Android - SMS & Call Log permissions are removed.

Sms and call logs are one of the most sensitive information in the smartphone. They hold lots of information like your phone number, conversation history, and the personal information of other people in your phone. 

Google is day by day updating their policy to protect them. Google's Play Store policy has changed for SMS and call. Google has denied the request permission for SMS and call log. Google removing all the apps that require SMS and Call Logs permissions from the Play Store.  

Google published new guidelines regarding SMS and Call Permissions. According to their new policies, only an app that has been selected as a user’s default app for making calls or text messages will be able to access call logs and SMS, respectively. To read more about their announcement, please see the following link: Security and performance 

Android app developers who have such apps on the Play Store have been notified through e-mail and their apps will be removed unless they have submitted a permissions declaration form. Google has stated that only those apps that require access to call logs and SMS for their functionality will stay put on the Play Store, while all others requiring these permissions will be removed.
Now you should be removing it from the AndroidManifest file and should update the app in play store.


In this post, we going to share some alternative to perform SMS and call actions.

Don’t use CALL_PHONE
If you want to make a call from the app. Then you can use Dialer intent.

val intent = Intent().apply {
    action = Intent.ACTION_DIAL
    data = Uri.parse("tel:9876543210")
}
startActivity(intent)

The intent to share content.
You can use the following share intent without the help of sensitive permissions of the apps. 

val sendIntent: Intent = Intent().apply {
    action = Intent.ACTION_SEND
    putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, "Sms and call logs.")
    type = "text/plain"
}
startActivity(sendIntent)

You can check more example here.

How can send the text message?
You can send SMS with the help of the following intent. Examples here.

val intent = Intent().apply {
    action = Intent.ACTION_SENDTO
    data = Uri.parse("smsto:9876543210")
    putExtra("sms_body", "Native Android")
}
if (intent.resolveActivity(packageManager) != null) {
    startActivity(intent)
}

How can auto verify OTP?
One of the most attractive features of Android Application is auto detect OTP and verify mobile number with the help OTP. Now you can't do it with the help of AndroidManifest SMS permission.

Google has created SMS Retriever API for auto detect OTP. The Android application can still automatically retrieve verification code without any Runtime permissions.

So, these are some alternative for SMS and call. If you have more alternative please feel free to share with us in the comment section below.