https://9to5google.com/2021/03/31/installed-android-apps-limit/

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Yesterday

Google Play limiting Android 11+ apps from seeing what's installed on
devices this May

Abner Li

- Mar. 31st 2021 2:18 pm PT

@technacity

[android_devices_1]
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Google today announced a series of policy updates for apps
distributed through the Play Store. The most impactful sees Google
limit most developers from seeing which Android apps are installed on
your device.

[INS::INS]

As part of its ongoing work to restrict the use of high risk/
sensitive permissions, Google is limiting what apps can use the
QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES permission that "gives visibility into the
inventory of installed apps on a given device." This applies to apps
that target API 30+ on devices running Android 11 and newer.
Enforcement was originally meant to occur earlier, but delayed in
light of COVID-19.

    Play regards the device inventory of installed apps queried from
    a user's device as personal and sensitive information, and use of
    the permission is only permitted when your app's core user facing
    functionality or purpose, requires broad visibility into
    installed apps on the user's device. 

Applications that can continue to use the permission include device
search, antivirus, file managers, and browsers. Developers are asked
to "sufficiently justify why a less intrusive method of app
visibility will not sufficiently enable your app's policy compliant
user facing core functionality."

    Visibility to the inventory of installed apps on a device must be
    directly related to the core purpose or core functionality that
    users access within your app. 

Meanwhile, temporary exceptions will be granted to dedicated banking
and digital wallet apps so that they can "obtain broad visibility
into installed apps solely for security based purposes."

Invalid use cases explicitly referenced by Google today include: 

  * Where use of the permission is not directly related to the core
    purpose of the app.
      + This includes Peer-to-Peer (P2P) sharing. P2P must be the
        core purpose of the app in order to qualify as a permitted
        use.
  * When the data is acquired for the purpose of sale.
  * When the required task can be done with a less broad app
    visibility method.

This policy to limit access to the list of installed Android apps
will come into effect on May 5, 2021.

Dylan Roussel contributed to this article.

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About the Author

[ba5acd965e]

Abner Li

@technacity

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet.
Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com

 

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