Great question—let’s break down what’s feasible here, depending on whether the device is rooted or not, and the constraints you’ll face.

Non-Rooted Devices: No Direct Control, But You Can Guide Users #

On standard, non-rooted Android devices, your app cannot directly disable permissions for other apps. Android’s sandboxed security model strictly blocks cross-app permission modifications to protect user privacy and system stability. Each app runs in its own isolated environment, and only the system or the user themselves have the authority to change permission statuses.

That said, you can make it easy for users to take action by launching the target app’s permission settings page directly from your app. Here’s a quick code snippet to implement this:

Intent intent = new Intent(Settings.ACTION_APPLICATION_DETAILS_SETTINGS);
Uri uri = Uri.fromParts("package", targetAppPackageName, null);
intent.setData(uri);
startActivity(intent);

This will take the user straight to the permissions screen for the app in question, where they can manually disable dangerous permissions.

Rooted Devices: Limited, High-Risk Options #

If the user’s device is rooted, you do have technical paths to modify permissions programmatically, but they come with significant caveats:

• Use the pm command: You can execute the system’s package manager command to revoke permissions. For example:

  pm revoke com.example.targetapp android.permission.CAMERA
  

  To run this from your app, you’ll need to request root access and execute the command via a shell. Keep in mind that Android 10+ has tightened restrictions on some permissions, so this might not work for all cases.
• Modify system permission databases: Some older Android versions store permission states in XML files (like /data/system/users/0/runtime-permissions.xml). Editing this file could change permission statuses, but this is extremely risky—system updates often alter these file structures, and a mistake could break the device’s permission system entirely.

Critical Notes to Consider #

• Compliance & User Trust: Relying on root access will prevent your app from being listed on Google Play (since Google prohibits apps that require root for core functionality). It also asks users to compromise their device’s security and void their warranty, which can hurt user trust.
• Special Permissions: Certain permissions (like SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW or ACCESS_NOTIFICATION_POLICY) have unique revocation flows even on rooted devices, so you’ll need to test each permission type individually.

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者blue rabbit