Google Removes Vital Privacy Feature From Android, Claims Release Was Accidental
If you have root you can still enable it with market apps.[0][1]<p>However something like this needs to be integrated tightly like iOS and apps need to be aware they may not receive requested permissions. I still use App Ops in Kit Kat and it silently breaks apps all the time. Apps expect to be able request information (e.g. contact details) and crash or stall when they can't.<p>In that respect, LBE Privacy Guard[2] was a much better alternative up to ICS. It was a privacy firewall that would pop up notifications when protected permissions were being used for the first time. Instead of blocking apps when denied, Privacy Guard would feed it blank data instead. This lead to a better UX and stopped blocked apps crashing.<p>There needs to be an open source version of LBE Privacy Guard since the current one hasn't been updated over a year and is closed source from a Chinese company.<p>[0]: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.colortiger.appopsinstaller&hl=en" rel="nofollow">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.colortiger...</a><p>[1]: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=biz.bokhorst.xprivacy.installer&hl=en" rel="nofollow">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=biz.bokhorst.x...</a><p>[2]: DO NOT INSTALL, FORCES REBOOT LOOP<p><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lbe.security.lite" rel="nofollow">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lbe.securi...</a>