When you install a new app whether it be on iOS or Android, sometimes it asks for permission, such as access to your camera, photos, microphone, notifications, and so on. For the layman, these permissions might seem a bit scary and confusing, and sometimes it can result in them saying “yes” just so they can use the app.
However what happens is that there are some apps that might take advantage of this to access certain features on your phone that it might not necessarily need to. The good news is that in the upcoming Android P update, Google will display notifications on background apps that are having access to the camera or microphone on your phone.
This means that at a glance, users will be able to see which apps that are running in the background that are using their camera or microphone, so for example if there is an app that you don’t think should be using your camera or microphone, these notifications will let you know. From there it’s up to users to decide what they want to do about it if they’re not comfortable.
Apple has implemented something similar in iOS 11 where they will make it more obvious when apps are accessing the user’s location.
Filed in . Read more about Android, Android P, Google and Privacy.