What are acceptable permissions for ActivityCompat.requestPermissions() to request?

Issue

In my Android app using Java, I define a checkForPermission() method to check the grant status of a single permission. If the permission has not already been granted, it requests this permission from the user using ActivityCompat.requestPermissions().

Here is the method:

private boolean checkForPermission(String permission, int rationaleMessageId, int requestCode) {

    // Check if permission is already granted.
    if (ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(this, permission) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {

        // Permission has not been granted. Check if a rationale AlertDialog should be shown.
        if (ActivityCompat.shouldShowRequestPermissionRationale(this, permission)) {

            // Show rationale AlertDialog explaining why this permission is needed.
            new AlertDialog.Builder(this)
                    .setTitle(R.string.rationale_dialog_title)
                    .setMessage(rationaleMessageId)
                    .setPositiveButton(android.R.string.ok,
                            new DialogInterface.OnClickListener() {
                                @Override
                                public void onClick(DialogInterface dialogInterface, int i) {
                                    // Request permission again.
                                    ActivityCompat.requestPermissions(MainActivity.this, new String[]{permission}, requestCode);
                                }
                            })
                    .create()
                    .show();
        }

        // Do not show rationale AlertDialog. Just request permission again.
        else {
            ActivityCompat.requestPermissions(MainActivity.this, new String[]{permission}, requestCode);
        }
        return false;
    }

    return true;
}

I've noticed that the method works perfectly fine for simple permissions such as android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, but does not work for more dangerous permissions such as android.permission.WRITE_SETTINGS.

I'm wondering which types of permissions ActivityCompat.requestPermissions() may actually request. My assumption is that dangerous permissions must be requested using other means, but I would like any feedback I can get on this. Thank you.

Solution

Specifically, requestPermissions() is used for permissions with a protectionLevel of dangerous.

WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE is dangerous. WRITE_SETTINGS is not.

Answered By - CommonsWare