Since 2022, with Android 11, Google removed this access from app developers. Under their new package visibility policy, apps should only see other installed apps if it’s essential to their core functionality. Developers must also explicitly declare these apps in the AndroidManifest.xml file - a required configuration file for all Android apps.

For extremely specific use cases such as file managers, browsers or antivirus apps, Google grants an exception by allowing QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES permission, which provides full visibility into installed apps.

I don’t use Android as my primary phone, but I have a spare one and I was really curious to find out which apps from Indian companies had checks to see what other apps I had installed.

So I downloaded a few dozen Indian apps I could think of on top of my head and started reading their manifest files. Surely they will be respectful of my privacy and will only query apps essential to their app's core functionality? 🙃

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[–] f4f4f4f4f4f4f4f4@sopuli.xyz 5 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Privacy Breacher hasn't been updated in four years and is still able to list all the apps on an Android device without any permissions.

PrivacyBreacher is an Android app built as a proof of concept for a research article describing the privacy issues in Android. This app can access the following information from your phone without requesting any permissions: Figure out at what time your phone screen turned on/off. Figure out at what time you plugged in or removed your phone charger and wired headphones. Figure out at what time you switched on/off your phone (i.e., it captures the device uptime and ACTION_SHUTDOWN broadcasts). Access most of your device related information like your phone model, manufacturer etc. Keep track of your WiFi/Mobile data usage. Get a list of all the apps installed on your phone. Construct a 3D visualization of your body movements.

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

checked the code and it just queries the package manager as usual.

it works because the system tries to maintain compatibility with apps made for older android versions (targetsdk). this app was built for api 29 (android 10), and the query apps permission gating was introduced in api 30 (android 11)

https://web.archive.org/web/20250331021341/https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/10158779?hl=en

the play store is strict about the min targetsdk allowed for new apps and updates, and while that is also a negative thing, api 29 cannot be targeted anymore for apps: https://web.archive.org/web/20250331021653/https://developer.android.com/google/play/requirements/target-sdk

[–] f4f4f4f4f4f4f4f4@sopuli.xyz 1 points 3 days ago

Good to know! I did see the "built for an older version of Android" warning in F-Droid. Thanks for your research!

[–] fxomt@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Yikes. This seems such a big privacy concern, what an embarrassment from google.

[–] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 2 points 3 days ago

but at least it was a good excuse to destroy apps relying on linux procfs (/proc)