(#) Using the QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES permission !!! ERROR: Using the QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES permission This is an error. Id : `QueryAllPackagesPermission` Summary : Using the QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES permission Severity : Error Category : Compliance Platform : Android Vendor : Android Open Source Project Feedback : https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/new?component=192708 Since : 4.1.0 (October 2020) Affects : Manifest files Editing : This check runs on the fly in the IDE editor See : https://g.co/dev/packagevisibility Implementation : [Source Code](https://cs.android.com/android-studio/platform/tools/base/+/mirror-goog-studio-main:lint/libs/lint-checks/src/main/java/com/android/tools/lint/checks/PackageVisibilityDetector.kt) Tests : [Source Code](https://cs.android.com/android-studio/platform/tools/base/+/mirror-goog-studio-main:lint/libs/lint-tests/src/test/java/com/android/tools/lint/checks/PackageVisibilityDetectorTest.kt) If you need to query or interact with other installed apps, you should be using a `` declaration in your manifest. Using the QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES permission in order to see all installed apps is rarely necessary, and most apps on Google Play are not allowed to have this permission. (##) Example Here is an example of lint warnings produced by this check: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~text AndroidManifest.xml:6:Error: A declaration should generally be used instead of QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES; see https://g.co/dev/packagevisibility for details [QueryAllPackagesPermission] <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES"/><!-- ERROR --> ---------------------------------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here are the relevant source files: `AndroidManifest.xml`: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~xml linenumbers <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" package="test.pkg"> <uses-sdk android:targetSdkVersion="30"/> <!-- breaks manifest merging <uses-permission/> --><!-- Test for NPEs --> <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA"/><!-- OK --> <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES"/><!-- ERROR --> </manifest> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ `src/test/pkg/MainActivity.kt`: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~kotlin linenumbers package test.pkg import android.app.Activity import android.content.Intent import android.os.Bundle class MainActivity : Activity() { override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState) val context = applicationContext val pm = context.packageManager pm.getInstalledPackages(0) // ERROR pm.getInstalledApplications(0) // ERROR pm.queryBroadcastReceivers(Intent(), 0) // ERROR pm.queryContentProviders("", 0, 0) // ERROR pm.queryIntentServices(Intent(), 0) // ERROR pm.queryIntentActivities(Intent(), 0) // ERROR Intent().resolveActivity(pm) // ERROR Intent().resolveActivityInfo(pm, 0) // ERROR this.getInstalledPackages() // OK this.resolveActivity() // OK } private fun getInstalledPackages() = Unit private fun resolveActivity() = Unit } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can also visit the [source code](https://cs.android.com/android-studio/platform/tools/base/+/mirror-goog-studio-main:lint/libs/lint-tests/src/test/java/com/android/tools/lint/checks/PackageVisibilityDetectorTest.kt) for the unit tests for this check to see additional scenarios. The above example was automatically extracted from the first unit test found for this lint check, `PackageVisibilityDetector.testCanQueryAllPackages`. To report a problem with this extracted sample, visit https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/new?component=192708. (##) Suppressing You can suppress false positives using one of the following mechanisms: * Adding the suppression attribute `tools:ignore="QueryAllPackagesPermission"` on the problematic XML element (or one of its enclosing elements). You may also need to add the following namespace declaration on the root element in the XML file if it's not already there: `xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"`. ```xml <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <manifest xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"> ... <uses-permission tools:ignore="QueryAllPackagesPermission" .../> ... </manifest> ``` * Using a special `lint.xml` file in the source tree which turns off the check in that folder and any sub folder. A simple file might look like this: ```xml <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <lint> <issue id="QueryAllPackagesPermission" severity="ignore" /> </lint> ``` Instead of `ignore` you can also change the severity here, for example from `error` to `warning`. You can find additional documentation on how to filter issues by path, regular expression and so on [here](https://googlesamples.github.io/android-custom-lint-rules/usage/lintxml.md.html). * In Gradle projects, using the DSL syntax to configure lint. For example, you can use something like ```gradle lintOptions { disable 'QueryAllPackagesPermission' } ``` In Android projects this should be nested inside an `android { }` block. * For manual invocations of `lint`, using the `--ignore` flag: ``` $ lint --ignore QueryAllPackagesPermission ...` ``` * Last, but not least, using baselines, as discussed [here](https://googlesamples.github.io/android-custom-lint-rules/usage/baselines.md.html).