Check what your phone apps can access
An app should have a reason to use your location, contacts or camera. Start with the permissions on your phone, where you can see and change access you've granted. If you already have an Android APK, the file used to install an app, you can also inspect its list of requested permissions without installing it.
1. Start with one kind of access
Choose location, contacts, photos, microphone or camera. On Android, open Settings, Apps, an app's name and Permissions, or use Permission manager to review a category. On iPhone, open Settings, Privacy & Security and choose a category. The names and choices can vary with your device and software version.
2. Ask why the app needs it
Match each permission to something you use the app for. If your phone offers a narrower choice, consider access only while using the app or asking each time. Deny access you don't need, then try the feature you use. You can restore a needed permission in settings.
3. Look at recent use if your phone shows it
On iPhone, App Privacy Report can show how apps used their permissions and which online services they contacted. Read unfamiliar entries in context; they don't automatically mean misuse. Keep report screenshots private, since app names, times and website addresses can reveal your habits or work.
4. Inspect an APK only if you need to
You don't need an APK to review an installed app's permissions. If you already have a standalone APK from a source you trust, open APK permission inspector, choose the file and press Read APK permissions. It accepts files up to 16 MB and keeps them in your browser. Nothing is installed or run. Compare requested access with the app's purpose.
5. Use the APK list as a starting point
The inspector reads the app's permission list, called AndroidManifest.xml. It doesn't inspect the whole app, fill in details stored in other app files, verify who made it or watch its internet activity. Use the report to decide what needs a closer look.
Good to know
An APK's requested permissions don't show what you've granted on your phone or everything the app does. This inspector can't read iPhone apps or split APK bundles, which divide an Android app across several files. Removing a permission can limit future access, but it won't bring back information the app already copied.