Decoding Android Permissions: A Study of Developer Challenges and Solutions on Stack Overflow
Background: The Android permission system is a set of controls to regulate access to sensitive data and platform resources (e.g., cameras). The fast-evolving nature of Android permissions and inadequate documentation result in numerous challenges for third-party developers. Aims: This study investigates the permission-related challenges developers face and the solutions provided to resolve them on the crowdsourcing platform Stack Overflow. Method: We conducted qualitative and quantitative analyses on 3,327 permission-related questions and 3,271 corresponding answers. Results: We found that most questions are related to non-evolving SDK permissions that remain constant across various Android versions, emphasizing the lack of documentation. We also classify developers’ challenges into several categories: Documentation-Related, Problems with Dependencies, Debugging, Conceptual Understanding, and Implementation Issues. Conclusions: Our study indicates the need for clear, consistent documentation to guide the use of permissions and reduce developer misunderstandings, which can lead to potential misuse of Android permissions.
Thu 24 OctDisplayed time zone: Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris change
14:00 - 15:30 | Repository miningESEM Journal-First Papers / ESEM IGC / ESEM Technical Papers at Multimedia (B3 Building - Hall) Chair(s): Apostolos Ampatzoglou University of Macedonia | ||
14:00 20mFull-paper | Decoding Android Permissions: A Study of Developer Challenges and Solutions on Stack Overflow ESEM Technical Papers Sahrima Jannat Oishwee University of Saskatchewan, Zadia Codabux University of Saskatchewan, Natalia Stakhanova University of Saskatchewan | ||
14:20 20mFull-paper | Negative Results of Image Processing for Identifying Duplicate Questions on Stack Overflow ESEM Technical Papers | ||
14:40 20mFull-paper | Understanding Fairness in Software Engineering: Insights from Stack Exchange Sites ESEM Technical Papers Emeralda Sesari University of Groningen, Federica Sarro University College London, Ayushi Rastogi University of Groningen, The Netherlands DOI Pre-print | ||
15:00 15mIndustry talk | Reducing Events to Augment Log-based Anomaly Detection Models: An Empirical Study ESEM IGC Lingzhe Zhang Peking University, China, Tong Jia Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Peking University, Beijing, China, Kangjin Wang Alibaba Group, Mengxi Jia Peking University, Yong Yang , Ying Li School of Software and Microelectronics, Peking University, Beijing, China | ||
15:15 15mJournal Early-Feedback | The upper bound of information diffusion in code review ESEM Journal-First Papers Michael Dorner Blekinge Institute of Technology, Daniel Mendez Blekinge Institute of Technology and fortiss, Krzysztof Wnuk , Ehsan Zabardast Blekinge Institute of Technology, Jacek Czerwonka Developer Services, Microsoft Link to publication DOI Pre-print |