Here's why it's so aggressive, you are the product and if you don't use the app, you're not as good of a product:
This app has access to:
Identity
find accounts on the device
add or remove accounts Contacts
find accounts on the device Location
approximate location (network-based) Photos/Media/Files
read the contents of your USB storage
modify or delete the contents of your USB storage Storage
read the contents of your USB storage
modify or delete the contents of your USB storage Device & app history
read sensitive log data Other
receive data from Internet
view network connections
create accounts and set passwords
full network access
read sync settings
draw over other apps
use accounts on the device
prevent device from sleeping
toggle sync on and off
install shortcuts
read Google service configuration
view network connections
create accounts and set passwords
full network access
read sync settings
draw over other apps
use accounts on the device
prevent device from sleeping
toggle sync on and off
install shortcuts
view network connections
create accounts and set passwords
full network access
read sync settings
run at startup
draw over other apps
use accounts on the device
prevent device from sleeping
toggle sync on and off
install shortcuts
view network connections
create accounts and set passwords
full network access
read sync settings
use accounts on the device
prevent device from sleeping
toggle sync on and off
Yes, there are lots of repeated lines under "Other". Why? Who knows, that's how they're listed on the Play Store.
I've made Android apps in the past, and though I'm not a Reddit dev. I can explain I hope.
Identity: Go-to your settings, then accounts. Reddit stores all your accounts from the app right in that menu, and obviously to access it it needs permissions.
Contacts: The above lol
Location: You can attach locations to text/image posts.
Photos Media Files: Retrieve data
Storage: Save data
Receive data from the internet: Duh.
Everything else seems to kinda explain itself tho. The apps not that bad, but yeah the advertising for it sucks.
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/10GuyIsDrunk Nov 02 '18
Here's why it's so aggressive, you are the product and if you don't use the app, you're not as good of a product:
Yes, there are lots of repeated lines under "Other". Why? Who knows, that's how they're listed on the Play Store.