why does this app continously request access to my google account?

[JackDotJS]

im loving this app so far. it works perfectly for my needs, especially with the widget functionality. but for some damn reason, every time i open it and do anything, i get the notification in the above image. it's a system notification, so it can't be dismissed or turned off.

i tap "deny" but it still comes back every time. the cycle repeats.

why does this app even need access to begin with? why does it keep asking despite me denying it?

[CampelloManuel]

Hi, thank you for reaching out. A few questions, if you don't mind:

• what app version ? 7.0.0 from f-droid ?
• what device ? google, xiaomi, samsung, motorola ?
• what android version ? I assume android 13 ?
• did you install any mod, root, xposed software ?
• the notification really does not go away if you dismiss it ~ 5 times ?
• did you have version 5.7.1 previously ? or did you install only 7.0.0 ?

Possibile causes:
There is some code for google tasks synchronization that I did not delete yet. I guess it's asking for the google account. I have no idea why, I removed all account permissions and It doesn't happen in my emulator. Don't worry about privacy, I removed all network permissions and the network code doesn't run, so the app is 100% offline. Yeah it asks for the google account, but the code that uses it does not work. Also I can't replicate this. It may be due to the manufacturer doing something weird ?

Solutions

• the quick solution could be to hold your finger on the notification and disable it when the settings panel shows up. but maybe android doesn't allow it ?
• the good solution is to wat a few days for me to completely remove google task code. It felt like a waste to delete it, but it causes 100% of the bugs reported here in github

Please answer all my questions so that I can identify the source of the bug.

---

Also, since you like the widget, do you have any requests or suggestions on how to improve it ?

[CampelloManuel]

@JackDotJS also, f-droid recently got the 7.1.0 update. Can you tell me if the problem appears also on that version ?

[Rawng]

I also have this issue. Android version 12 on a Samsung phone. No mods or roots etc installed. The notification does go away when I dismiss it, but returns periodically. I installed 7.0.0 from fdroid and updated to 7.1.0 just a bit ago. The update does not appear to have fixed the issue, though the changelog in the app doesn't show 7.1.0 so I don't know if I'm still running some kind of cached version. The app also requests permission to every google account on the phone.

Some light testing leads me to think the request is triggered upon saving a note when exiting the note entry screen.

[JackDotJS]

@CampelloManuel thanks for getting back so quickly! hope you had a great holiday/weekend 😄

• up until now, i was using 7.0.0 from f-droid. 7.1.0 does not fix the issue.
• i'm on a google pixel 7 pro running GrapheneOS. it's android 13.
• the notification has come up well over 10 times now.
• this was fresh install since I just got this phone for christmas. 7.0.0 was the oldest version i had

i can also confirm @Rawng's theory. the notification seems to get triggered mainly when saving or deleting notes.

[JackDotJS]

Also, since you like the widget, do you have any requests or suggestions on how to improve it ?

i almost missed this part! sorry!

i do have one major suggestion, which is an option to show completed tasks. being able to know at a glance what is and isn't done would be very nice imo.

more color options would also be nice. the only options right now are between "light" and "dark", and they don't even affect the widget header.

i could put these suggestions in their own issues if that'd be better for you guys.

[CampelloManuel]

In a few days I will publish an update on f-droid, that should fix this problem.

... maybe. I still don't understand the cause, and I can't replicate it on my emulator.

---

I wrote the widget suggestions in #387 so one day I'll work on those.

[connect2400]

Hi, thank you for reaching out. A few questions, if you don't mind:

• what app version ? 7.0.0 from f-droid ?
• what device ? google, xiaomi, samsung, motorola ?
• what android version ? I assume android 13 ?
• did you install any mod, root, xposed software ?
• the notification really does not go away if you dismiss it ~ 5 times ?
• did you have version 5.7.1 previously ? or did you install only 7.0.0 ?

Possibile causes: There is some code for google tasks synchronization that I did not delete yet. I guess it's asking for the google account. I have no idea why, I removed all account permissions and It doesn't happen in my emulator. Don't worry about privacy, I removed all network permissions and the network code doesn't run, so the app is 100% offline. Yeah it asks for the google account, but the code that uses it does not work. Also I can't replicate this. It may be due to the manufacturer doing something weird ?

Hi Manuel,
I just installed the app a couple days ago and I'm liking it so far too. But I have the same kind of complaint as here, with slightly different circumstances, so I thought I'd put my two cents in to help the developer make the most appropriate changes.
I have multiple Google accounts registered on my unrooted Moto G Pure running Android 11 and version 7.0.0 of NoNonsense Notes from F-Droid. I approved permission to access one Google account, assuming it's for backup purposes, but I denied others; there's no legitimate reason the app could need access to ALL Google accounts.
Dismissing the notification (which arises only for the unapproved accounts) only shuts it up for a few minutes. It asks again indefinitely.
This is actually not only annoying but concerning. I recommend that you not only kill whatever process is spawning these notifications -- if the user wants to change access he can bring up the prompt himself in the app native settings -- but add some explanation within the same location as to why access is needed and how access is used (including frequency), if not options for managing the app's usage of Google Drive, etc.
Even if the app needs to sync files for legitimate reasons, it doesn't need to do it every five minutes. I don't make changes to my to-do list that often.
Thank you for your attention to this project. Please let me know if you have any questions or if there's anything I can do.
connect2400

[connect2400]

P.S. I see you mentioned Google Drive isn't actually being used anymore. I didn't realize this; I want cloud backup. So that feature is not present, and not coming back?

