Chrome Needs Storage Access To Download Files Update Permissions

Chrome Needs Storage Access To Download Files Update Permissions For Mac
Chrome Needs Storage Access To Download Files Update Permissions For Minecraft
Chrome Needs Storage Access To Download Files Update Permissions For Firefox

Storage permissions This category allows apps to access and modify the files stored on your mobile device, be they music, photos, documents or something else. This also means that dangerous apps you grant access to can delete files stored on your device.
Fix File Permissions on Android Devices. Follow the steps described below to manage Read, Write and Execute permissions of a file on Android devices. Quick Steps to Fix File Permissions on Android. Copy the file/APK that you want to fix permissions of and copy it to your devices’ internal or external SD Card.

Dear Lifehacker,
I'm a big fan of Google Chrome and I love using extensions. However, I've noticed that a lot of them request permissions to access all of my data on every site. Why is this? Should I be worried?

Sincerely,
Afraid to Extend

Dear AE,
We're right there with you. Extensions are an amazing way to customize your Chrome experience, but some of them ask for a lot of data for no apparent reason. I talked with programmer Joe Flores and Meldium co-founder Boris Jabes to get insight into how permissions work, and see if it's something you should be worried about or not.

Why Chrome Extensions Need Permissions

How do I directly modify a Google Chrome Extension File? Unzip the file and you will get all the info you need. This way you can see the guts, learn how to write an extension yourself, or modify it for your own needs. Check out this chrome extension to quickly access extension's source code. Last week, Google released the Chrome OS 72 Stable Channel into the wild on a rolling schedule. As a result, my Pixel Slate just got the update. One of the included updates I noted is support for SD external storage support on Android apps.

Chrome extensions use permissions to tell you exactly what data they're accessing on web sites you visit. Extensions have 10 different permissions ranging from 'your physical location' to 'all data on your computer and the websites you visit.' They're divided into three alert levels: High (access to everything online and on your computer), Medium (access to most data on web sites), and Low (access to very specific things like bookmarks, history, or location).

For example, an extension like Pocket needs access to 'Your data on all websites,' and 'your tabs and browsing activity.' This sounds like a lot, but since Pocket is a read-it-later service it needs those permissions just to operate. Without them, it couldn't save the URL link from the site you're on.

So, why do some extensions need broader access than others? Jabes notes that part of the issue is just the wording Chrome uses:

Chrome's warnings when you install an extension are overly conservative in their text. For example, one of the extensions I use, ChromeReload, is a very simple tool that asks for 'Your data on all websites' and 'Your tabs and browsing activity.' All it needs is to attach a marker on each tab that keeps track of when it was last reloaded, but Chrome doesn't provide a 'polite' prompt for this.

Simply put, Chrome doesn't offer any granularity with permissions requests—it's an all-or-nothing approach for extension makers, and sometimes the broader permission requests are just easier to program for.

The sad truth here is that it's pretty difficult to really track down why an extension needs the permissions it does. Sometimes it's obvious—with an RSS Reader like Feedly, the extension can't work without accessing 'your data on all websites' because that's the fundamental permission it's built on. Every time you visit a site, a bit of JavaScript code runs, and Feedly does its business. In order for that to work properly, it needs to run on every web site. But other times, it isn't so easy to tell.

When You Should Be Careful About What Extensions You Install

Chrome's permissions warning are vague enough to cause alarm when you install pretty much any extension out there, so it's good to pay attention to what you're doing. For the most part, common sense rules here: if an extension is asking for unreasonable permissions that don't make any sense, you probably don't want to install it.

That said, pretty much any extension that asks for All data on your computer and the websites you visit is probably worth a very close look. These extensions aren't inherently bad. Any extension, like the screenshot tool Lightshot, that accesses your hard drive needs this permission. But it's worthwhile to pay closer attention to any extension that asks for data on your computer.

Thankfully, an extension that's capable of really scraping your data is going to set off alarms. Flores notes:

Chrome will prompt you for 'access to your data on all websites' which sounds really scary, but is technically BS—the sheer scale of most of the APIs required for the big boys (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) would result in a large, more unwieldy plugin that would set off alarm bells. No one would likely be able to cram enough code into a single plugin to manage to get 'all' your information and still have a functioning plugin in only JavaScript.

While an extension might not gun for all your data, it's certainly possible to grab specific information, like a password, so before you download anything it's worth looking through an extension's reviews to see what other people are saying. Chances are someone will notice an overreaching extension pretty quickly.

It's not a perfect system, but for the most part, even extensions that request access to all your data on web sites are safe to use. It's unfortunate that Chrome doesn't allow for more specific permissions, but with a little common sense you shouldn't run into trouble.

If you want to be extra careful, only install extensions from verified authors. You'll see a little check mark on the extension's Chrome Web Store page that verifies it's official. Not every 'good' extension has this verification though. For example, LastPass doesn't have a verification, even though it's a trustworthy extension. It's not hard to get verified, but it at leasts helps you separate the official extensions from the unofficial ones.

