Feature Request: Optional Permissions in Android

Imagine yourself as an Android developer for a bank....lets call it JeffBank.  Banks usually have two types of customers: people with deposit (checking/saving/CD) accounts and people with loans.  Now, JeffBank wants to roll out a mobile app.  You are writing screens for two different lines of business.  This isn't that abnormal.  It happens all the time.  When someone logs in, you get one of three different experiences: deposit, loan and both.  You roll out the app and the negative reviews start piling in.

You start reading and you realize people are complaining about permissions.  You see angy comments questioning the need for access to the camera.  You see acusations of being involved with the NSA because you have access to read the GPS location.  One thing I learned from being an Android developer is that Android users do look at the permissions an app uses, and are very vocal when they feel you are doing something "shady".

This problem stems from the fact that your loan users are getting a deposit account app as well as a loan app.  Users tend to think of themselves, and not about the company they are doing business with.  While a bank is a little more obvious than other types of split personality companies, your loan users still don't understand why you need a camera or GPS for making a loan payment.  You can try to calm them down, but you don't always know who they are because they never actually installed the app!  You can't tell them that if you had a checking account, you could deposit a check by taking a picture of it, or that if you needed an ATM, the app would allow you to find the closest ATM.  Even if you try, would your loan customers even listen to you?

What Android needs is an optional permission system.  When a user tries to install an app, they should see a list of required and optional permissions.  For the optional permissions, the user would have the option to revoking those permissions on install or after the fact.  This allows JeffBank to make a mobile app and not piss off the loan customers while still providing features to the deposit customers.  Developers would still have the option for required permissions, like internet access.  It would be silly for a bank app to flag that as optional.

Android 4.3 introduced a hidden screen that allows you to turn off some permissions for apps, but there is no telling how the app will respond to permissions being turned off.  Current developers aren't developing for that.  If you turn off any permission and it breaks, then the developer is just going to tell the user "well, don't do that!"  Right now, all permissions are required.  By giving that power to the developers as opposed to the users, you allow the developers to do if-checks to make sure the permission has been granted.  If a deposit user has no plans on using the ATM locator feature, they can disable the GPS for the app.  The mobile app could detect that it doesn't have permission to read the GPS location and can hide the menu option, or show it, but have an error message directing them to give the app access to GPS.

Overall, this feature would create more trust between mobile users and mobile developers.  It would cut down on hate-reviews asking why JeffBank is trying to take naked pictures of them.