Permissions for apps and games

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mkr10001

Can someone tell me why a basketball shooting game would need access to my location?
 

selfcreation

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Dec 16, 2010
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LOL!

I ask my self the same question last night when I got an app .. nothing to do with location but it asked me any ways.

good question! lol privacy problems maybe??!?!?!?!?!?!?!

maybe we are not so secured on WP as we thought?!
 

lemonez

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Jan 5, 2012
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Hi guys.

I could offer some explanation as a developer. This is a general explanation about required permissions, I am not trying to explain the case of this particular basketball game.

When a developer creates an app or game, he uses one or more libraries. Those could be his own creation or third party, it does not really matter. The idea of a code library is to reuse something instead of copying it to the new app. So, how does this relate to permissions?

The permissions required by an app are identified by the Windows Phone marketplace automatically, based on the code in the app. So, if this app includes a library that has something to do with, say, location, the "location" permission is detected and presented to the user. The app itself might not even use that part of the library, still the location permission would appear and you would have to accept it in order to install the app.

I, for example, have a flashlight app that requires access to contacts. What does a flashlight app has to do with contacts? You are right - nothing. The problem is that I have a general-purpose library and part of it is for working with contacts. I am not using that part for the flashlight, but it is still detected and presented to the user. I know it sucks.

The solution is to split the library into two separate libraries and only use the one with contacts when I need to work with contacts. Anyway, it is not that simple, because other factors also dictate how to separate the libraries and it gets difficult and takes time. I could offer further explanation, but it is strictly technical and I am not sure you will be interested in it.

So, please, go easy on apps requiring many permissions. Ask the developer why. It might be his mistake and he would remove the requirement in the next version. It is a mistake not very hard to make, sometimes easy to fix.

Hopefully, a better solution will appear in time.

Hope this helps.
 

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