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The Alarming Reason You Need To Stop Using Flashlight Apps
By KAYLA DUBE
Modern smartphones have rendered flashlight apps unnecessary, since most have an official flashlight button that activates the LED. For those that still have some sort of flashlight app downloaded onto their phones, it may seem like a harmless bit of forgotten software, but there’s an alarming reality to many of these apps.
A study by Avast found that a surprising number of Android flashlight apps request unnecessary permissions — sometimes for access outside their intended functionality such as reading contact lists or recording audio. iPhone users of flashlight apps also need to be cautious about ridiculous permissions requests, as noted by Wired’s investigation back in 2014.
Whether or not the permissions are being used for malicious purposes, it’s best to delete these apps immediately and ensure an app’s permissions are only for its basic functionality. iPhone users can deactivate permissions for each app in the privacy menu, while Android users can get some peace of mind by heading to settings, then privacy, then permissions manager.