> I have two apps that end up requesting photo permissions because basic things like saving or loading a photo require the full set of permissions.

Absolutely not. Saving a photo does not need the full permissions. If an app does that, the developer is either ignorant or malicious. I see multiple apps that only have "Add Photos Only" permission including apps like Duolingo that.

Similarly the use case of allowing the user to pick one photo doesn't require any permissions at all. Just use the system photo picker. I post reviews with photos regularly on Google Maps and the Google Maps app doesn't have any photo permissions.

Glad to see someone on this site is reading Apple documentation from three years ago