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Contacts vs Gmail

Privacy compared: the newest public version of each, scored by the same six rules. Contacts scores 84 and Gmail 56, so Contacts is 28 points ahead.

84of 100
Contactscom.google.android.contacts

version 4.88.28.981523105 ahead by 28

56of 100
Gmailcom.google.android.gm

version 2026.10.05.998732664.Release

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.

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
Contacts 100 No security problem found.
Gmail 40 2 security problems found.
Tracking Contacts +10
Contacts 100 No tracking tools found; that does not prove there are none.
Gmail 90 No tracking tools found; that does not prove there are none.
Build hygiene Contacts +15
Contacts 79 The app passes 11 of 14 checks of how well it was built.
Gmail 64 The app passes 9 of 14 checks of how well it was built.
Packaging level
Contacts 100 The phone can use everything in the app.
Gmail 100 Unpacked, the base APK is 93 MB; 348 KB of it is unused files.
Access Contacts +32
Contacts 50 Asks for 4 of 11 kinds of permission; no special access.
Gmail 18 Asks for 8 of 11 kinds of permission; 1 kind of special access.
Background Contacts +50
Contacts 74 Runs 1 kind of background service and starts by itself after a restart.
Gmail 24 Runs 6 kinds of background service and starts by itself after a restart.

TrackersContacts 0 · Gmail 0

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

Only in Contacts
none
In both
none
Only in Gmail
none

Dangerous permissionsContacts 6 · Gmail 8

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 Contacts
READ_CALL_LOGREAD_PHONE_NUMBERSREAD_SMS
In both
READ_CONTACTSREAD_PHONE_STATEWRITE_CONTACTS
Only in Gmail
CAMERAREAD_CALENDARRECORD_AUDIOWRITE_CALENDARWRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

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: Contacts, Gmail.