the fact is this ability would cripple the entire current Android ecosystem.

    1. Re:Not gonna happen in stock Android by PReDiToR · · Score: 5, Informative

      You mean like installing Droidwall does?

      It's in the market and on XDA-Devs.

      If you root you can use AdFree too.

      --

      Do not meddle in the affairs of geeks for they are subtle and quick to anger
  3. Awesome! by Daetrin · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That would seriously tempt me to try out Cyanogen if Google doesn't implement something like it in the near future, even though i've already got an unlocked Nexus. There are a number of otherwise great apps that i haven't updated in months because they decided to add Facebook integration, so "of course" they need access to my account details now. Sorry, not gonna happen.

    --
    This Space Intentionally Left Blank
  4. Re:Seriously, that was the stupidest thing Google by CharlyFoxtrot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sounds like a headache for developers: "these are the permissions you can ask for, but it's not sure they'll actually be granted." Then you'd have to build in checks absolutely everywhere because you can't rely on anything. Sounds more like a compromise position than anything malicious to me.

    --
    If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
  5. Re:Seriously, that was the stupidest thing Google by h4rr4r · · Score: 4, Informative

    That is what this does. You ask for contacts, you get an empty contacts. You try to use network and sadly there is just is no network connection at all now.