I Audited My Android App Permissions and Deleted 5 Apps I Trusted – Here’s How You Can Too

A few weekends ago, I sat down with the intention of finally cleaning up my phone. I had read about Google winding down the Play Security Reward Program for popular Android apps, a move that effectively reduces the financial incentive for researchers to find vulnerabilities in many third-party apps. That, combined with ongoing reports of apps misusing location data, microphone access, and contact lists, made me wonder just how much permission bloat I had accumulated over the years.

What I found surprised me. I deleted five apps I had considered trustworthy—apps I had recommended to friends. Not because they were malicious, but because they were asking for far more access than they needed, and I couldn’t justify keeping them after reviewing the evidence.

What Happened

I started in Settings > Privacy > Permission Manager. This is the central dashboard in Android (available since Android 10, though the layout varies slightly across manufacturers). It lists permissions by category: Location, Camera, Microphone, Contacts, SMS, Phone, Calendar, and so on.

I went through each category one by one. For every app that had access, I asked two questions: (a) Does this permission make sense for what the app does? (b) Could the app work without it?

Here’s what I found with the five apps I removed:

  1. A barcode scanner: Needed camera access, which makes sense. But it also had permission to read my exact location and access photos and media. The scanner’s justification said “for better search results.” I found that unconvincing.
  2. A “smart” flashlight app: Required location “to provide weather-based lighting.” I uninstalled it and replaced it with the system flashlight toggle.
  3. A simple unit converter: Had access to my contacts. No explanation given.
  4. An offline dictionary app: Requested full network access (which is common) and the ability to read phone state, including my device ID and IMEI. The justification was blank.
  5. A popular weather app: Asked for location (fair) but also for camera and microphone “for community weather reports.” I never used that feature.

In each case, I denied the unnecessary permission first to see if the app still worked. The barcode scanner still scanned barcodes. The unit converter still converted units. The dictionary still displayed definitions. The weather app still showed weather. So I revoked those permissions entirely. But I went a step further: I uninstalled the ones that seemed to have no clear reason for collecting that data, especially when the developer didn’t provide a meaningful justification.

Why It Matters

App permissions are not a trivial setting. Once an app has access to your location, camera, microphone, or contacts, it can collect and share that data—sometimes with third parties—in ways you may not expect. Even if the app itself isn’t malicious, the data can be sold or leaked in a breach.

Google’s decision to deprioritize the Play Security Reward Program (announced in mid-2024) means fewer independent researchers are actively looking for vulnerabilities in popular apps. That doesn’t make apps suddenly dangerous, but it does put more responsibility on you, the user, to check what you’re installing and keeping.

Android 11 and later already give you granular control: you can choose “Allow only while using the app” or “Ask every time.” Yet many people never visit the permission manager at all. A 2023 survey by Security.org found that only about 40% of smartphone users had ever reviewed their app permissions. That leaves a lot of unchecked access.

What You Can Do Now

You can perform the same audit in about 30 minutes. Here’s the step-by-step process I followed:

  1. Open Settings > Privacy > Permission Manager (or search “permission manager” in settings).
  2. Go through each permission category. Pay special attention to Location, Camera, Microphone, Contacts, SMS, and Phone. These are the most sensitive.
  3. For each app that has access, tap on it and read the “This permission is used for” explanation (if provided). Apps that don’t explain themselves are a yellow flag.
  4. Ask yourself: Does this app really need this permission to function? If the answer is no, change it to “Deny” or (for location) “Allow only while using the app.”
  5. Test the app after denying. Open it and see if it still works. If it breaks, you can always re-enable the permission. If it doesn’t break, consider whether you really need the app at all.
  6. Before installing new apps, check the Google Play Store’s “Data safety” section, which shows what data the app collects and why. Also look at the permissions listed on the install page. If a calculator wants your contacts, skip it.

A note about “ask every time”: This option (available on Android 11+) forces the app to request permission each time it needs access, and you can grant it temporarily. It’s useful for apps that only occasionally need location, but it can get annoying. Use it sparingly.

Sources

  • Android Police: I spent a weekend reviewing Android app permissions and deleted 5 apps I thought I could trust (June 2026)
  • Android Police: After 7 years, Google will stop paying researchers to find vulnerabilities in popular Android apps (August 2024)
  • Security.org: 2023 Smartphone Privacy Survey (referenced for permission-review rates)

If you haven’t reviewed your app permissions in the last six months, I’d encourage you to block out half an hour and do it. You might be surprised what your apps are asking for—and what you can confidently turn off.