Android Permissions

Welcome curious Android user. If you are the type who looks over the list of requested permissions for an application (and you should), you will often find some scary sounding things in the list. Below is the list of permissions that the Glympse application requests along with explanations as to why we ask for them.

We can tell you that we love our customers (true), have been in the Android market since 2008 (also true) and have very good ratings and loyal users (true again), but ultimately you have to trust us with the permissions below. Hopefully, these explanations will help you understand how each permission is used to make Glympse the great product that it is.

Your messages: Read your text messages (SMS or MMS), receive text messages (SMS)

These permissions allow Glympse to determine when you have received a Glympse invite from a friend via an SMS text message, and prompt you to view your friend's location.

System tools: Access Bluetooth settings, connect and disconnect from Wi-Fi, prevent phone from sleeping

The “access Bluetooth settings” permission allows Glympse to be paired with many in-dash car systems that are “Glympse aware”. We have partnered with several car makers and will be rolling out support for new systems over time.

The “connect and disconnect from Wi-Fi” permission allows Glympse to optimize battery when acquiring location from Wi-Fi triangulation.

The “prevent phone from sleeping” permission allows Glympse to obtain your location when running in the background while actively sharing your location with others. Most devices do not need this permission, but some devices require it. This permission is only used when you are actively sharing your location.

Your location: Approximate (network-based) location, precise (GPS) location

These permissions are needed to obtain your location. Network-based location (also known as ‘coarse mode’) gets a quick location, but is not usually pinpoint accurate. GPS (also known as ‘fine mode’) is a bit slower to initially locate you, but is usually more accurate.

Services that cost you money: Send SMS messages

When you send a Glympse to someone, you can choose to send via an SMS text message, send via an email, post to Facebook, post to Twitter, copy to your clipboard, or send to another application on your phone. This permission is only needed if you choose to send an invite to a friend using an SMS text message. Note: If you prefer to use a Google Voice number to send SMS messages, you can use the “share via” button in the “Send a Glympse” page and choose a different program to send the Glympse invite.

Phone calls: Read phone state and identity

This permission helps Glympse detect when there are changes to network conditions. For example, many phones lose their internet connection when a phone call is in progress and will resume the internet connection when the phone call is complete.

Network communication: Control Near Field Communication, full network access, pair with Bluetooth devices

Glympse has a feature call "Tap-n-Track", which allows you to tap two Android phones together and instantly have them share their location with each other. This feature uses Android's Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities to detect when the phones have come in contact with each other.

The “pair with Bluetooth devices” permission allows Glympse to be paired with many in-dash car systems that are “;Glympse aware”. We have partnered with several car makers and will be rolling out support for new systems over time.

Your personal information: Read calendar events plus confidential information, read your contacts

Glympse only uses the “read calendar events plus confidential information” permission only when you enable calendar support on the main page under the ‘Shortcuts’ tab (defaults to being off). The only information read from your calendar is a list of upcoming meetings you have in the next 24 hours. For each meeting, Glympse will read the start time, list of participants, event name, and event destination. This allows Glympse to send an invite to all the participants of a meeting you are about to travel to. Glympse never stores, copies or transmits information from your calendar.

For the “read contact data” permission, Glympse uses your contacts to allow you to pick a phone number or email address to send a Glympse to. Your contacts can also be used to pick an address as a destination. Glympse never stores, copies, or transmits your contact list.

System tools: Install shortcuts

Glympse allows you to save a favorite Glympse to your desktop for quick access. This permission is needed if you choose to use this feature.

Your location: Access extra location provider commands

This permission provides more detailed location information so that Glympse can pick the best possible location source for your current situation.

Network communication: Receive data from Internet, view Wi-Fi connections, view network connections

These permissions are used to help Glympse adapt to changing conditions with Wi-Fi based location and your internet connection. The Wi-Fi permission allows Glympse to be smart about picking the best location source in a given situation (like in a downtown area vs. a rural area). The network permission helps Glympse deal with a flakey internet connection and other network problems.

Hardware controls: Control vibration

Glympse uses standard Android notifications for events such as receiving a Glympse from a friend or when you reach the destination of your Glympse. This permission allows these notifications to also play a short vibration pattern.

Your accounts: Find accounts on the device

This permission is required for Glympse to use ‘push’ on Android. Push system allows a Glympse user to request the location of another Glympse user.