GooglePlay Alert For Location Background Access

Question

Google Recently Deleted my app because of new rules for location privacy. I am using Mapbox library for maps and I have ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION permission, When I Upload new generated app to google play it says my app use background location and force me to the privacy tab for more information, i dont have any BACKGROUND_LOCATION permission and doesn't use this feature , and all of my usages is for selecting user current location via map.

Still, google says I use background location. BTW : use this code to remove permission even it does not exists :

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION" tools:node="remove" />

and still having problems. what should I do? I don't need background location permission and don't use it.

Monometallic

Maybe you are using a library that has it and this permission ends up in the merged manifest? – Testimonial

i use node:remove as i mentioned to remove from any library if use it – Monometallic

Any update on this? my app is getting deleted too. I don't think tools:node="remove" actually does anything – Hairsplitting

unfortunatly no , google decides very very rare about this , i removed mapbox from my project and its get fixed . map wasnt crucial part in my app – Monometallic

@Monometallic How did you end up doing this? – Dowzall

Answer 1

You can go to Merge Manifest tab in Android Studio to know the origin of permission.

refer to: Manage manifest

Most probably that Mapbox asking for this permission and you should exclude a feature to disable it.

Dowzall

Answer 2

I had the same issue. My flutter app has 2 AndroidManifest.xml files:

• profile/AndroidManifest.xml
• main/AndroidManifest.xml

When I added permission removal to the profile/AndroidManifest.xml, nothing has changed. But after extending the main/AndroidManifest.xml file, Google Play Console stooped showing the ERROR and I was able to publish my app with Mapbox component again.

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
        package="...">
        <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION" tools:node="remove"/>

Ironsides

Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please edit to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center. – Gynaeco