Google has made a strong commitment to offer more privacy and security controls with Android 13. We have already seen, in the different Developer Previews and in the official beta, that many new features will be focused on protecting the device from the permissions requested by applications.
Some will be available to the user to control these permissions and others will be activated automatically when certain situations are detected.
For example, one of the new functions that has been detected shows that Android 13 will be able to automatically block the access of certain apps if it considers them unknown or suspicious. A dynamic that could be applied when apps, which are usually installed through APKs, request accessibility permissions.
Yes, when Android detects that an unknown app is requesting permissions to access accessibility services, it could block its access. A measure that would be taken even when the user wants to grant the corresponding permissions.
This does not mean that users cannot reverse this situation. However, this dynamic works as a first barrier to protect against possible malware that could access critical mobile functions. A practical dynamic for those who do not pay attention to the type of permissions they grant to apps they download from unknown sources.
So, by default, Android 13 will block any unknown application that requests accessibility permissions, since it could be the entrance for a malware to have full control of the mobile. In that case, it will show an alert mentioning that it is a “Restricted setting” and that for security reasons it is not available.
However, if the user trusts the app, you can reverse this action by turning on the “Allow restricted settings” option. Keep in mind that this dynamic is available in the Android 13 beta, so this system could undergo changes until the stable version is released.
