About the EXTERNAL_STORAGE permissions with play services 8.4 onwards

[preraktrivedi]

Hi,

Do we require the EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission if we target the following config:

• compileSdkVersion 23 (6.0)
• buildToolsVersion 23+
• Google Play Services SDK - 8.3+

My doubt arises because as per the AndroidManifest comment in this project, it mentions "EXTERNAL_STORAGE permissions are optional for Android 6.0 onwards." but the official documentation mentions that "you target version 8.3 or later of the Google Play services SDK, you no longer need the WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission to use the Google Maps Android API."

Can we safely remove these two EXTERNAL_STORAGE permissions from the Manifest and expect the lower API versions to work without any side effects?

Thanks

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