Review Your Android App Permissions: I Found 5 Apps I Thought Were Safe (And Deleted Them)

A few weeks ago, I sat down for what I thought would be a quick spring cleaning of my phone. An hour later, I had deleted five apps I’d been using for months—some for years. They weren’t sketchy downloads from unknown sources. They were popular tools with millions of installs. What went wrong? They were asking for permissions that made no sense for what they did.

If you haven’t looked at your Android app permissions lately, you’re not alone. Most people install an app, tap “allow” on the pop-up, and never think about it again. But the permissions you granted months ago can quietly accumulate, and some apps treat your data like a default resource.

What happened

The idea came from a recent article on Android Police, where a writer spent a weekend auditing their own app permissions and ended up deleting several seemingly trustworthy apps. I decided to do the same. Starting with Settings > Apps > See all apps, I opened each app one by one and tapped “Permissions.”

The results were eye-opening. A flashlight app had access to my precise location. A unit converter wanted to read my contacts. A simple note-taking app had permission to record audio. None of these functions are required for the apps to work. The flashlight app lights up the camera flash—nothing more. The converter needs no names or phone numbers. The note app can work perfectly without a microphone.

These are classic red flags. Some developers request extra permissions for data collection, advertising, or analytics. In other cases, the permission might be a leftover from a poorly updated app that still uses outdated API levels.

Google introduced per-permission controls in Android 6.0 (2015), so users have the ability to deny individual permissions. But many people never revisit their choices.

Why it matters

Wide permissions aren’t just a privacy annoyance. They can become security risks. If an app with microphone access is compromised, a malicious actor could eavesdrop. Location data can be sold or used to build detailed profiles of your habits. Contact lists are a goldmine for spam and social engineering.

There’s another reason to act now. In August 2024, Android Police reported that Google would stop paying security researchers for finding vulnerabilities in popular Android apps through its Google Play Security Reward Program. That program had been a major incentive for researchers to report flaws. Without it, undiscovered vulnerabilities in widely used apps may linger longer. This makes it more important for individual users to limit what apps can access.

Google Play Protect scans your installed apps for known malware, but it cannot judge whether a permission is justified. That decision is yours.

What you can do

You don’t need to be a privacy expert. Here is a practical routine:

  1. Open the permission manager. Go to Settings > Privacy > Permission Manager. This shows you every app that has access to sensitive categories like location, camera, microphone, and contacts.
  2. Tap each category. Look at the list of apps that have permission. Ask yourself: Does this app genuinely need this access to work? A maps app needs location. A voice recorder needs microphone. A calculator does not.
  3. Revoke anything suspicious. Tap the app in the list and choose “Deny” or “Remove.” The app will still run—it may simply disable a non-essential feature.
  4. Check less obvious permissions. Body sensors, SMS, phone, storage, and calendar are also commonly overrequested. Review those as well.
  5. Delete apps that refuse to work without unnecessary permissions. Some apps will nag you to re-enable access. That is a sign they are not respecting your choice. Consider finding an alternative. For example, many simple flashlight apps exist that do not ask for location (or you can use the built-in flashlight on most phones).
  6. Set a recurring reminder. Once a month, spend five minutes repeating this check. Permissions can change after app updates, and new apps can add themselves to your list.

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)

Your phone’s permission system gives you control. The only catch: you have to use it. A weekend audit might not be glamorous, but it revealed five apps I thought were safe—until I looked closer. Your list might be shorter. It might be longer. Either way, you will know exactly what you’re carrying around in your pocket.