Android plugin always declares FOREGROUND_SERVICE_DATA_SYNC even when no foreground service task is used

[belabiedredouane]

In recent workmanager_android versions, the Android manifest always declares:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_DATA_SYNC"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_SHORT_SERVICE"/>

and merges:

android:foregroundServiceType="dataSync|shortService"

onto androidx.work.impl.foreground.SystemForegroundService.

This causes Google Play Console to ask for a foreground service declaration and a demonstration video for FOREGROUND_SERVICE_DATA_SYNC, even when the app does not use Workmanager for any user-visible data sync or foreground-service workflow.

Our use case is simple periodic local maintenance:

• Schedule a periodic task with registerPeriodicTask.
• Clean old local scan history stored on device.
• No upload/download.
• No backup/restore.
• No server sync.
• No explicit ForegroundServiceConfig.
• No user-visible foreground service feature.

Because the permission is declared by the plugin manifest unconditionally, Play Console treats the app as using FOREGROUND_SERVICE_DATA_SYNC.

Would it be possible to make these foreground-service permissions/service types opt-in instead of always merged?

Possible solutions:

1. Do not declare FOREGROUND_SERVICE_DATA_SYNC / FOREGROUND_SERVICE_SHORT_SERVICE unless the app explicitly enables foreground service support.
2. Provide manifest placeholders to disable these declarations.
3. Split foreground-service support into a separate Android manifest entry or plugin configuration.
4. Document the recommended way for apps to remove these permissions safely when they only use normal background WorkManager tasks.

Expected behavior:

Apps using Workmanager only for regular background tasks should not be forced to declare FOREGROUND_SERVICE_DATA_SYNC in Play Console.

Actual behavior:

The permission is included in the final merged manifest because workmanager_android declares it unconditionally.

For now, we had to pin older versions:

workmanager: 0.9.0+3

dependency_overrides:
  workmanager_android: 0.9.0+2
  workmanager_apple: 0.9.1+2
  workmanager_platform_interface: 0.9.1+1

This removes the data sync permission, but it is not a good long-term solution.

Thanks.