Chrome vs Contacts

Privacy compared: the newest public version of each, scored by the same six rules. Contacts scores 84 and Chrome 63, so Contacts is 21 points ahead.

63of 100

Chromecom.android.chrome

version 154.0.8037.126

84of 100

Contactscom.google.android.contacts

version 4.88.28.981523105 ahead by 21

Who is ahead on what

The longer bar is the better one on every axis; a score is the mean of its six axes. The arithmetic behind each is on the app's own card.

Axes: Contacts leads on 4 axes, Chrome on none; 2 axes are level.
Trackers: Chrome carries none, Contacts none.
Dangerous permissions: Chrome may ask for 7 permissions, Contacts for 6 permissions.

The six axes

Each axis is one short rule applied to both apps, with the one thing that decided its number underneath.

Security Contacts +60

Chrome 40 2 security problems found.

Contacts 100 No security problem found.

Tracking level

Chrome 100 No tracking tools found; that does not prove there are none.

Contacts 100 No tracking tools found; that does not prove there are none.

Build hygiene Contacts +17

Chrome 62 The app passes 8 of 13 checks of how well it was built.

Contacts 79 The app passes 11 of 14 checks of how well it was built.

Packaging level

Chrome 100 The phone can use everything in the app.

Contacts 100 The phone can use everything in the app.

Access Contacts +10

Chrome 40 Asks for 6 of 11 kinds of permission; no special access.

Contacts 50 Asks for 4 of 11 kinds of permission; no special access.

Background Contacts +40

Chrome 34 Runs 5 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.

Contacts 74 Runs 1 kind of background service and starts by itself after a restart.

TrackersChrome 0 · Contacts 0

The advertising, analytics and attribution SDKs recognised in each app. What only one of them carries is what sets it apart.

Only in Chrome

none

In both

none

Only in Contacts

none

Dangerous permissionsChrome 7 · Contacts 6

The permissions Android asks the user about at run time: the camera, the microphone, the location, the contacts and the like. An app may need one for what it does; asking is not the same as using.

Only in Chrome

ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATIONACCESS_FINE_LOCATIONCAMERAREAD_EXTERNAL_STORAGERECORD_AUDIOWRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

In both

READ_CONTACTS

Only in Contacts

READ_CALL_LOGREAD_PHONE_NUMBERSREAD_PHONE_STATEREAD_SMSWRITE_CONTACTS

Where this comes from

Both are the apps' public cards: what anyone may know of an app, from its newest public version - one Google Play installed, and out in the world. Each card has the score's lines and the earlier versions: Chrome, Contacts.