Can 'signature permissions' be used in an AVD on Android Studio?

Issue

I am looking to test Android permissions that marked as 'signature' in and AVD within Android Studio.

I have set up the key store & key and attempted to use/request signature permissions in my Android app. I declare it AndroidManifest.xml

<uses-permission android:name="android.car.permission.CAR_MILEAGE" android:protectionLevel="signature"/>

and request the permission in onGetTemplate or on a button press

context.requestPermissions(listOf("android.car.permission.CAR_MILEAGE")) { granted, rejected ->
    println("$granted $rejected")
}

I expect a permission request to grant the permission but it rejects instead. This setup works fine for a 'dangerous' permission for example, which expectedly asks for a permission. The 'signature' permission fails silently.

I have also tried making a signed APK and using adb to send that to the AVD which also did nothing.

There is a possibility that the debug/release versions are getting confused but I have signed them both to be sure.

Documentation seems to just refer to uploading the the Play Store.

Solution

I expect a permission request to grant the permission but it rejects instead

signature permissions are not dangerous permissions. Only dangerous permissions get requested at runtime.

I have also tried making a signed APK

It would have to be signed by the same signing key as signed whatever is being defended by the signature permission. In the case of a platform permission, that means your APK would have to be signed by the same signing key that signed the firmware that your AVD is running.

Answered By - CommonsWare