title: Google Play shows the implicit READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission
body: <p>When Android 4.1 JellyBean (API 16) was announced at Google I/O, it introduced the following permission:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE</p>
    
    <p>Provides protected read access to external storage. In Android 4.1 by default all applications still have read access. This will be changed in a future release to require that applications explicitly request read access using this permission. If your application already requests write access, it will automatically get read access as well. There is a new developer option to turn on read access restriction, for developers to test their applications against how Android will behave in the future.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p><a href="http://developer.android.com/about/versions/android-4.1.html#Permissions" rel="noreferrer">http://developer.android.com/about/versions/android-4.1.html#Permissions</a></p>
  
  <p>I have an application that tagets API 16 and requires the WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission.  I am preparing to deploy an update and noticed that the READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission is now listed as a required permission in the developer portal.  It was not listed as a required permission in Google Play for an update deployed last week.  This application does not explicitly request the READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission.</p>
  
  <p>Will users who have already granted the WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission for this application be prompted to grant the additional, implicit READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission when they update the application?</p>
  
  <p><strong>Update:</strong></p>
  
  <p>We have since released the app and JellyBean devices are automatically updating without requesting the READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission.  In a future release when I explicitly declare the requirement for READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, will users who have already granted the WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission be asked to grant the READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission?</p>