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Since Android 11, there is a system feature where it resets app permissions after a certain amount of time has passed and you haven't used the app. I hate this, it keeps resetting apps I use infrequently.

I know you can turn it off on most apps, but it seems to turn back on when there are app or system updates. There must be a way to disable this feature entirely or to make the default setting off instead of on.

I have tried various searches but I can find nothing. Others must have had the desire to disable this annoying feature? Any help would be appreciated!

Andrew T.
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    As of Android 12 there's no setting to disable the feature entirely. You've to do it for individual apps which is a cumbersome job. To make it relatively easier, you can use PMX. Disclosure: I'm the author of the app. – Irfan Latif Jan 02 '22 at 10:29
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    In Android 12, even with the toggle OFF it still happens and i still get notifications about it. This "feature" is more nuisance than anything else – matthewkuhl Jun 06 '22 at 01:34
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    @IrfanLatif Your application can control the "Remove permissions and free up space" "feature" of Android? If I can toggle it FALSE for all 196 installed applications I'll buy it today! :) – Paul Jul 15 '22 at 19:22
  • @Paul AFAIK the same feature is named differently in different Android releases: "Remove permissions and free up space", "Auto revoke permissions", "Remove permissions if app isn't used", and may be others. – Irfan Latif Jul 15 '22 at 21:49
  • I think this might work on some Android versions in an adb root shell: pm disable com.google.android.permissioncontroller/com.android.permissioncontroller.permission.service.AutoRevokeService ; pm disable com.google.android.permissioncontroller/com.android.permissioncontroller.permission.service.AutoRevokeOnBootReceiver – Alexander Pruss Sep 10 '23 at 21:55
  • I don't have the rep to post it but I think the answer might be device_config put app_hibernation app_hibernation_enabled false (run with adb shell, no need for root). I'll have to wait for a while though to see if it keeps removing permissions to be sure :D Ref: https://developer.android.com/topic/performance/app-hibernation#manually-invoke – Matt Lyons-Wood Mar 26 '24 at 05:18

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I have not found a way to completely disable this "feature", but it can be done per app: Google play store→your profile picture in the top right→"Play protect" (even if it's off)→gear icon in the top right→permissions for unused apps→"Auto-remove on" tab
Then click each, turn off the "Remove permissions if app isn't used" slider and go back.

The app "RepetiTouch" can be used to record and repeatedly execute clicks, but you should be careful with it, when I just tried it, it somehow got into another menu and installed a random app.

This still needs to be repeated after every app install. The closest I've found to automating this is letting an automatic app like MacroDroid trigger on app install and use the "Secure settings" plugin to launch the Google play store activity "[Play Protect] com.google.android.finsky.protect.impl.PlayProtectHomeDeepLinkActivity", which is the "Play protect" screen.

Fabian Röling
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Since you haven't mentioned your OEM, Android skin, etc., I'm going to answer this from my device's perspective, i.e., a Realme device (steps below would also work with any Realme/Oppo/OnePlus device)

Go to app info on each of those apps > permissions > toggle "remove permissions if not used" to OFF.

Andrew T.
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karthik nair
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Disable Play protect service at all. I have disabled it, and now permissions are not being removed. There is only one disadvantage - it is annoying banner in Google Play asking me to turn on Play protect.

maximw
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Open Settings, open Play Services, scroll down to "Unused Apps", then de-select "Remove permissions and free up space". This is on Android 12 but should also work on 11.

Andrew T.
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Djwest58
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