How to use custom permissions in Android?

Question

I have two applications.

One is declaring permission and having single Activity:

Part of AndroidManifest.xml

<application     android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"     android:label="@string/app_name"     android:permission="your.namespace.permission.TEST" >     <activity         android:name=".DeclaringPermissionActivity"         android:label="@string/app_name" >          <intent-filter>             <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />              <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />         </intent-filter>          <intent-filter>           <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW" />           <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />           <category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE" />           <data android:scheme="myapp"              android:host="myapp.mycompany.com" />          </intent-filter>      </activity> </application> 

The second declares that is uses permission

Part of AndroidManifest.xml

<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="10" /> <uses-permission android:name="your.namespace.permission.TEST" />  <application 

Part of Activity:

public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {     super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);     setContentView(R.layout.main);      startActivity(new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, Uri.parse("myapp://myapp.mycompany.com/index"))); } 

I'm installing the application declaring permission, then I run the second application.

In a result I get security exception:

 01-11 09:46:55.249: E/AndroidRuntime(347): java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{your.namespace2/your.namespace2.UsingPErmissionActivity}: java.lang.SecurityException: Permission Denial: starting Intent { act=android.intent.action.VIEW dat=myapp://myapp.mycompany.com/index cmp=your.namespace/.DeclaringPermissionActivity } from ProcessRecord{407842c0 347:your.namespace2/10082} (pid=347, uid=10082) requires your.namespace.permission.TEST 

Answer 1

I created a test code you can use it and test your permissions. There are two applications PermissionTestClient which declares permission and protects its activity with this permission. Here is its manifest file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"     package="com.testpackage.permissiontestclient"     android:versionCode="1"     android:versionName="1.0" >      <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="10" />     <permission android:name="com.testpackage.mypermission" android:label="my_permission" android:protectionLevel="dangerous"></permission>      <application         android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"         android:label="@string/app_name" >         <activity             android:permission="com.testpackage.mypermission"             android:name=".PermissionTestClientActivity"             android:label="@string/app_name" >             <intent-filter>                 <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />                  <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />             </intent-filter>              <intent-filter >                 <action android:name="com.testpackage.permissiontestclient.MyAction" />                 <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />                             </intent-filter>         </activity>     </application>  </manifest> 

There is nothing special in Activity file so I will not show it here.

PermissionTestServer application calls activity from PermissionTestClient. Here is its manifest file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> 

<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="10" /> <uses-permission android:name="com.testpackage.mypermission"/>  <application     android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"     android:label="@string/app_name" >     <activity         android:name=".PermissionTestServerActivity"         android:label="@string/app_name" >         <intent-filter>             <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />              <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />         </intent-filter>     </activity> </application>  </manifest> 

And Activity:

package com.testpackage.permissiontestserver;  import android.app.Activity; import android.content.Intent; import android.os.Bundle; import android.util.Log; import android.view.View; import android.view.View.OnClickListener; import android.widget.Button;  public class PermissionTestServerActivity extends Activity {     private static final String TAG = "PermissionTestServerActivity";      /** Called when the activity is first created. */     Button btnTest;     @Override     public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {         super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);         setContentView(R.layout.main);          btnTest = (Button) findViewById(R.id.btnTest);         btnTest.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {              @Override             public void onClick(View v) {                 Log.d(TAG, "Button pressed!");                 Intent in = new Intent();                 in.setAction("com.testpackage.permissiontestclient.MyAction");                 in.addCategory("android.intent.category.DEFAULT");                 startActivity(in);             }         });     } } 

To test it just remove uses-permission from Server application. You'll get security violation error.

Answer 2

You need to create a permission in your base app's manifest by declaring it exclusively. For example:

<permission android:name="your.namespace.permission.TEST"     android:protectionLevel="normal" android:label="This is my custom  permission" /> 

And later make use of it in your desired app as:

<uses-permission android:name="your.namespace.permission.TEST" /> 

Note: It is vital to maintain the order in which you install your applications with custom permissions. i.e You must need to install that app first which declares the permission and later install the one which makes use of it. Any disruption in this order may break the usage of custom. permissions.