checkSelfPermission returning PERMISSION_GRANTED for revoked permission with targetSdkVersion <= 22

Question

I'm studying the new permission model of Android Marshmallow but I'm facing an issue I find odd.

An app with targetSdkVersion 22 (so not yet using the new permission model of Android Marshmallow) declares the READ_CONTACTS permission in the manifest:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_CONTACTS" />

and tries to read the phone number of a contact via Intent.ACTION_PICK:

Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_PICK);
intent.setType(ContactsContract.CommonDataKinds.Phone.CONTENT_TYPE);
startActivityForResult(intent, PICK_CONTACT_REQUEST);

When running on a device with Marshmallow MRA58K, after I revoke the permission after installing the app via ADB, the ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission() method still returns PERMISSION_GRANTED, but the operation fails later when accessing the contacts because a cursor with no records is returned. As I understood, this is the default "retrocompatibility" strategy to avoid legacy app to crash.

@Override
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
    if (requestCode == PICK_CONTACT_REQUEST && resultCode == Activity.RESULT_OK) {
        Log.i("", "Permission granted: " + (ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, Manifest.permission.READ_CONTACTS) == PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED));
        Uri contactUri = data.getData();
        Cursor c = null;
        try {
            c = getContentResolver().query(contactUri, new String[]{ContactsContract.CommonDataKinds.Phone.NUMBER}, null, null, null);
            if (c != null && c.moveToFirst()) {
                Log.i("", "got phone number: " + c.getString(0));
            } else {
                Log.w("", "No data received");
            }
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        } finally {
            if (c != null) {
                c.close();
            }
        }
    } else {
        super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
    }
}

How can I safely detect if the user explicitly before the permission before attempting the operation?

I also tried the official Google sample at https://github.com/googlesamples/android-RuntimePermissions setting the targetSdkVersion to 22 with the same result: it logs that the permission is granted even if the user revoked it, ant then the operation fails.

Thanks ;)

Answer 1

Use the android.support.v4.content.PermissionChecker

https://developer.android.com/reference/android/support/v4/content/PermissionChecker.html