Why does the Android Fairbuds app require precise location permission? The app asks for the permission, but doesn’t explain why. It also doesn’t explain that the permission is required.
I’m not inclined to give permissions unless I know what they’re used for and that they are necessary. When the app asked for Bluetooth permission I could understand how that might be useful to an app that manages my Bluetooth headphones, and so I granted it. When asked for the location permission I didn’t understand why that was necessary and so chose not to give it. The app then failed to connect to my Fairbuds-XL. The resulting error message is misleading: it says that the Bluetooth permission is required, despite that already having been granted, and doesn’t mention the missing location permission which appears to be the actual sticking point.
Yes, I think explaining would be a useful improvement.
This does sound familiar. The Android docs on Bluetooth Permissions suggests that there are ways to use Bluetooth without requiring location permissions for all versions of Android since 8.0 (which is the earliest version targeted by the Fairbuds app), and it seems pretty simple since Android 12.
Sounds reasonable.
Still, as this is a user forum, it’s rather improbable that you’ll get an answer from FP here.
So I recommend you open a support ticket at Fairphone asking your question (contactsupport)