I spent a weekend reviewing Android app permissions and deleted 5 apps I thought I could trust
I spent a weekend reviewing Android app permissions and deleted 5 apps I thought I could trust
https://www.androidpolice.com/spent-weekend-reviewing-android-app-permissions-deleted-apps/
Publish Date: 2026-06-12 07:00:00
Source Domain: www.androidpolice.com
Sadly, too many apps fall under the radar for me — and as a privacy-conscious user, that’s unacceptable.
So, now I take the extra time to run audits every few months to check that nothing is abusing my permissions without my knowledge or draining my data.
Thus, I recently spent my June 6th weekend reviewing Android app permissions. I have done so before and have found the results rather surprising.
It’s also been a few months since then, and I decided to run another audit on my Samsung Galaxy S25+.
I have been using AI features and apps a lot more and have definitely felt a bit uneasy about some privacy practices, so I took the weekend to confirm whether my suspicions are correct or if there were any surprising new results.
Plus, I am still a bit of an app hoarder, and this would be a good time to delete apps that abuse permissions without my knowledge or use too many by default.
To review your app permission settings, go to Settings Privacy or Security and privacy. On Google Pixel (Android 16), tap Security & privacy.
WhatsApp
A messaging app service that spammers love to use
WhatsApp was the first app to go away. Mainly for two reasons. One, I rarely use it. I might use this app once, but I found that it has access to my permissions each week.
The last time I physically opened WhatsApp was months ago, maybe even half a year ago.
According to the Usage history, it used Contacts and accounts along with Photos and videos permissions in the last 24 hours.
It probably has to do with the syncing process, but on my phone, many apps go into deep sleep when they are not actively being used.
This includes freezing activities, such as permissions. Plus, I didn’t love WhatsApp to begin with. For some reason,…
