[Feature]: Improve App usage permission

[hammadbawara]

Summary

No response

Problem this solves

User need to find the app when giving permission "app usage" permission. It should directly take user to permisison page where user can just click and give permission and user should be directed back to app after it allowed permission. User don't need to press back button.

Proposed Solution

No response

UI/UX Notes

No response

Priority

Medium

Target Milestone

No response

[faiqisthis]

There are two strict Android system limitations you must know to manage your expectations:

Direct Deep Link: Unlike other permissions (like Overlay), for Usage Stats, Android often ignores the request to open your specific app's page. On most devices (Pixels, Samsungs), it will open the list of all apps, and the user must find your app manually. There is no reliable code workaround for this; it is an OS security design.

Auto-Return: You cannot programmatically close the Settings app once the toggle is clicked. Android security sandboxes your app; you cannot control the navigation of the Settings app. The user must press the back button or swipe back to return to your app.

In older versions of Android (before Android 10), you could often deep link directly to the specific toggle for your app. The reason it feels "broken" now is that Google intentionally disabled this capability in Android 10 (API level 29) and later for "sensitive" permissions like Usage Access.

Here is the breakdown of why you remember it working, why it stopped, and the closest alternative you can use today.

1. Why it changed (The "Clickjacking" Fix)
   Google changed this because of a security vulnerability called "Clickjacking."

Old Behavior: An app could open the toggle screen directly, then draw a fake "Start Game" button over the system switch. When the user clicked "Start Game," they were actually clicking "Allow Usage Access" without knowing it.

New Behavior (Android 10+): To prevent this, Android now forces the List View. This ensures the user sees the full context ("I am in Settings") and has to manually find and select the app, proving they know what they are doing.

Recommended UX Flow
Since the user likely has to search for your app in the list (due to the limitation mentioned in point #1), do not send them to Settings immediately.

Show a Dialog inside your app first.

Text: "To function, we need Usage Access. On the next screen, find [App Name] in the list and toggle the switch."

User clicks "OK" -> Launch the Intent code above.

This prevents user confusion when they land on a list of 50 apps and don't know what to do.

[hammadbawara]

@faiqisthis
Actually, I have seen similar functionality in one of the apps. It takes the user directly to the permission page in settings, and when the permission is allowed, it moves the user back to the app. This is currently not an important feature, so we can skip it for now.

[faiqisthis]

On Android 10 and above, apps are blocked from opening themselves from the background (Background Activity Start) unless they satisfy specific conditions (like having "Display Over Other Apps" permission or a visible notification).