Implied READ_PHONE_STATE permission

[liljeblad]

Hi,

Encountered an issue when trying to upload a new build of an app to Google Play Console:

New permissions added
Warning:

Users that have the APK with version code XX may need to accept the android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE permission, which may result in them not upgrading to this version of the app.

Tip:

Ensure that the new permissions are necessary, and consider mentioning these permissions in the What's new in this release text.

Since this is a permission I did not explicitly add I investigated the AndroidManifest.xml of my app and Google was right.

The manifest merger report stated:

uses-permission#android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE
IMPLIED from /Users/jesper/Developer/_android/iap-core-android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml:2:1-18:12 reason: com.flaviofaria.kenburnsview has a targetSdkVersion < 4

I'd imagine this is unintended and would love to have a fix for where the targetSdkVersion is
4 or higher.

Note for anyone else having this issue, there is a quickfix:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE" tools:node="remove"/>