Why can't I add uses-feature

So we can set extra permissions in the form of

<uses-permission android:name="com.android.vending.BILLING"/>

DefaultEngine.ini

+ExtraPermissions=com.android.vending.BILLING

via the project settings but why can’t we add

<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.telephony" android:required="false" />

for example ?

We are only allowed to add extra Manifest Nodes which is quite useless

Can we have something added like

+ExtraFeatureFalse=android.hardware.telephony (adds behind android:required="false" )

The way Unreal automates the AndroidManifest.xml now is very annoying as we can not alter it manually anymore and we can’t optimize it for tablets anymore (any pre 4.6 version we could edit the AndroidManifest.XML manually)

Using the ManifestRequirementsOverride.txt will solve this problem. I hope to see it added as a feature to the Project Settings though.

Without using the ManifestRequirementsOverride.txt there is no way a UE4 build android game can be optimize for tablets.

For UE 4.19,
Instead of using ManifestRequirementsOverride.txt, I suggest using:
Edit → Project Settings… → Platforms - Android
Advanced APK Packaging → “Extra Permissions” to add lines to this array.

the OP wasnt talking about permissions, it was features. I didnt think this worked. ManifestRequirementsOverride.txt is the olny way. Is there a specific format or something that makes it work?

I would like to add that it will override everything after requirements. And should be located in project/Build/Android
Its very useful. Epic added permissions to the project settings which is great! but this doesnt work for features and will include all the defaults that you may want off.
Hopefully, they add features AND somehow parameters, such as cameraParam.setFocusMode(Parameters.FOCUS_MODE_CONTINUOUS_VIDEO)
Or make a whitelist blacklist system, then we would never need the manifest override.

You cant add cameraParam.setFocusMode(Parameters.FOCUS_MODE_CONTINUOUS_VIDEO) to the manifest, as it wont do anything?