Re:Xiaomi’s first laptop is a Macbook Air rival
by cptskippy on Wednesday July 27, 2016 @03:09PM
(#12175666)
Take a look at the permissions required by the official "Mi Fit" app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xiaomi.hm....) vs the indie "Tools & Mi Band" app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cz.zdenekhorak...).
The official app has more features admittedly, but nothing that justifies the level of permissions it asks for. At most it should need access to the camera/photos to allow you to set a profile photo, and full network access to create/sync your account data to the "cloud".
Nothing that the official app does justifies the following permissions it asks for:
Device & app history
retrieve running apps
read sensitive log data
Identity
find accounts on the device
Location
approximate location (network-based)
precise location (GPS and network-based)
SMS
receive text messages (SMS)
Phone
directly call phone numbers
Photos/Media/Files
access USB storage filesystem
Wi-Fi connection information
view Wi-Fi connections
Other
view network connections
connect and disconnect from Wi-Fi
read Google service configuration
draw over other apps
control flashlight
reorder running apps
modify system settings
Re:Xiaomi’s first laptop is a Macbook Air rival
by keverets on Wednesday July 27, 2016 @04:46PM
(#12176393)
Even better is Gadgetbridge (available on F-droid): https://github.com/Freeyourgadget/Gadgetbridge
It's not as slick as the official app, but requires much less in the way of permissions and is more flexible.
Mi Band vibrates on incoming connection, sms and apps so maybe that's why it requires permissions to phone, sms and notifications.