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I have an Android 5.1 device with App Permission Manager on, in order to stop apps from using permissions they don't need. Recently, I have noticed that many apps are trying to obtain my location when I don't need them to. For example, some apps attempt to get my location 3 times in a row on launching then, every 10 seconds while it is being used, or even every 7 seconds, even when the app has not been launched on my device - ever. Because I have blocked most apps from using my location, I now have a near-constant amount of toast notifications that read:

 (app name) has been denied to obtain your current location.

Why do they need my location so much? I would say it is for analytics reasons, but if that was the case, it should ask to get my location once per hour or once per day (not multiple times per minute).

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  • Also for "targeted ads" (and those modules do more than just showing ads, see e.g. my article What’s it all about those modules apps contain?). Btw: AFAIK there is no permission named android.permission.LOCATION – it's either ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION or ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION. LOCATION itself is rather a permission group :)
    – Izzy ♦
    Apr 30, 2018 at 20:34
  • @Izzy I guess that explains it. I did get more localized ads with location permissions always-on (and more location attempts when connected to the Internet), even though having it off is a serious battery saver (because the location permissions are used so much).
    – Zackary
    Apr 30, 2018 at 21:46
  • Yes, that's a good measure. I've made it an answer then.
    – Izzy ♦
    Apr 30, 2018 at 21:53

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Location details are not only used by analytics, but also by advertisements (think of localized ads). Unfortunately, many of those ad/analytics modules are "mal-behaving" and use those details for "profiling" as well.

For some closer details, I've collected information on my Android site:

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