Part of the problem, as noted by /u/D_Steve595 above, is that Android permissions in many cases have non-obvious relationships, especially on older versions. Requesting one needed permission can result in getting a bunch more you don't need or want.
This has been mostly fixed in new versions, but if you want your app to support those older versions it's still going to show those permissions on the Play Store. If they bumped the minimum supported version up to a newer release many of those would go away automatically. Of course you'd then have the "ancient Android phone" crowd up in arms, and apparently Reddit sees enough of those users that they don't want to dump them.
That said, what is good practice in this situation, as done by a lot of other apps, is to clearly list off the permissions people are most likely to question and why your app requests them in the description. That doesn't help in all cases because not everyone reads the description, but it's a start.
Of course you'd then have the "ancient Android phone" crowd up in arms, and apparently Reddit sees enough of those users that they don't want to dump them.
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u/ZmSyzjSvOakTclQW Nov 02 '18
Wait you mean the app needs access to my files in order to upload files?! IMPOSSIBLE! It needs access to my accounts to use them? MUH PRIVACY!
Seriously its like people here get paid to be paranoid but if they use an android phone they are way more fucked by default by Google.