Is possible to disable permissions when installing via ADB?

[deleted]

Hello,
I usually install apps via "adb install" command, especially after a device wipe.
When I install apps via adb the network permission is granted by default if app uses the internet permission.
Is there a way to disallow by default the internet permission when installing apps via adb or is there a way to
exec a command to disable a specific permission for a installed app?
Thanks

Dumdum

I can't imagine this is possible. The network permission is something that only exists because of GOS, so ADB is unlikely to have the functionality. It goes without saying but if you want the ability to disable network on install, its probably best to just install apps the normal way.

Fay_Wilmont

In case anyone is still looking for an answer to this timeless question, here it is!

You can revoke the Network permission right after installing a package with:

adb shell pm revoke  [--user USER_ID] PACKAGE android.permission.INTERNET

For the Sensors permission you'd use:

adb shell pm revoke [--user USER_ID] PACKAGE android.permission.OTHER_SENSORS

Or for both (as these are the only two runtime permissions granted by default):

adb shell pm revoke [--user USER_ID] --all-permissions PACKAGE

The Sensors permission can also be set to be disabled by default for newly installed apps in Settings > Security & privacy > More security & privacy.

As for:

Dumdum The network permission is something that only exists because of GOS

This can't be further from the truth. It's an Android permission that has existed since its inception. GrapheneOS turned it into a runtime permission, i.e. one that the user can revoke at any time. Bad for surveillance capitalism, good for us.

The Sensors permission though? I think they invented it!

[deleted]

I don't use Google Pay Store but Aurora and I do first install of my apps using an APK downloaded from other device to prevent MITM attacks and only using Aurora to update apps.
If network permission can't be disabled by ADB, I can live with it and do it manually ;)

Dumdum

Fay_Wilmont
A permission that is not user-facing / togglable might as well be considered to not "exist". Perhaps I should have said "network permission toggle is something that only exists because of GOS". In essence, the point still stands even if the wording wasn't the best.

Fay_Wilmont

Dumdum A permission that is not user-facing / togglable might as well be considered to not "exist".

Okay, you officially blew my mind with this one and I don't know how to react. This sounds like a really, really dumb thing to say, so what I'm reading is probably not what you're saying. I hope you don't actually believe that if you can't toggle the permission, it might as well not exist.

And how does your point still stand? You replied to OP that ADB is unlikely to have the functionality they asked for, and I provided the ADB commands for that exact functionality.

My head hurts trying to understand your reaction 😅️

Dumdum

Fay_Wilmont hope you don't actually believe that if you can't toggle the permission, it might as well not exist.

A permission is something that is given consent to or taken away from. If that's not the case, then it is not a "permission" but instead a property that can be requested for the functionality it provides. Only with the toggle that GrapheneOS provides does this property truly become a permission that can be given and revoked. Its not something that the user can control (without the toggle) and therefore might as well not exist as far as the user is concerned.

And how does your point still stand?

The point that "network permission exists because of GOS". The point that we are both talking about?

Fay_Wilmont

I see, you are talking about the social implication of the word, where giving permission is an active act, and an app being granted a permission by the system at installation does not imply active consent, so it cannot be said that you gave your permission for this. “A permission that is not user-facing / togglable might as well be considered to not "exist"” might thus be read as “a permission that is not user-facing is no permission at all”.

All the while I was solely thinking about the technical concept as it exists within Android, and thinking install-time permissions tell you what an app will be able to do or access once installed, thus it's very important to be aware of them. Hence my interpretation of “A permission that is not user-facing / togglable might as well be considered to not "exist"” as a very weird thing to say.

And now I get your "network permission exists because of GOS" point too. In a technical sense it doesn't, but in an active consent kind of way, it does.

I remember when install-time permissions where the only type of permissions on Android about 11 years ago, and it would ask you to review them before installing an app. Then they changed the permission model and I was shocked to discover the network permission was always silently granted at installation... glad GrapheneOS corrected that.

Mister_Riot_

Fay_Wilmont Thank you so much for providing that ADB command. I do, however, need your help if you don't mind. I'm on a journey to make my smartphone as dumb as possible and so far it's almost perfect. I think the last thing I need to do is turn the network access permission off for the stock settings app, because with a little bit of digging around it, I can access a web browser in the legal section in the settings. When I uninstall WebView, the thing that I'm able to browse with in the settings, I can't open any emails in the Gmail app, which makes sense because emails rely on WebView. I tried that command to revoke the network permission through ADB but it's giving me "Exception occurred while executing 'revoke': java.lang.SecurityException: Permission android.permission.INTERNET requested by package com.android.settings is not a changeable permission type". I don't know if I have the wrong package name, I can't simply do that, or if there's another way I can do what I want to do. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Fay_Wilmont

You can't. If you go to Permissions > Network in the App info screen for the Settings app it tells you why in plain English: Device requires this permission to operate.

And even if you could, it wouldn't stop the Settings app from opening a link in the System WebView or a browser. Apps don't need the Network permission to do that.

Are you trying to have a phone with some internet services, but not a browser? So you can for example use maps, stream music and read e-mails but not browse the internet?