Persistent AD_ID permission after deleting it from AndroidManifest.xml

Question

With two permissions in my AndroidManifest.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest ..
    android:versionCode="3"
    android:versionName="1.0.0" >
    <uses-sdk />
    <supports-screens .. />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"/>
    <uses-permission android:name="com.google.android.gms.permission.AD_ID"/>

    <application
        ...
    </application>

</manifest>

when I "Build" \ "Generate Signed Bundle" \ "Android App Bundle" on Android Studio (Hedgehog; 2023.1.1 Patch 2), and upload the resulting .aab file to the Google Play Store, two "Required features" are reported, as expected.

Now I delete the second permission (AD_ID), and regenerate an App Bundle then upload to the Play Store, while also modifying the declaration on Play Console to signal there are no longer ads.

The number of required permissions remains 2, which (correctly) makes the Play Store detect the problem and report:

This release includes the com.google.android.gms.permission.AD_ID permission but your declaration on Play Console says your app doesn't use advertising ID.

What am I missing?

Answer 1

If there is a transitive dependency from Firebase Analytics , your merged manifest is having permission related to Advertising ID.

See https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/thread/232291443/advertising-id-permission?hl=en

In my app I solved the problem by adding the line

<uses-permission android:name="com.google.android.gms.permission.AD_ID" tools:node="remove"/>

before the line

</manifest>