Escaping the Sandbox

There is a QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES permission. If your app holds it, all of these restrictions should be lifted.

This permission appears to be one with a normal value for protectionLevel. You do not need to request it at runtime — simply having it in the manifest is sufficient.

However it is documented as being restricted by the Play Store:

In upcoming versions of the Developer Preview, look for Google Play to provide guidelines for apps that need this permission.

Based on similar restrictions, be prepared to fill out a form to explain why your app needs this permission. And, based on the experience of far too many developers, be prepared to be banned from the Play Store by a bot if you try using it.

The next section will examine the impacts of holding this permission.