Manage app permissions

What are permissions?

If an app wants to use specific features and personal information on your phone, it must ask for your permission. You can manage permissions at any time to allow, deny, or modify them.

Features you'll be asked about

If an app wants to access (use, view, change) these features, it must ask you for permission:

  • Hardware and system settings, such as access to your camera, microphone, location, contacts, calendar, storage, and sensors
  • Network settings, such as permission to access the internet, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth
  • Personal information and accounts, including access to your personal data, accounts, authentication services (for example, email addresses, phone numbers, social media accounts, and more)
  • The ability to modify phone settings and perform actions (such as sending notifications or controlling hardware components)

Should you allow or deny access?

Before you give an app permission, it’s important to review what the app’s asking for. Make sure you're okay with what the app wants to do before you say yes.

Android apps can still work even if you don't give them all the permissions they ask for. For instance, an app might not need to know your location or see your contacts to do its thing. But, if you do allow it access, the app might work even better. It's a trade-off. On the one hand, you can limit what info the app knows. On the other hand, you might miss out on cool features.

Respond to app permission requests

You'll see permissions screens:

  • The first time you open an app
  • The first time you use a specific feature, if that feature requires access
  • When an app updates and needs different permissions
  • When you restart an app you previously denied permissions

If the screen pops up over another app, tap to allow full access, partial access, or to deny the app access.

If the screen takes you into Settings and flashes a setting:

  1. Tap the flashing item.
  2. Turn the permission on to accept (or off to deny it).
  3. Tap or swipe to go back to the previous screen.

Review or change permissions

Review by feature

The first time you use an app, and sometimes when you install or update it, you are asked to grant the app permission to access certain data and phone features. You can adjust these permissions any time.

To adjust permissions by feature:

  1. Go to Settings > Security & privacy > Privacy controls.

  2. Tap Permission manager tab.
  3. Tap a feature to see which apps have permission to use it.
  4. Turn that permission on or off for each app as needed.

Review by app

To adjust permissions by app:

  1. Touch & hold the app icon, then tap App info .
  2. Tap Permissions.

  3. Turn each permission on or off as needed.

    TipTo see how the app uses each permission, tap more options icon > All permissions.