Android M's Granular Control Over App Permissions Tipped in More Detail

Google's much-anticipated I/O 2015 developers' conference is all set to kick off on Thursday where the company is expected to make a galore of announcements. Just hours ahead of the conference, new details about more granular control over Android app permissions have surfaced.

According to the latest information, Google will offer granular control over apps at different places. It means users will no longer need to go through app permissions at installations and can change settings anytime they need.

(Also see: Android M, New Photos Service, and Everything Else You Can Expect at Google I/O 2015)

Android Police reports that users can find granular control for Android app permissions in the app itself, through a series of dialog boxes. However, it is yet to be seen whether app users will be required to grant permissions when launching the app or during the course of usage. The granular controls for each app will be also available in the device's Settings where users can change permissions when required.

We first heard about app permissions in Android M earlier this month when Google was claimed to be considering giving Android users more control over what information the apps they install can access.

If true, it would mean an Android user can choose to restrict what an app can access on their device or from the cloud, such as images or contacts or camera or even location.

It's worth noting that some custom ROMs based on Android (such as Cyanogen) already let users control privacy settings on a per app basis. It will be interesting to see how Google implements such a feature on its Android.

The app permissions in Android have required scrutiny for a while, as several reports in the past have suggested that Android apps connect to various services without knowledge of the user or hiding Android malware as well as adware. A recent study even raised questions over how several free apps connect to large number of advertisement networks to serve ads to Android phone users.