[CampelloManuel]

@connect2400

Dismissing the notification (which arises only for the unapproved accounts) only shuts it up for a few minutes. It asks again indefinitely.

That notification should not even appear in the first place.
The app code that reads google accounts is just laying there, waiting to be deleted. There ARE functions that check which accounts are present on the device, but nothing can call those functions, as far as I understand.

I recommend that you not only kill whatever process is spawning these notifications

I agree, the problem is that I can't find out which code spawns those

This is actually not only annoying but concerning

If it helps, i don't ask for the internet permission exactly to avoid worries. So yeah, I agree that it looks concerning, and fixing this is a priority.
As of now there is no functionality in this app that needs a google account, so i agree that you should deny access.

So that feature is not present, and not coming back?

the app used to have google tasks sync (not google drive, as far as I know) but it's difficult to make it work, and it's a source of problems just like this one. I just wanted to wait and see if someone shows up to work on it, but I guess I'll just remove it.

---

I added a setting in the next app version (which will be in f-droid in a few days) to enable sync features, but it will be off by default, so no sync code will run at all, unless the user explicitly enables this.

If that still does not work, I'll just delete all code that may be reading google accounts. This is just leftover code for old features, and we were planning to delete it anyway.

[CampelloManuel]

Also:

• discussion of Google Tasks synchronization #426
• this bug may be due to misuse of AccountManager
• that code is ~ 10 years old

[CampelloManuel]

@Rawng @JackDotJS @connect2400
Version 7.1.1 of NoNonsense Notes is live on f-droid and it should fix this bug.
I'd like all of you to confirm if the problem still exists in the latest version.
Thank you.

[connect2400]

Because I had actually granted permissions to shut it up, I reset the app (first exporting a backup, which subsequently reloaded fine) by uninstalling and reinstalling version 7.1.0. The notifications came right back up, so I then updated via F-Droid app to 7.1.1. So far so good. Incidentally, the About screen doesn't state the version number... Sent from Proton Mail mobile

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-------- Original Message --------

On Jan 3, 2023, 11:38 AM, Campello Manuel wrote: ***@***.***(https://github.com/Rawng) ***@***.***(https://github.com/JackDotJS) ***@***.***(https://github.com/connect2400) Version 7.1.1 of NoNonsense Notes is live on f-droid and it should fix this bug. I'd like all of you to confirm if the problem still exists in the latest version. Thank you. — Reply to this email directly, [view it on GitHub](#460 (comment)), or [unsubscribe](https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AVP3QR6OZLSQIPB5KZUXLMLWQRIZRANCNFSM6AAAAAATJDUCRU). You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[JackDotJS]

updated! but it seems the update hasn't changed anything in my case :/

ive even restarted my phone just for good measure, but no luck. denying the permission also still does nothing, if anyone happens to wonder.

[JackDotJS]

also just tried a complete re-install, still nothing.

[spacecowboy]

@CampelloManuel you should delete GoogleTasksClient.java this is where the account permission is originating from. Specifically the OAUTH_SCOPE. I admit I can't find the reference to it but deleting it should reveal that

[CampelloManuel]

Ok. I just removed all google tasks functionality in #474 and now the app should not access any account anymore. The update will be available in f-droid in a few days

[connect2400]

Yeah, fyi, 7.1.1 does still request permission ONCE after each reboot for me Sent from Proton Mail mobile

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-------- Original Message --------

On Jan 4, 2023, 8:37 AM, Campello Manuel wrote: Ok. I just removed all google tasks functionality in [#474](#474) and now the app should not access any account anymore. The update will be available in f-droid in a few days — Reply to this email directly, [view it on GitHub](#460 (comment)), or [unsubscribe](https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AVP3QR5BGX5GD26J23RGGL3WQV4IJANCNFSM6AAAAAATJDUCRU). You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[CampelloManuel]

New update is out. Please tell me if the google account popup is still there.

[JackDotJS]

nope, still there for me. fresh install once again for good measure but no change. :(

[CampelloManuel]

I see.
Does the logcat say anything ?
(here is a guide on how to make a logcat )

[JackDotJS]

i'll try setting up that logging later today

[JackDotJS]

well i managed to get something... maybe probably.
the log was getting spammed like crazy from all sorts of crap so good luck sifting through this lol

logcat.txt

[JackDotJS]

can confirm! new update has finally fixed it 😄
thank you so much @CampelloManuel!

[CampelloManuel]

Good. Others confirmed by email that it works for them, too.
The problem was AbstractThreadedSyncAdapter being started in a background service: that was requesting access to every google account, it looks like.
I'll be careful if we ever add something that requires a google account,
but since that's not planned, I think this problem is solved.