Android permissions

Settings → Privacy and permissions lists what TALOS may reach on the phone, with the reason for each, in these words. A permission Android asks about is asked the first time TALOS needs it, never when the app starts.

Asked by Android

Android asks you in a dialog, the first time TALOS needs it — never at start.

Microphone

Dictation. Your voice becomes text on this device, and the audio is never stored or sent anywhere.

Notifications

Progress for long tasks. Without it those tasks still run — you just will not see how far along they are.

Contacts

Sending a message to someone by name. TALOS looks up the name you said and takes the number for that one message — it does not read, copy or send your address book anywhere.

Calendar

Answering "what do I have tomorrow", and putting an appointment in when you ask. Reading and writing are two separate permissions, asked at different moments, and every single appointment TALOS writes is confirmed by you first. Nothing leaves the phone.

Unread mail count

Answering "how much unread mail do I have". TALOS reads Gmail’s own counter on this phone and gets a number, per account — never the sender, the subject or the text of an email, which this route cannot reach at all. Nothing leaves the phone.

Where you are

Answering questions about places near you — a restaurant tonight, the closest shop, how long it takes to get somewhere. TALOS reads the location at the moment it needs it, never in the background and never while it is closed, and the coordinates go no further than the answer you asked for.

Camera

Taking a photo to attach to a chat. The picture goes where you send it and nowhere else; TALOS never opens the camera on its own.

Granted at install

Android grants it with the app; nothing is asked.

Network access

Reaching the AI provider you configured. Nothing is sent anywhere else, and nothing leaves the device until you send a message.

An exemption

A system setting that keeps long tasks alive in the background.

Running in the background

Long tasks — a research, a model download — keep going after you leave the app or lock the screen. Without it the phone suspends TALOS within seconds and the work is lost; this is the one setting that decides it.

Switched on in system settings

Only you can turn these on, by hand, in a screen of the system settings; TALOS can open the screen for you.

Screen reading

Reading the visible screen so TALOS can understand the app you are using and control it when you ask. It does not enable an accessibility button, a volume-key shortcut or listening to volume keys; Android Accessibility settings remain the only place to enable or disable this access.

Reading your notifications

Telling you what arrived and replying for you. TALOS sees the notifications of every app on this phone, including their text — this is the widest window it has into your device, and it stays closed until you open it by hand in system settings.

Running commands on this phone

Doing things Android does not offer apps: listing what is installed, changing system settings, reaching parts of the phone no app can. It runs with the same powers as a computer plugged in over USB. Nothing works until you pair it once with a six-digit code you read on your own screen, and every command still passes your permission gate.

No permission needed

Android lets any app do this; the only gate is yours, in Agent Tools.

App lock

Unlocking TALOS with your fingerprint or face. The key stays in the device’s secure hardware and never reaches TALOS itself.

Files you choose

Attaching documents. TALOS can only open the files you pick in the system chooser; it has no access to the rest of your storage.

Controlling the phone

Torch, volume, alarms, wallpaper, opening an app or a settings screen. None of these needs a permission — Android lets any app do them — so the only thing standing between a request and the action is the permission gate you control in Tools.

Models that run here

A model downloaded onto this phone answers without the network. What you write to it never leaves the device — not to us, not to anyone — and it keeps working with the phone in flight mode.

Declared by the package

Every permission the app’s manifest declares, as Android lists it on the app’s page. A permission is not a power on its own: every tool still passes your consent.

android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATIONasked

Your approximate location. Declared next to the precise one so Android can offer you the choice between the two. Toolsdevice_location

android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATIONasked

Your precise location, read when a question needs it and TALOS is on screen; never in the background. Toolsdevice_location

android.permission.ACCESS_LOCAL_NETWORKasked

Reaching a model server on your own network, such as Ollama. From Android 17 a permission you grant and can revoke; inert before.

android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATEat install

Knowing whether the phone is online, and on which kind of network (a model download waits for Wi-Fi unless you say go).

android.permission.CAMERAasked

Taking a photo to attach to a chat, when you ask. Choosing existing pictures uses Android’s photo picker, which needs no permission.

android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICEat install

Keeping a long task running, with a notification, after you leave the app.

android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_DATA_SYNCat install

The kind of foreground task a deep research or a model download is.

android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MICROPHONEat install

Listening for “hey TALOS” while the wake word is on — a switch you turn on, with the app in front.

android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_SPECIAL_USEat install

Required by Android 14 and later for a foreground service of special use.

android.permission.INTERNETat install

Reaching the model provider and the search engine you configured, and Hugging Face for downloads.

android.permission.MODIFY_AUDIO_SETTINGSat install

Reading and setting the volume of a stream. Toolsdevice_volume

android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONSasked

Showing the progress of long tasks. Without it they still run; you just do not see how far along they are.

android.permission.READ_CALENDARasked

Reading the appointments of the calendars on this phone, local ones included. Toolscalendar_read

android.permission.READ_CONTACTSasked

Finding the number of the person you named, for one message or call. The address book is not copied or sent anywhere. Toolsapp_azioneinvia_file

android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETEDat install

Keeping a scheduled task scheduled after the phone restarts.

android.permission.RECORD_AUDIOasked

Dictation, and the wake word when you turn it on. Audio becomes text on this phone and is not stored.

android.permission.REORDER_TASKSat install

Bringing TALOS back to the front when you tap “Open in TALOS”. It reaches only TALOS’s own windows, never another app’s.

android.permission.REQUEST_IGNORE_BATTERY_OPTIMIZATIONSexemption

Asking you, in one tap, to let TALOS run in the background, so that a research or a download is not frozen half way.

android.permission.RUN_USER_INITIATED_JOBSat install

Running a large model download you started as a job with no daily time limit, which Android 15 imposes on other background work. Toolslocal_model_download

android.permission.SET_WALLPAPERat install

Setting the wallpaper. Some phone makers turn it off; TALOS checks before trying. Toolsdevice_wallpaper

android.permission.VIBRATEat install

Making the phone vibrate. Toolsdevice_vibrate

android.permission.WRITE_CALENDARasked

Writing appointments, asked separately from reading. Each appointment is still confirmed by you first. Toolscalendar_write

com.android.alarm.permission.SET_ALARMat install

Asking the clock app to set an alarm or a timer. The clock app owns it, so it rings even if TALOS is closed. Toolsdevice_alarm

com.google.android.gm.permission.READ_CONTENT_PROVIDERasked

Reading Gmail’s own count of unread mail, per account. Numbers only: no sender, subject or text can be reached this way. Toolsdevice_unread_mail

oplus.permission.settings.LAUNCH_FOR_EXPORTat install

On OPPO and OnePlus phones, opening the exact settings page where TALOS’s screen reading is switched on. Elsewhere it does not exist and the general page opens. Toolsdevice_open_settings