Google giveth and Google taketh away: the buzz-worthy app-permission feature has been removed in the latest Google Android 4.4 KitKat update, after Google apparently said it didn't intend to release it.

The privacy tool was first enabled in an experimental roll out of Android 4.3 and could be found in Android 4.4 as well. It was a hidden functionality that allowed users to manage permissions for installed apps. While there was no interface baked into the operating system that allowed users to actually fiddle with app permissions, developers took note of the new capability and created shortcut apps to make it easy for users to take control of permissions. To unlock the enhanced privacy functionality, you could download a free utility app like App Ops Launcher, through which users could manage the permissions for every app on the phone.

But now, Google has undone the behind-the-scenes framework that gave permission-controlling apps like App Ops their abilities. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Google said that the feature was only released by accident. It had apparently only been an experimental feature, and was never meant to be used by apps to give users the power to micromanage app permissions. Google cautioned that messing with permissions could crash some of the apps affected.

The reason why users of later Android systems, along with developers and privacy advocates, were so excited about the app permission handling feature is that many of Android's apps are essentially out of control. Throughout 2013, story after story has appeared showing Android apps demanding far too much control over users' phones and data.

In the summer, Jay-Z's "Magna Carta Holy Grail" album app for Android even got the attention of the FTC, and critics called it "an ugly piece of software," "coercive," and "creepy." That app's permissions list included accessing GPS data, reading phone status and identity, running at startup, receiving data from the internet, and a slew of other abilities far beyond what a promotional music app should be given.

But app permissions are a lot like terms of service - many users never actually read what permissions they're giving an app that they want to install. It's just another "Okay" button to press. And worse, the app permission system on Android is an all-or-nothing list. Either you agree to all the permissions the app wants, or you're not downloading it.

What the app permission control feature on Android 4.3 - Android 4.4.1 gave users was an ability to allow apps selective permission for only the most essential things - and, importantly - after the fact of downloading the app.

On a practical level, if you know how to use it without making apps useless, this makes Android a much more pleasant, and less hands-on/clicky, experience. Want a radio app to be allowed to use WiFi data, but never switch to cellular? Take away its network data privileges. Worried about an app you almost never use draining the battery because it automatically runs on startup? Disable that.

But more importantly, the app permissions function gave some power back to the users, who - after all - are the owners of both the devices and the data that apps want access to. Unfortunately, Google's actions have stalled or possibly reversed that progress.