android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE (Unwanted)

[Youssef Mossoba]

I wanted to Publish an Update of my APP "Weekday Date Calculator"  on Google Play and I have got this:

"WARNING Users that have the APK with version code 2 may need to accept the android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission, which may result in them not upgrading to this version of the app.

TIP Ensure that the new permissions are necessary, and consider mentioning these permissions in the What's new in this release text."

Question: How can I remove this Permission that I don't need. First my Upgrade is only on the interface, no change in the App's functions. Second, the calculation results are not saved (or stored) at all.

Thank you.

[Chris Ward]

Hello Youssef

Well, that smells of an App Inventor bug, it should not include permissions that the app does not use.

The only short-term fix I think would be to edit the Manifest file which is included in the .apk file.

Hossein Amerkashi wrote a desktop app that can be used to edit the Manifest file: AppToMarket.

Unfortunately the latest App Inventor release nb165 is not compatible with App2Market at the moment.

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/apptomarket/4XjNUSgh42Q

[Evan Patton]

Hi Youssef,

That depends on what you have changed. For example, updating an extension that you use for your interface might add new permissions. Adding other components might as well. For example, if you add a File component, then you will get the WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission since File primarily operates on files stored on the sdcard (simulated or real).

If you share the AIA with us, it should be straightforward to tell you which component is causing the permission to be added.

Regards,

Evan

[Youssef Mossoba]

Thank You Evan.

[Juan Antonio]

Hi Youssef,

I think Canvas1 needs WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE.

If you need an animated gif, perhaps you can use this extension:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/mitappinventortest/app-inventor-extensions/_qwTrvHKlXo

[Boban Stojmenovic]

Juan, you are absolutely correct regarding this and that's because of this..

/Boban

[Youssef Mossoba]

Thank you Boban.

[Youssef Mossoba]

Thank You Juan, Su respuesta es muy apreciada.

[Youssef Mossoba]

Thank you Chris.

[Abraham Getzler]

This sounds like AI2 is using the Component list to

generate the permissions, instead of a finer grained

list of blocks actually used?

ABG

[Youssef Mossoba]

Hey Abraham, Tks for your answer. Indeed I have been using List blocks. In the original version published in 2015, I had only one list and  now for the update I added 3 more lists. I bundled all DatePickers, Buttons and Labels in 3 lists in order to specify FontSize in % of the screen width. The reason is to make the App suitable to any size tablet or phone. 

For now, I decided to go ahead and publish the upgrade and provide an explanation in the store listing under "What's new".