A change in the Google Play policy that governs the use of SMS and CALL_LOG permits will affect my application

Social Media
1

HI, I have developed several apps with Corona SDK and uploads to Google Play.

Recently, an alert has appeared on the development console indicating that

" A change in the Google Play policy that governs the use of SMS and CALL_LOG permits will affect my application." Applications that do not comply will be removed from Google Play on January 9, 2019"

It is not clear to me why my application is affected by this policy.

My application has a “Share” button that makes use of the “Social Popup” plugin (CoronaProvider.native.popup.social) to share the link of the app on Google Play.

I use the “social” parameter -->  native.showPopup(“social”, options)

Could this be the reason for the warning? What is the solution? I have to remove the “Social Popup” plugin from my app?

2

After doing some research on this, it seems to be a permission that’s granted as part of a permission group that’s included in Android SDK’s 15 and earlier. The minSdkVersion for Corona is 15. I believe that you can set the minimum higher in your build.settings. You can set the value accordingly:

http://docs.coronalabs.com/guide/distribution/advancedSettings/index.html#minimum-sdk-version

Also, it’s possible that if you’re using any ad plugins, they could be injecting these permissions. I looked through the source for the Social plugin and don’t see anywhere that we are adding either of those permissions. That doesn’t mean that some deeper buried library isn’t responsible for it.

Please share your build.settings.

Thanks

Rob

3

Thank Rob,

I share my build.settings

settings =

{

 splashScreen = 

    {

        enable = false

    },

android =

   {

      supportsScreens =

      {

         resizeable = true,

         smallScreens = true,

         normalScreens = true,

         largeScreens = true,

         xlargeScreens = true,

      },

      – Para habilitar Compras Integradas –

      usesPermissions = {“com.android.vending.BILLING”,},     

   },

orientation = {default = “landscapeRight”,},

  plugins =

  {

    – enable the admob plugin

    [“plugin.admob”] = {publisherId = “com.coronalabs”},

    – enable the native.popup.social plugin PARA BOTON COMPARTIR

    [“CoronaProvider.native.popup.social”] = {publisherId = “com.coronalabs”},      

    – Para habilitar Compras Integradas –

    [“plugin.google.iap.v3”] = {publisherId = “com.coronalabs”,

                                supportedPlatforms = {android=true}},      

  },        

}

4

Any suggestions?

5

Have you tried setting the minimum SDK to a higher value?

Rob

6

As mentioned, the message of the console appeared and disappeared twice, without having made any changes in the apk.

Currently the message is no longer there, so I have no way of checking if I upload a new version with setting the minimum SDK to a higher value if it is solved.

Now I just made the same query to the Google Play support team, and they reviewed the apks and    they confirm that neither of my published APKs contain SMS or CALL_LOG permissions, therefore, it may be interpreted that the message they sent was by mistake.

Thanks Rob

7

After doing some research on this, it seems to be a permission that’s granted as part of a permission group that’s included in Android SDK’s 15 and earlier. The minSdkVersion for Corona is 15. I believe that you can set the minimum higher in your build.settings. You can set the value accordingly:

http://docs.coronalabs.com/guide/distribution/advancedSettings/index.html#minimum-sdk-version

Also, it’s possible that if you’re using any ad plugins, they could be injecting these permissions. I looked through the source for the Social plugin and don’t see anywhere that we are adding either of those permissions. That doesn’t mean that some deeper buried library isn’t responsible for it.

Please share your build.settings.

Thanks

Rob

8

Thank Rob,

I share my build.settings

settings =

{

 splashScreen = 

    {

        enable = false

    },

android =

   {

      supportsScreens =

      {

         resizeable = true,

         smallScreens = true,

         normalScreens = true,

         largeScreens = true,

         xlargeScreens = true,

      },

      – Para habilitar Compras Integradas –

      usesPermissions = {“com.android.vending.BILLING”,},     

   },

orientation = {default = “landscapeRight”,},

  plugins =

  {

    – enable the admob plugin

    [“plugin.admob”] = {publisherId = “com.coronalabs”},

    – enable the native.popup.social plugin PARA BOTON COMPARTIR

    [“CoronaProvider.native.popup.social”] = {publisherId = “com.coronalabs”},      

    – Para habilitar Compras Integradas –

    [“plugin.google.iap.v3”] = {publisherId = “com.coronalabs”,

                                supportedPlatforms = {android=true}},      

  },        

}

9

Any suggestions?

10

Have you tried setting the minimum SDK to a higher value?

Rob

11

As mentioned, the message of the console appeared and disappeared twice, without having made any changes in the apk.

Currently the message is no longer there, so I have no way of checking if I upload a new version with setting the minimum SDK to a higher value if it is solved.

Now I just made the same query to the Google Play support team, and they reviewed the apks and    they confirm that neither of my published APKs contain SMS or CALL_LOG permissions, therefore, it may be interpreted that the message they sent was by mistake.

Thanks Rob