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Mobile Development Kit Android App Permissions

A Mobile Development Kit Android app requests several permissions by default. Some are required by the underlying SAP BTP SDK for Android and are declared in several library manifests, like cloud_mobile_foundation/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml. Some are required by Mobile Development Kit itself and are declared the in main manifest src/main/AndroidManifest.xml. For instance,

  • android.permission.CAMERA: This permission is required for the following use cases: (We recommend not disabling it)
    • Scan QR codes during onboarding
    • Scan barcodes using barcode scan action, search bars, and simple property barcode scan input
    • Take a picture and attach within the application
  • android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION
    • This permission is for the SDK Map and Usage features and is not currently exposed in out-of-the-box Mobile Development Kit controls/features
    • If your app does not try to get the current location nor use the SDK Map or Usage, then it could potentially be disabled
  • android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE This permission is required for the following use cases:
    • Selecting files or images for attaching within the app
    • Reading offline OData stores You can disable this permission if your app does not offer file attachment and offline data access features. To disable a default permission, create a partial manifest App_Resources_Merge/Android/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml in your .mdkproject as shown below. Refer Android manage manifest files documentation for more details.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android=http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android xmlns:tools=http://schemas.android.com/tools>
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION" tools:node="remove" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" tools:node="remove" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" tools:node="remove" />
</manifest>

Note

Disabling a necessary app permission can break your app's functionality.

Last update: April 6, 2023