How to Review App Permissions on iPhone and Android
- How do you review app permissions?
- What should you check before changing anything?
- Where are iPhone app permissions?
- Where are Android app permissions?
- How do you decide whether to keep access?
- Can an iPhone show how permissions were used?
- Why check Google Account connections separately?
- What should you know about Sign in with Apple?
- Does removing permission erase data already shared?
- Sources
How do you review app permissions?
Review app permissions in your phone's privacy settings, then separately inspect apps linked to your online accounts. Match each permission to a feature you actually use, reduce unnecessary access, and check the result. Before removing a sign-in connection, understand how you will regain access. Revoking permission is not proof that a company deleted information it already received; data deletion needs its own process.
A useful review ends with a small record of what you kept, changed and still need to investigate. It does not require a verdict that every app is trustworthy or untrustworthy. This guide is based on current Apple and Google documentation checked in September 2026, not hands-on testing of every phone model or app.
What should you check before changing anything?
Choose one app you use and write down its job. “Scan an occasional receipt” is a clearer starting point than “organize my life.” Then list the information or device functions that job appears to require.
Our editorial review sheet uses these columns:
| Item | What to record |
|---|---|
| App and account | App name, developer and which personal or work account you mean |
| Intended task | The feature you still want to use |
| Current access | The permission wording shown on your device or account |
| Proposed change | Keep, reduce, remove or investigate |
| Result | Whether the task still works and what remains unresolved |
Keep account identifiers and screenshots private. For a work or school account, ask the responsible administrator about access you do not own or understand. Do not change a shared workflow just because its purpose is unfamiliar.
Before removing a connection needed for an export, preserve and verify the information you need. The safe app-data migration guide covers that separate task. A permissions review should not accidentally become an account-retirement project.
Where are iPhone app permissions?
Apple's current iPhone guide routes information-access reviews through Settings → Privacy & Security. Select an information category, such as Calendars, to see apps that requested access, then change an app's access there. Apple says a permission decision can be changed after the original request. See its information-access instructions.
Read the category and the app name together. A list of apps requesting calendar access answers a different question from a list of every app installed on the phone. If the documentation and your screen differ, select the guide's version for your iOS release before following another route.
Where are Android app permissions?
Google's Android permission guide gives two routes:
- For one app: Settings → Apps → the app → Permissions. Use See all apps if necessary.
- For a permission category: Settings → Security & Privacy → Privacy → Permission manager, then choose the category and app.
Tap the permission to choose an available setting. Depending on the permission, options may include allowing access only while using the app, asking every time or not allowing it. “All the time” applies to location, not every permission.
Google notes that some steps require Android 11 or later on Pixel. Treat this as a documented starting point; use your device manufacturer's current help if the menus differ. Record the wording you actually see rather than assuming every Android phone offers identical choices.
How do you decide whether to keep access?
Use a task-based check rather than a blanket rule. For an illustrative receipt-scanning app, ask whether the permission is needed to take a new picture, select an existing image or perform a separate feature you do not use. This example is a set of questions, not a claim about a named product's design.
Change one setting, then repeat the intended task with harmless sample material. Record exactly what happens. If a feature stops working, decide whether it is worth the requested access; do not automatically restore every permission just to dismiss a prompt.
A useful result might be “manual entry works; the optional capture feature needs review.” That is more informative than “the app broke.” Ask the developer which feature requires the access and whether a narrower option exists. Do not invent an alternative workflow if the app does not provide one.
This is the same criteria-led approach used in testing an app before committing: evaluate a real task and keep the outcome observable.
Can an iPhone show how permissions were used?
On iOS 15.2 or later, App Privacy Report can show data and sensor access and network activity. Enable it through Settings → Privacy & Security → App Privacy Report. It begins gathering information after activation, so an initially empty report is not a historical all-clear.
The report covers activity over the past 7 days. A domain contact can come from content inside an app, such as an embedded video. Likewise, access to device data does not necessarily mean the developer collected it; Apple gives on-device use as an example.
Use unexpected entries to form a specific question for the developer, not as automatic proof of misuse. Turning the report off clears its data, so preserve needed observations before doing that.
Why check Google Account connections separately?
Device permissions and online account connections are separate review locations. Google's linked-apps guide distinguishes Sign in with Google, Google accessing a linked app account, and an app accessing Google Account data. One app can have more than one connection type.
For an app's access to Google data, follow the guide's linked-apps link, select Access to your Google Account, choose the app and select See details. Read the access before choosing Remove access → Confirm. Removal can disable features that depend on it.
Do not substitute the Sign in with Google removal control for this data-access review. Read which connection the confirmation screen describes. Removing one type is not evidence that you reviewed the others.
What should you know about Sign in with Apple?
Apple lists these connections under Settings → your name → Sign in with Apple. Select an app to review the information originally shared. Its management guide says stopping use signs you out of the app on that device.
Before using the Delete control, check your intended sign-in route. Apple says signing in with Apple again returns you to the same account; some apps also allow a password for the existing account. Do not assume that option exists everywhere or create a duplicate account unintentionally.
If a developer uses the connection across several apps, stopping it for one can apply to all of them. Managed Apple Accounts should be handled with the administrator.
Does removing permission erase data already shared?
Do not use a changed switch as proof of deletion. Google's account-data sharing guidance explains that linked apps can copy data to their own servers and retain it according to their policies. Deletion may not be immediate or automatic.
If removal of stored data is your objective, consult that provider's privacy policy and account-deletion instructions, preserve any needed records first, and keep the request and response. Account deletion can destroy information or access; review its consequences before confirming it.
Close the review with separate entries for access changed, functionality checked and data-deletion questions still open. An unanswered retention question should stay visible. A permissions screen cannot answer it on the provider's behalf.