this post was submitted on 30 Mar 2025
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Privacy

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Everyone knows all the apps on your phone (peabee.substack.com)
submitted 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Until a few years ago, any app you installed on an Android device could see all other apps on your phone without your permission.

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.

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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[–] [email protected] 51 points 5 days ago (2 children)

The Hackernews thread on this discusses how this has been known for years and hasn’t been fixed by Google

[–] [email protected] 17 points 4 days ago

It’s a feature.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago

I developed a Unity Plugin to utilize this. Was really good to see if another one of your own apps was installed