Android 12 directly prevents camera and microphone from being called in apps
The camera and microphone permissions may be the permissions that users are most concerned about. The camera can be used to secretly take pictures of the user’s surroundings, while the microphone can continuously monitor.
Especially in the era of big data, we may chat with friends about products and ad recommendations will come immediately. Although there is no evidence, many users suspect that the app uses a microphone for monitoring.
So Apple has enhanced camera and microphone usage tips in the iOS 14 version, while Google has provided a stronger shielding mechanism in the Android 12 version.
Google’s approach is that if an application calls the camera or microphone, the camera and microphone dedicated use signs will automatically appear in the upper right corner of the Android 12 version.
At the same time, the user pulls down the notification bar to see the quick operation buttons of the camera and microphone and only needs to click to directly disable the camera and the microphone to be called by the app.
After clicking Disable, no application can use the camera and microphone again, which is equivalent to turning off the camera and microphone functions to prevent apps from using the hardware silently.
It is worth noting that the user can quickly disable the camera and microphone, or quickly turn it on. For example, the system will automatically pop up a prompt when the application needs to be called.
In the pop-up prompt, the user only needs to click Turn on to use the camera and microphone, and the user does not need to go to the settings to enable these options.
Therefore, for users, this new protective barrier in Android can effectively improve privacy and security, and can completely dispel users’ doubts about app private adjustment permissions.
This feature is currently being tested in the Android 12 DP1 developer preview, and subsequent stable releases will be gradually pushed to supported Android devices.
However, the problem of Android fragmentation is more serious, so many devices may not be able to get the new version update. This requires the efforts of Android device manufacturers to adapt.
Via: 9to5google
