Request permission to access nearby Wi-Fi devices

Apps that target Android 13 (API level 33) or higher and manage Wi-Fi connections should request the NEARBY_WIFI_DEVICES runtime permission. This permission makes it easier to justify an app's access of nearby Wi-Fi devices; on previous versions of Android, these apps needed to declare the ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION permission instead.

Permission is part of the nearby devices group

The NEARBY_WIFI_DEVICES permission is part of the Nearby devices permission group. This group, added in Android 12 (API level 31), also includes permissions related to Bluetooth and Ultra-wideband. When you request any combination of permissions from this permission group, the system shows a single runtime dialog and asks the user to approve your app's access to nearby devices. In system settings, the user must enable and disable the Nearby devices permissions as a group; for example, users can't disable Wi-Fi access but keep Bluetooth access enabled for a given app.

Strongly assert that your app doesn't derive physical location

When you target Android 13 or higher, consider whether your app ever derives location information from Wi-Fi APIs; if not, you should strongly assert that. To make this assertion, set the usesPermissionFlags attribute to neverForLocation in your app's manifest file, as shown in the following code snippet. This process is similar to the one you do when you assert that Bluetooth device information is never used for location:

<manifest ...>
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.NEARBY_WIFI_DEVICES"
                     android:usesPermissionFlags="neverForLocation" />
    <application ...>
        ...
    </application>
</manifest>

Previous versions and some APIs require location permission

Several Wi-Fi APIs require the ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION permission, even when your app targets Android 13 or higher. Examples include the following methods from the WifiManager class:

• getScanResults()
• startScan()

Also, because the NEARBY_WIFI_DEVICES permission is available only on Android 13 and higher, you should keep any declarations for ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION to provide backward compatibility in your app. However, as long as your app doesn't otherwise rely on precise location information, you can set the maximum SDK version of this permission to 32, as shown in the following code snippet:

<manifest ...>
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION"
                     android:maxSdkVersion="32" />
    <application ...>
        ...
    </application>
</manifest>

Check for APIs that require the permission

If your app targets Android 13 or higher, you must declare the NEARBY_WIFI_DEVICES permission to call any of the following Wi-Fi APIs:

• WifiManager
  • startLocalOnlyHotspot()
• WifiAwareManager
  • attach(AttachCallback attachCallback, IdentityChangedListener identityChangedListener, Handler handler)
• WifiAwareSession
  • publish()
  • subscribe()
• WifiP2pManager
  • addLocalService()
  • connect()
  • createGroup()
  • discoverPeers()
  • discoverServices()
  • requestDeviceInfo()
  • requestGroupInfo()
  • requestPeers()
• WifiRttManager
  • startRanging()

Wi-Fi access workflows

Figure 1 shows the Wi-Fi access workflow on devices that run Android 13 or higher, for apps that target Android 13 or higher. Note that, as long as you assert that your app doesn't derive physical location from Wi-Fi device information, you don't need to declare the ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION permission anymore:

Figure 2 shows the Wi-Fi access workflow on devices that run 12L or lower. Note the reliance on the ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION permission.