Remove REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES permission

app/build.gradle

@@ -53,12 +53,10 @@ android {
         play {
             buildConfigField 'boolean', 'FIREBASE_AVAILABLE', 'true'
             buildConfigField 'boolean', 'RATE_APP_AVAILABLE', 'true'
-            buildConfigField 'boolean', 'INSTALL_PACKAGES_AVAILABLE', 'false'
         }
         fdroid {
             buildConfigField 'boolean', 'FIREBASE_AVAILABLE', 'false'
             buildConfigField 'boolean', 'RATE_APP_AVAILABLE', 'false'
-            buildConfigField 'boolean', 'INSTALL_PACKAGES_AVAILABLE', 'true'
         }
     }
 
@@ -82,22 +80,6 @@ android.applicationVariants.all { variant ->
     googleTask.enabled = shouldProcessGoogleServices
 }
 
-// Strips out REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES permission for Google Play variant
-android.applicationVariants.all { variant ->
-    def shouldStripInstallPermission = variant.flavorName == "play"
-    if (shouldStripInstallPermission) {
-        variant.outputs.each { output ->
-            def processManifest = output.getProcessManifestProvider().get()
-            processManifest.doLast { task ->
-                def outputDir = task.getMultiApkManifestOutputDirectory().get().asFile
-                def manifestOutFile = file("$outputDir/AndroidManifest.xml")
-                def newFileContents = manifestOutFile.collect { s -> s.contains("android.permission.REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES") ? "" : s }.join("\n")
-                manifestOutFile.write(newFileContents, 'UTF-8')
-            }
-        }
-    }
-}
-
 dependencies {
     // AndroidX, The Basics
     implementation "androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.6.1"

app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml

@@ -12,14 +12,6 @@
     <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.SCHEDULE_EXACT_ALARM"/> <!-- To reschedule the websocket retry -->
     <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS"/> <!-- As of Android 13, we need to ask for permission to post notifications -->
 
-    <!--
-        Permission REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES (F-Droid only!):
-          - Permission is used to install .apk files that were received as attachments
-          - Google rejected the permission for ntfy, so this permission is STRIPPED OUT by the build process
-            for the Google Play variant of the app.
-    -->
-    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES"/>
-
     <application
             android:name=".app.Application"
             android:allowBackup="true"

app/src/main/java/io/heckel/ntfy/util/Util.kt

@@ -19,17 +19,21 @@ import android.provider.OpenableColumns
 import android.text.Editable
 import android.text.TextWatcher
 import android.util.Base64
-import android.util.TypedValue
 import android.view.View
 import android.view.Window
 import android.widget.Button
-import android.widget.ImageView
 import android.widget.Toast
 import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatDelegate
 import androidx.core.content.ContextCompat
-import io.heckel.ntfy.BuildConfig
 import io.heckel.ntfy.R
-import io.heckel.ntfy.db.*
+import io.heckel.ntfy.db.ACTION_PROGRESS_FAILED
+import io.heckel.ntfy.db.ACTION_PROGRESS_ONGOING
+import io.heckel.ntfy.db.ACTION_PROGRESS_SUCCESS
+import io.heckel.ntfy.db.Action
+import io.heckel.ntfy.db.Attachment
+import io.heckel.ntfy.db.Notification
+import io.heckel.ntfy.db.Repository
+import io.heckel.ntfy.db.Subscription
 import io.heckel.ntfy.msg.MESSAGE_ENCODING_BASE64
 import io.heckel.ntfy.ui.Colors
 import kotlinx.coroutines.CoroutineScope
@@ -48,7 +52,7 @@ import java.security.MessageDigest
 import java.security.SecureRandom
 import java.text.DateFormat
 import java.text.StringCharacterIterator
-import java.util.*
+import java.util.Date
 import kotlin.math.abs
 import kotlin.math.absoluteValue
 
@@ -336,10 +340,11 @@ fun supportedImage(mimeType: String?): Boolean {
     return listOf("image/jpeg", "image/png", "image/gif", "image/webp").contains(mimeType)
 }
 
-// Google Play doesn't allow us to install received .apk files anymore.
-// See https://github.com/binwiederhier/ntfy/issues/531
+// We cannot open .apk files, because we don't have the REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES anymore
+// Play didn't grant us the permission, and F-Droid users didn't want us to have it.
+// See https://github.com/binwiederhier/ntfy/issues/531 & https://github.com/binwiederhier/ntfy/issues/684
 fun canOpenAttachment(attachment: Attachment?): Boolean {
-    if (attachment?.type == ANDROID_APP_MIME_TYPE && !BuildConfig.INSTALL_PACKAGES_AVAILABLE) {
+    if (attachment?.type == ANDROID_APP_MIME_TYPE) {
         return false
     }
     return true

fastlane/metadata/android/en-US/changelog/NEXT.txt

@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
 Features:
 * Added GIF support for preview images (ntfy-android#76, thanks to @MichaelArkh)
 * Added WebP support for preview images (ntfy-android#81, thanks to @jokakilla)
+
+Bug fixes + maintenance:
+* Remove REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES permission (#684)