Why did Android remove an app's permissions on its own?
Because you hadn't used the app for a few months. Since Android 11, Android automatically resets the runtime permissions of apps you haven't opened in a while, such as location, camera and microphone. When you open the app again, it simply has to ask.
Google later brought this auto-reset to phones running Android 6 to 10 through Google Play services. From Android 12, long-unused apps are also put into hibernation, which stops their background work and notifications until you open them.
Nothing is wrong with the app or your phone. Opening it wakes it up, and you can grant the permissions again if you still want to.
- Just open the app and answer its permission prompts again
- To exempt an app, turn off Pause app activity if unused on its App info page (Android 13 and later)
- Unused apps losing access is a privacy feature, so most people should leave it on
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Runtime Permissions
From the Permissions in Depth course. Protection levels, one-time grants, and permissions that reset or expire.