Privacy Dashboard’s new 7-day view is not going to wait for Android 16
 

• Android’s Privacy Dashboard has historically offered a 24-hour log of how apps use permissions.
• With Android 16 DP1, it looked like Google would be extending this log to 7 days.
• Thanks to Android 15 QPR1 and the November 2024 Play system update, you can now access the 7-day log early.

Google understands how important privacy is to smartphone users, and that’s exactly why Android has the robust system of permissions that it does, making sure that apps are only getting the level of access they actually need. But more than just creating that system, Google provides a tool for accountability in the form of Android’s Privacy Dashboard, offering an at-a-glance look into just which apps are using their permissions, and when. And right now, Privacy Dashboard is in the process of getting a major upgrade.

We got our first real taste of Android 16 a few weeks back, with the release of its first Developer Preview. Like with any new platform release, everyone was scrambling to spot all the changes, and one that quickly emerged was a new longer reporting period for Privacy Dashboard. Ever since its debut with Android 12, the system only logged app access going back 24 hours. With Android 16, though, we saw Google extending the period over which permission access was logged to a full 7 days.




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