Android Smells

Unnecessary permission

Context

Implementation

Affects

Security,User Conformity,User Experience

Problem

The app requests several permissions, some of them are not needed, as they can be replaced easily.

The more permissions an app needs, the more suspicious it is for the user.

Refactorings

Use activity intent

Resolves

Security,User Conformity

Affects

Solution

Permissions aren't required if you launch an activity that has the permission
Security and Privacy in Android Apps

That is:

The user decides wether it executes this action and by what concrete app.

This is an example of how to get a camera picture:

// create Intent to take a picture and return control to the calling application
Intent intent = new Intent(MediaStore.ACTION_IMAGE_CAPTURE);
// create a file to save the image
fileUri = getOutputMediaFileUri(MEDIA_TYPE_IMAGE);
// set the image file name
intent.putExtra(MediaStore.EXTRA_OUTPUT, fileUri);
// start the image capture Intent
startActivityForResult(intent, MY_REQUEST_CODE);

This is an example of how to write a sms:

Uri smsNumber = Uri.parse("sms:5551212");
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
intent.setData(smsNumber);
intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, "hey there!");
startActivity(intent);

This is an example of how to read a contact:

public class MyActivity extends Activity {
     ...

     static final int PICK_CONTACT_REQUEST = 0;

     protected boolean onKeyDown(int keyCode, KeyEvent event) {
         if (keyCode == KeyEvent.KEYCODE_DPAD_CENTER) {
             // When the user center presses, let them pick a contact.
             startActivityForResult(
                 new Intent(Intent.ACTION_PICK,
                 new Uri("content://contacts")),
                 PICK_CONTACT_REQUEST);
            return true;
         }
         return false;
     }

     protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode,
             Intent data) {
         if (requestCode == PICK_CONTACT_REQUEST) {
             if (resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
                 // A contact was picked.  Here we will just display it
                 // to the user.
                 startActivity(new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, data));
             }
         }
     }
 }
}

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