Permissions in Kaloer Clock

Android application security has recently become a focus of interest when talking about Android. A chinese developer accused of stealing private data from the users.
Because of this, people are getting more focused on application permissions when installing apps from the Android Market - and with good reason.

Kaloer Clock uses quite a lot of these permissions, and some of them may seem a bit strange. For example, why does Kaloer Clock need have access to your SMS messages?
I've described the reason to every permission in the following section.

Your messages

Kaloer Clock can show a icon when a SMS is received. This allows you to see messages even though the application is running in full screen. When you click on the icon you will see a window showing the actual message and its sender.
It only reads your messages if you have enabled the SMS-icon feature.

Your location

To show the correct weather information in the weather skin and alarm, the application needs to know where you are.
The application only gets your location if you are using the weather skin or show the weather on the alarm screen.

Network communication

To download the weather information it is necessary to access the internet. This is used for anonymous analytics* as well.

Personal information

This permission is probably the most sensational permission. It is used for showing who has sent you a SMS message and for reading your important contacts' phone numbers to check if they are calling. When someone is calling while Kaloer Clock is opened the application checks the number and compares it the phone numbers you have allowed to call you (see the "Allow important calls" preference). This is only used if you listen for calls or have enabled the sms feature.

Phone calls

This is used to register when someone is calling you. After this has been registered the permission above will be used to check whether the calling person is allowed to call you. It is only used if you allow important calls.

System tools

Kaloer Clock can keep the screen on - and to do that, this permission is required. It is also used to turn on airplane-mode.

Your account

On the advanced alarm screen, you can see your agenda which is read from your Google Calendar. To access your calendar, you will have to give Kaloer Clock permission to do this, and this is done through the Android account manager. Kaloer Clock does not access your Google Account without your permission.

* Analytics

Kaloer Clock sends anonymous information about your device to a server if you allow it to ("Send usage data" preference). This data is information such as your screen size, your Android version, the name of your device, and error logs. It's using the Google Analytics tool for this.

I hope this explanation has clarified what the permissions are used for.

Comments

Anonymous

Mon, 08/02/2010 - 23:37

Thanks for the explanation. Much appreciated.

pascal

Tue, 08/03/2010 - 22:43

Really thanks for these precisions

Win Bent

Sun, 08/08/2010 - 03:47

Very nice! I wish other app publishers would list this sort of information. One suggestion - I assume that when "Show SMS icon" is not selected, Kaloer Clock does not read the SMS messages or personal information - is that true? Similarly, no weather info means no network access? This would assure people who just want a clock... (Personally, I have SMS on, and weather off)

blizard

Tue, 10/12/2010 - 13:15

Hi,

After the latest update v2.2.6.5 kaloer shut down twice tonight on my nexus one, charging on AC power. This occurred never before on previous versions.

Anonymous

Thu, 03/03/2011 - 04:49

Please please please add a backup settings feature. When you have to reset your phone, it wipes out everything including the list of numbers allowed to call while Kahloer Clock is running.

I LOVE your app but would really like to see this.

Also, would it be possible to pick numbers by contact - adding all of a contact's numbers at once instead of having to add each one individually?

Thx for the great app! =]

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