When an app wants to save a new phone number, Android grants it way too many permissions, to the point where it can edit everything in the phonebook. Well, this could finally change in Android 18.
Android Community Manager Mishaal Rahman has shared on X that Google is completely overhauling how contact creation works in Android 18. Instead of handing over full write privileges, everyday apps will now trigger a standardised system UI.
This will appear as either a quick half-sheet or a full-screen editor to allow the user to manually confirm and save the details. It will make sure that third-party apps never actually get their hands on the complete contact list.
As a bonus, this OS-level tool will finally unify the contact-saving experience, eliminating the frustratingly inconsistent behaviours found across different manufacturer skins.
However, legitimate contact management apps, dialers and spam-blocking utilities won't be locked out. Instead, these apps will need to request a new MANAGE_CONTACTS permission to grant access to all contacts. This will roll out in the Android 17 QPR2 stable release, which is expected to arrive sometime in December this year.
Image Credit: X/ @MishaalRahman
Image Credit: X/ @MishaalRahman
That said, Google is making this level of access much harder to obtain. Users will have to manually approve this permission deep within the "Special app access" settings menu, rather than through a simple pop-up prompt.
Additionally, sometime in 2027, developers will be forced to justify their need for this system permission through a declaration process in the Play Console.
It's great to see Google making sure that contacts and their information stay protected. However, this is not the only contacts security feature that Android will get in the future.
Google has also been working on Contacts Picker, a feature that gives apps access to only select contacts, much like the Photos Picker. We should hear more about the potential rollout timeline of both features soon, so stay tuned.
Related Articles
