Why do some apps not have to ask for the "Draw over other apps" permission?

Question

In Android 6, Apps have to ask the user for the "Draw over other apps" permission, which is



android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW


However there are some notable exceptions that get this permission granted on install.
Examples are almost every Google app, like the Photos app. Being a Google OS, this makes makes sense (and they are probably in the /system partition), but the same also applies to Facebook and the FB Messenger apps, downloaded through the store.



How can this be? Does Facebook pay Google to be on some sort of whitelist for the permission? Doesn't this undermine the whole purpose of the permission system?



Where are informations about whitelisted apps stored? Is it by certificate?



Does something similar exist for other permissions, too?


— domenukk | Sources

Answer

Based on an answer by Mattia Maestrini on Stack Overflow,



It is a new behaviour introduced in Marshmallow 6.0.1.


Every app that requests the SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW permission and that is installed through the Play Store (version 6.0.5 or higher is required), will have granted the permission automatically.


If instead the app is sideloaded, the permission is not automatically granted. You can try to download and install the Evernote APK from apkmirror.com. As you can see you need to manually grant the permission in Settings -> Apps -> Draw over other apps.


These are the commits [1] [2] that allow the Play Store to give the automatic grant of the SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW permission.



— Andrew T. | Sources

Q & A

Can I charge my phone with many different charger speed types?
How do I disable the "Screen overlay detected" security bandaid?
Can I flash a separate radio image and have a working radio?
Why does Google Pinyin Input need to access my contacts?
What is protected apps in Huawei phones?
Nexus 7 2013 won't update to 6.x
LTE Bands for European Galaxy S7 (SM-G935F) while in the US
Nexus 5x media sound issue
Cannot send Audio files on WhatsApp
Defect in updated Marshmallow
Can't activate nor deactivate any administrator permissions outside of safe mode
WhatsApp sends messages before I've finished typing
SELinux restricting my system app even while it was signed with the same key as the previously shipped one!
What happens to the already existing internal storage memory if I make SD card my internal storage marshamallow
Cyanogen installs bloatware automatically
How I can prevent my android phone from getting rooted?
How to simulate no GPS fix
How often is Google Location History updated?
How to troubleshoot SELinux issues?
Removing Youtube app search history

Topics

2D Engines   3D Engines   9-Patch   Action Bars   Activities   ADB   Advertisements   Analytics   Animations   ANR   AOP   API   APK   APT   Architecture   Audio   Autocomplete   Background Processing   Backward Compatibility   Badges   Bar Codes   Benchmarking   Bitmaps   Bluetooth   Blur Effects   Bread Crumbs   BRMS   Browser Extensions   Build Systems   Bundles   Buttons   Caching   Camera   Canvas   Cards   Carousels   Changelog   Checkboxes   Cloud Storages   Color Analysis   Color Pickers   Colors   Comet/Push   Compass Sensors   Conferences   Content Providers   Continuous Integration   Crash Reports   Credit Cards   Credits   CSV   Curl/Flip   Data Binding   Data Generators   Data Structures   Database   Database Browsers   Date &   Debugging   Decompilers   Deep Links   Dependency Injections   Design   Design Patterns   Dex   Dialogs   Distributed Computing   Distribution Platforms   Download Managers   Drawables   Emoji   Emulators   EPUB   Equalizers &   Event Buses   Exception Handling   Face Recognition   Feedback &   File System   File/Directory   Fingerprint   Floating Action   Fonts   Forms   Fragments   FRP   FSM   Functional Programming   Gamepads   Games   Geocaching   Gestures   GIF   Glow Pad   Gradle Plugins   Graphics   Grid Views   Highlighting   HTML   HTTP Mocking   Icons   IDE   IDE Plugins   Image Croppers   Image Loaders   Image Pickers   Image Processing   Image Views   Instrumentation   Intents   Job Schedulers   JSON   Keyboard   Kotlin   Layouts   Library Demos   List View   List Views   Localization   Location   Lock Patterns   Logcat   Logging   Mails   Maps   Markdown   Mathematics   Maven Plugins   MBaaS   Media   Menus   Messaging   MIME   Mobile Web   Native Image   Navigation   NDK   Networking   NFC   NoSQL   Number Pickers   OAuth   Object Mocking   OCR Engines   OpenGL   ORM   Other Pickers   Parallax List   Parcelables   Particle Systems   Password Inputs   PDF   Permissions   Physics Engines   Platforms   Plugin Frameworks   Preferences   Progress Indicators   ProGuard   Properties   Protocol Buffer   Pull To   Purchases   Push/Pull   QR Codes   Quick Return   Radio Buttons   Range Bars   Ratings   Recycler Views   Resources   REST   Ripple Effects   RSS   Screenshots   Scripting   Scroll Views   SDK   Search Inputs   Security   Sensors   Services   Showcase Views   Signatures   Sliding Panels   Snackbars   SOAP   Social Networks   Spannable   Spinners   Splash Screens   SSH   Static Analysis   Status Bars   Styling   SVG   System   Tags   Task Managers   TDD &   Template Engines   Testing   Testing Tools   Text Formatting   Text Views   Text Watchers   Text-to   Toasts   Toolkits For   Tools   Tooltips   Trainings   TV   Twitter   Updaters   USB   User Stories   Utils   Validation   Video   View Adapters   View Pagers   Views   Watch Face   Wearable Data   Wearables   Weather   Web Tools   Web Views   WebRTC   WebSockets   Wheel Widgets   Wi-Fi   Widgets   Windows   Wizards   XML   XMPP   YAML   ZIP Codes