Security News > 2021 > April > Google limits which apps can access the list of installed apps on your device
Apps on Android have been able to infer the presence of specific apps, or even collect the full list of installed apps on the device.
A study undertaken by a group of Swiss researchers in 2019 found that "Free apps are more likely to query for such information and that third-party libraries are the main requesters of the list of installed apps."
"As users have on average 80 apps installed on their phones, most of them being free, there is a high chance of untrusted third-parties obtaining the list of installed apps," the researchers added.
Another academic study published in March 2020 also found that 4,214 Google Play apps stealthily amassed a list of all other installed apps, thereby allowing developers and advertisers to build detailed profiles of users.
Apps that do so typically achieve this by making use of what's called installed application methods - getInstalledPackages() and getInstalledApplications() - with the researchers uncovering that apps in games, comics, personalization, autos and vehicles, and family categories topped the list of apps collecting this information.
Last year, Google attempted to rein in this behavior by preventing apps from accessing this information by default starting Android 11, while also introducing new permission called "QUERY ALL PACKAGES" for apps that need access to the list of other installed apps.