Chapter 2. Permissions

In the previous chapter, we gave an overview of Android’s security model and briefly introduced permissions. In this chapter we’ll provide more details about permissions, focusing on their implementation and enforcement. We will then discuss how to define custom permissions and apply them to each of Android’s components. Finally, we’ll say a few words about pending intents, which are tokens that allow an application to start an intent with the identity and privileges of another application.

The Nature of Permissions

As we learned in Chapter 1, Android applications are sandboxed and by default can access only their own files and a very limited set of system services. In order to interact with the system and other applications, ...

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