asked 2015-05-20 12:51:29 +0200
Hey guys,
I am looking for a documentation or insights into what Android apps have access to in Sailfish. What can Android apps do? Which access can I deny? Can I block certain apps from getting certain rights?
Thanks in advance.
answered 2015-05-20 15:08:50 +0200
I assume they have all permissions listened at installation of an Android app (at least within Alien Dalvik). Unfortunately there is no such documentation available at the moment and no way to control or block permissions of Android applications. I hope Jolla will improve the situation, also because they valued the plans for privacy and security in Sailfish OS very high at MWC15 in February.
Additionally some threads that might interest you:
1) There is a similar question and a possible solution (which I haven't tested and idk if it works, see comments):
2) There is also an open feature reuqest for a general app permission control-centre which you could vote for:
3) And two specifically for Android apps (one of them is bizarelly already closed):
Sorry it's quiet a lot of links - but this shows that there is a high interest in this topic :-)
answered 2015-05-20 16:17:58 +0200
Thank you for your answer. I have come across some of those topics, but none of them explains, what Android apps really can do. I have been talking with some folks of Jolla at MWC and they told me, that Android apps do NOT have access to all those features that they request at installation. E.g. some apps request to check what other apps run at the same time, but this is resctricted in Sailfish. There are other examples for this, so I guess, there is some restricted access for Android apps, but I do not know how far it goes.
Nearly every Android app can locate the user via WIFI location or mobile carrier location, even if GPS is shut off. So I wonder if those Android app have access to those data as well.
Voted for your request, as I also would like to know more about it. I think it's probably safer to use Android apps on Jolla than anywhere else (except manually configurated Android-setup) - but some official information or explanation (maybe even on jolla.zendesk.com) would be important if current and future Sailfish OS users want to take the system seriously in privacy and security.
molan ( 2015-05-20 18:03:15 +0200 )editIf you use SRT Appguard on an Android smartphones you get way more privacy than with the Sailfish OS - regarding data from those specific apps.But Sailfish OS is at least not so talky in regards of other data...
Anonymouse ( 2015-05-20 18:51:41 +0200 )editI don't know SRT Appguard well, but it changes the code of installed apps which by copyright laws is a bit questionable. So Jolla couldn't implement anything like that without having to confront legal issues. But shouldn't it be possible to download and install SRT Appguard on Jolla?
I think Android mod "Cyanogenmod" does it quiet well, where you enable a privacy guard on all or selected app. And of course with root access there are many other possibilities (which could be possible on Jolla as well).
molan ( 2015-05-20 19:04:36 +0200 )editThis is true, SRT Appguard can be installed afterwards and works, as far as I can see. Considering the fact, that Jolla runs Android in an emulator, it shouldn't be too hard to control the permissions certain apps can get.
Anonymouse ( 2015-05-21 17:27:17 +0200 )editAsked: 2015-05-20 12:51:29 +0200
Seen: 789 times
Last updated: May 20 '15
