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Is there a service/company/app that vets Android apps and reports on their "trustworthiness"?

I recently moved from Blackberry to a Galaxy S2 which does not have an LED indicator light. I searched the market and found an app that is highly rated and uses the screen to mimic this functionality. This app requires an abundance of permissions that I don't see a need for. I don't want to compromise my data if

I understand that the granularity of permission-granting leaves a lot to be desired, so I'm hoping there's a service that rates whether these apps are "good actors"...

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  • The abundance of permissions is probably because the app is not providing a display for the existing Android notifications (because it can't), but looking at all the data sources itself (e.g. checking if you have a new SMS) and deciding to display its own notifications. (I'm not saying you should trust the app — I wouldn't — but that it quite possibly does “need” those permissions.)
    – Kevin Reid
    Dec 19, 2011 at 4:53

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There's one called Exodus Privacy which has both app (open source) and website https://exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/page/what/
One downside: it scans only apps available on Google Play, you can't upload apk manually.

Here's an example of it's report on one of popular browsers:
https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/reports/50316/

(Click on image to enlarge it)

IMG:

I prefer to use it together with Yalp Store app (free and open source) which allows you to download apps from Play Store without google account and services and has built in support of Exodus Privacy on app's install/update page:

IMG:

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Not really a rating – but like Exodus mentioned in this answer offering help to decide trustworthiness yourself:

Appbrain shows which libraries an app does include, divided in "Ad network libraries", "Social libraries" and "Development tools". Except for ad libraries this still means you need to know what a library does, but for many libraries the name makes this clear – unfortunately not for all. They are linked to detail pages, but those focus more on developers to know how "well known" and "wide spread" a library is than on end-users who are rather interested in how much it invades privacy.

If you're looking for apps to cover specific needs you have (such as the OP who just switched to Android), you might find my Android site helpful: IzzyOnDroid's app listings have apps sorted by categories, sub-categories and, at the lowest level, groups – where relevant apps are then "grouped together". Next to each app you see how many permissions it requests, and how many invasive trackers it contains – linked to specific explanations. So you can already determine in the "overview" which apps you'd rather avoid (e.g. due to too many trackers). Information on trackers by the way is collected from both, Exodus and Appbrain. Plus sometimes even other sources.

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