App rejected on play store because of Manage_External_Storage even though my app does not use this permission

Question

I have an app built using Xamarin for android.

I keep getting the same email saying my app is using Manage_External_Storage and keeps getting rejected even though it's not in the manifest. The app at some time had requested that permission but we have removed that from the manifest. Even the Play console App bundle explorer reads the correct permissions. Below are the permissions from for that app bundle from the app bundle explorer in Play Console

android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE, 
android.permission.CAMERA, 
android.permission.INTERNET, 
android.permission.USE_BIOMETRIC, 
android.permission.USE_FINGERPRINT, 
android.permission.WAKE_LOCK

I have also checked the manifest of the compiled .aab in android studio and it does not have that permission in there.

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" android:versionCode="26" android:versionName="1.0.26" android:installLocation="0" android:compileSdkVersion="30" android:compileSdkVersionCodename="11" package="com.test.app" platformBuildVersionCode="30" platformBuildVersionName="11">
    <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="26" android:targetSdkVersion="30" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
    <uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera" android:required="false" />
    <uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.camera.autofocus" android:required="false" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.USE_FINGERPRINT" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WAKE_LOCK" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.USE_BIOMETRIC" />
    </manifest>

Does anyone have any idea why this is happening?

Answer 1

If you remove the Permission, you need to update the build number on Internal Track. you have to update the build on every track(Open testing, Closed testing, Production, etc.) even if permission are disabled in android 11. Here are some threads you can refer to:

Google Play store continuous rejection due to NOT compliant with the All Files Access Permissions policy

Google Play App Rejection - Not a core feature - Use of All files access