If you have a little technical knowledge, you can also dig into an extension's code to see what it's doing, or install an extension like Extension Gallery to inspect the code easily. You can get a closer look at what code causes Chrome permission warnings on the developer site as well.

Good luck,
Lifehacker

A special thanks goes out to programmer Joe Flores and Meldium co-founder Boris Jabes for providing their expert assistance and knowledge for this article.

Have a question or suggestion for Ask Lifehacker? Send it to tips+asklh@lifehacker.com.

Chrome Needs Storage Access To Download Files Update Permissions For Mac

Android permissions used to be a mess, but modern versions of Android have simplified them greatly. Now, Android has an iOS-style permission system in which you grant apps access to certain features, hardware, or data as it needs them. You can also manually revoke permissions from any app—even ones designed for old versions of Android.

RELATED:iOS Has App Permissions, Too: And They’re Arguably Better Than Android’s

You don’t need to root, install a custom ROM, or switch to an iPhone to do this anymore. Android finally has the app permission system it should have had all along.

How Android’s Permission System Works

Android apps will ask for a permission when they need it. For example, instead of giving an app access to your camera when you install it, you’ll be prompted the first time the app wants to access your camera.

But you can manually manage any app’s permissions, even if it was designed for an older version of Android and doesn’t normally ask you.

Manage a Single App’s Permissions

To do this, you’ll need Android 6.0 Marshmallow or a newer version on your device. Open the Settings app and tap “Apps” under the Device heading to get started.

You’ll see a list of all the apps installed on your Android device. Tap one of the apps in the list to view more information. On the App info screen, you’ll see a “Permissions” category that lists all the permissions that individual app has access to. Tap “Permissions.”

You can also quickly access the App Info screen by long-pressing an app’s icon on your app drawer, dragging it to the “App info” shortcut that appears at the top of the screen, and releasing it. This shortcut may not be present on every Android device as different devices use different interfaces tweaked by their manufacturers and carriers.

This will take you to the new “App permissions” screen. Different categories of permissions each app has—for example, Camera, Contacts, Location, Microphone, Phone, SMS, and Storage—will be displayed here. Older Android apps automatically get these permissions when you install them, but you can revoke any permission you want from here.

This is very similar to the “App ops” permission system Google manually stripped out of Android 4.4.2 after websites like ours told users how to access it. It’s finally back!

Chrome Needs Storage Access To Download Files Update Permissions For Minecraft

When revoking permissions from older applications, you’ll see a warning message saying, “This app was designed for an older version of Android. Denying permission may cause it to no longer function as intended.”

Older applications weren’t designed for this feature, and they generally just assume they have access to any permissions they request. Most of the time, applications should just continue working normally if you revoke their permissions. In some rare cases, the application may crash—if it does, you’ll need to give it permission again. In other cases, an application may just not function normally. For example, if you revoke the Camera permission from an app that can normally take photos, it won’t be able to take photos anymore. You won’t receive an error message that asks you to turn the Camera permission back on—it will just appear to not work.

Either way, if you encounter a problem with an app, you can always come back to this screen and grant it these permissions again.

You can also tap the menu button on the App permissions screen and tap “All permissions” to see exactly which permissions an app is using. This can give you a better idea of what an app is actually doing with those permissions. Android now hides these more fine-grained permissions. You can’t actually manage these individual permissions—you can only choose which categories of permissions to allow.

Be aware: App updates can add new “sub-permissions” in a category without asking you again. For example, even if an app only uses the “read phone status and identity” permission in the Phone category and you choose to allow “Phone” access, a future update to the app could add the “Directly call phone numbers; this may cost you money,” and “Reroute outgoing calls” permissions. As these are part of the “Phone” category, the app would be allowed to use them without any additional prompts, as you’ve allowed that “Phone” access. Here’s a list of permission groups and more information on Google’s website.

Chrome Needs Storage Access To Download Files Update Permissions For Firefox

View and Manage All App Permissions

To view and manage all app permissions at once, go to the list of apps by opening the Settings screen and tapping Apps. From the list of all your installed apps, tap the gear icon in the top-right corner of the screen and tap “App permissions.”

You’ll see a list of different categories of permissions along with the number of apps installed that have access to that permission. Categories include Body Sensors, Calendar, Camera, Contacts, Location, Microphone, Phone, SMS, Storage, and some “additional permissions.”

To view the apps that have access to each type of data or sensor and control this, tap a category. For example, to see which apps have access to your calendar information, tap Calendar. To prevent an app from accessing your calendar information, disable it on the Calendar permissions screen.

As with managing an individual app’s permissions above, you’ll see a warning message if that app was designed for a previous version of Android. Most apps should continually working fine, anyway — unless you revoke a permission that’s central to any functionality. For example, you won’t be able to take photos from within the Facebook app if you revoke the Facebook app’s Camera permission. You’ll have to grant it that permission again to take photos.

As usual with Android, some of these steps may work differently on some devices. We performed this process with Android 6.0 on Google’s own Nexus 7 (2013) tablet. Android manufacturers often modify the interface on their devices, and some options may be in different places.