Android 6.0 permission.GET_ACCOUNTS

Question

I\'m using this to get permission:

if (ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(context, Manifest.permission.GET_ACCOUNTS) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {

         


        

Answer 1

I got your question wrong first. On this page http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/security/permissions.html#perm-groups, your can see that GET_ACCOUNTS refers to the permission group contacts. Because of that your are prompted for contact permission.

Answer 2

If your using the GET_ACCOUNTS permission to ask the user to select a particular account type on the device(Google in my case), you can use the AccountPicker class which doesn't require any special permissions

Intent intent = AccountPicker.newChooseAccountIntent(null, null,
                    new String[]{GoogleAuthUtil.GOOGLE_ACCOUNT_TYPE},
                    false, null, null, null, null);
try {
    startActivityForResult(intent, REQUEST_ACCOUNT_PICKER);
} catch (ActivityNotFoundException e) {
    // This device may not have Google Play Services installed.
}

You'll need Google Play services auth in your gradle dependencies

implementation com.google.android.gms:play-services-auth:16.0.1

This avoids the Contacts permission popup for me

Answer 3

GET_ACCOUNTS was moved into the CONTACTS permission group in Android 6.0. While the API has us provide permissions, the user (for Android 6.0 at least) is prompted for permission groups. Hence, the user will be given the same prompt for GET_ACCOUNTS as the user would get for READ_CONTACTS or WRITE_CONTACTS.

Answer 4

That is because of Permission Groups. Basically, permissions are placed under different groups and all permissions from that group would be granted if one of them is granted.

Eg. Under "Contacts" , there is write/read contacts and get accounts, so when you ask for any of those, the popup asks for Contacts permissions.

Read through: Everything every Android Developer must know about new Android's Runtime Permission

---

EDIT 1

Just thought i'l add the related(not to get accounts but permissions and groups) Oreo update info:
source: https://developer.android.com/about/versions/oreo/android-8.0-changes.html#rmp

Prior to Android 8.0 (API level 26), if an app requested a permission at runtime and the permission was granted, the system also incorrectly granted the app the rest of the permissions that belonged to the same permission group, and that were registered in the manifest.

For apps targeting Android 8.0, this behavior has been corrected. The app is granted only the permissions it has explicitly requested. However, once the user grants a permission to the app, all subsequent requests for permissions in that permission group are automatically granted.

---

Answer 5

Fortunately this will change in Android N

http://developer.android.com/preview/behavior-changes.html#perm

The GET_ACCOUNTS permission is now deprecated. The system ignores this permission for apps that target Android N.

Answer 6

In Marshmallow all dangerous permissions belong to permission groups.

The permission android.permission.GET_ACCOUNTS belongs to CONTACTS group

You can find more information about dangerous permission and their groups here:
https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/security/permissions.html#normal-dangerous