Why does the BLE Sensor APP require my location permission?

littleshrimp

Why does the BLE Sensor APP require my location permission? [Copy link]

 

The BLE Sensor APP will be forced to obtain location permissions when in use. If you do not give location permissions or do not open the positioning APP, it will prompt that the APP cannot be used.

Because ST did not provide the APK file of BLE Sensor in the early days, GOOGLE PLAY could not be accessed normally due to network reasons, so I could only download it from third-party application stores. For example, I would go to apkpure to download it. So at that time I suspected whether the APK had been repackaged and some functions had been added to obtain user privacy.

For a long time, my phone had problems connecting to Bluetooth devices. I couldn't find the device even when it was next to the phone, but it worked fine with other phones, such as other people's Huawei phones. So I always thought there was something wrong with my phone's Bluetooth, although I think this is not very reasonable.

Before this, there was a terrible problem. I had some EZVIZ Cloud cameras. The connection and binding were normal before, but from a certain moment on, all the cameras could no longer be connected as long as I changed the network and re-binded.

Until a few days ago, because I needed to use it but didn't want to buy a new one, I tried it again for a while. I don't know if my brain was short-circuited or what, but I didn't disable its location permission when I reinstalled the app. You know, I have always been very concerned about privacy, and I will never give permissions if I can. Why would an app with a webcam need location permissions? But because of my negligence this time, the camera was accidentally connected. It turned out that the problem was the location permission.

Does WiFi search and connection require location permission? I think this is possible, because WiFi can also be located. If an app does not have location permission, then it will not be able to achieve this positioning by searching for WiFi hotspots? It seems possible.

So back to Bluetooth, I turned on the location permission of the APP that needs to use the Bluetooth function (because some APPs do not force location permission to be turned on), and the problem of not being able to search for Bluetooth devices was also solved.

The conclusion is that even if you only use Bluetooth and WIFI functions, location permissions should still be granted.

I think Huawei has done a very good job in this regard (I'm not sure if all Android phones are like this). In the past, turning off the positioning on a phone was equivalent to turning off only the GPS, and the map could still use WIFI for positioning. Now, if the phone's positioning is turned off, almost all APPs can't determine my location, except for Find My Phone.

So it turns out that there is a reason why BLE Sensor requires location permission.

w494143467

I have made a Bluetooth app, and this location permission must be given, otherwise Bluetooth does not seem to work.

littleshrimp

w494143467 Published on 2021-5-20 16:42 I have made a Bluetooth app, and this location permission must be given, otherwise Bluetooth does not seem to work.

Some apps don’t check whether location permission is enabled.

If you don't turn on the location function, you won't be able to search for Bluetooth devices.

There is no problem if you turn on positioning to search for a Bluetooth device and then turn off positioning to establish a connection.

w494143467

littleshrimp posted on 2021-5-20 17:01 Some APPs will not check whether the location permission is turned on. If the location permission is not turned on, the Bluetooth device will not be searched. If the location permission is turned on and the Bluetooth device is searched, ...

I see

Ansersion

littleshrimp posted on 2021-5-20 17:01 Some APPs will not check whether the location permission is turned on. If the location permission is not turned on, the Bluetooth device will not be searched. If the location permission is turned on and the Bluetooth device is searched, ...

I happen to have done these two areas of Android development, you are right.

When using Wifi or Bluetooth, location permission is not necessary. Only when using Wifi or Bluetooth scanning, if there is no location permission, the return value of the scanning function is an empty list.

yibin_cai

Great, great, I learned a new “position”!