Poor Documentation on Android 8.0+ for severity of Notification Listener

[eggsgent]

No enabled apps after update to the "new looks" version. Currently having v.1.6.5 installed.

Cleared data, reinstalled and logged in to last.fm, but no enabled apps are updated.

Music apps used:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.foobar2000.foobar2000
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ch.blinkenlights.android.vanilla

[a-r-db]

Please answer these two questions.
What version of Android? (Should be greater than or equal to Android version 5.0 AKA Lollipop for Foobar2000)
If you Android is greater than or equal to Lollipop What permissions do you have enabled?

[eggsgent]

Hi, Android 9.0, all permissions enabled except for access to read notifications.

Speaking of permissions, the first setup screen with the option to set or skip permissions setup is confusing. It should be clearly stated which permissions are required for the app to work and the purpose of the permissions, ideally permissions should be asked runtime, not upfront.

[a-r-db]

Notification Reading is necessary to detect music,
Was there a popup notification telling Scrobbling would not work?

[eggsgent]

This reading notifications permission isn't needed in the earlier iterations of this app.
This permission is very privacy invasive and easily misused, so I would never consciously want to enable it for this type of app.

[a-r-db]

[a-r-db]

I can guarantee we do no invade or misuse this permission.

[eggsgent]

I saw that pop-up, but didnt understand the message in it.

[eggsgent]

Which benefit does this version of this app have over the older version without this permission?

[a-r-db]

1. This app prides itself on Open Source activity and Transparency with our users.
2. We never collect data.
3. Only music metadata is shared.
   A. The benefit this app has, is that it is now compatible with Android Oreo and up.
   B. We would have not been able to update the app any longer if we did not change the way we read music metadata.
   C. The benefit is that we access data music apps through Google's Media Session Library.

Please be aware your private information is safe.

[a-r-db]

Privacy Concerns

ControllerReceiverService.java

• Connects the app to the Media Session Manager Google Java Library
• Listens only for music data changes

ControllerReceiverSession.java

• contains static functions for media session management
• contains simple functions

ControllerReceiverCallback.java

• Manages the incoming data form your music apps
• Manages play-state and metadata changes.

[a-r-db]

https://github.com/simple-last-fm-scrobbler/sls/wiki/Privacy-Concerns

[eggsgent]

Thanks, perhaps this issue is then that it is not clear that the reading notification permission is absolutely needed in order for the app to function. If the user does not accept, the app should quit instead of continuing to the settings page with option to login etc., imo.

Version 1.5.7 still works with Android 9 though (at least on all devices ive tried), without the reading notifications permission: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.adam.aslfms/

[a-r-db]

I apologize. Yes, due to the way Google has setup the new music metadata sharing system Notification Access is required for Android 8.0 | Oreo | 26.

[a-r-db]

Version 1.5.7 is the old version and yes it will work because Google made a requirement for all developers to upgrade their target minimum Android versions on the Google Play Store.
However F-Droid still has older packages.

[eggsgent]

Thanks for the help and explanations.

Would you consider making an improvement to the permissions requirement screen, so that users must enable all needed permissions before going further? The warning message text can be improved as a low hanging fruit. "Are you sure? Warning: %appname% will not scrobble without the notification reading permission."

[a-r-db]

@eggsgent
I will see what I can do.
Some users have different requirements.
There are special Android devices I am trying to allow them to bypass these settings.
Maybe I will make this value mandatory for versions above or equal to android 8.0
Many users were complaining about the new permissions however.
I will consider a legacy version for F-Droid.

[eggsgent]

Thanks again for great feedback and support. If the warning message can be made more clear, that's an easy fix, suggestion on wording in previous comment.