Android's permissions system is useless anyway so it really doesn't matter what they do with it.
Most people don't read the permissions and wouldn't know what some of them mean even if they did (let alone that sometimes the same heading appears multiple times, requiring you to read the fine-print to look at exactly what the app wants to do).
Worse, their experiences train them to ignore the prompts just like EULAs or IE's infamous ActiveX prompts... "Wanna punch the monkey? Click here to install SpywareInstallerActiveX". Many if not most users clicked OK. Similarly, all the big name apps and games ask for a huge long list of permissions and users are trained to just click OK.
iOS is better (though still imperfect). You want to see who I'm calling? Nope, the privacy invasion isn't worth the risk of ever exposing that. Want access to contacts? Then the user will get prompted at that point in time, not at app install (though some crappy apps try to ask at startup). All apps are required to work even if the user says no, and be functional unless the permission is required for the app to work at all.
Users are much more likely to be aware of what is happening if the permission request happens at time of use. If I install a game then during the first level I get a popup asking for permission to access my contacts, I'm much more likely to treat that as a red flag because nothing about the context would indicate the app should be looking at my contacts, versus being buried in a huge list of permissions that I usually ignore anyway.
Most people don't read the permissions and wouldn't know what some of them mean even if they did (let alone that sometimes the same heading appears multiple times, requiring you to read the fine-print to look at exactly what the app wants to do).
Worse, their experiences train them to ignore the prompts just like EULAs or IE's infamous ActiveX prompts... "Wanna punch the monkey? Click here to install SpywareInstallerActiveX". Many if not most users clicked OK. Similarly, all the big name apps and games ask for a huge long list of permissions and users are trained to just click OK.
iOS is better (though still imperfect). You want to see who I'm calling? Nope, the privacy invasion isn't worth the risk of ever exposing that. Want access to contacts? Then the user will get prompted at that point in time, not at app install (though some crappy apps try to ask at startup). All apps are required to work even if the user says no, and be functional unless the permission is required for the app to work at all.
Users are much more likely to be aware of what is happening if the permission request happens at time of use. If I install a game then during the first level I get a popup asking for permission to access my contacts, I'm much more likely to treat that as a red flag because nothing about the context would indicate the app should be looking at my contacts, versus being buried in a huge list of permissions that I usually ignore anyway.