> like "Photos" obviously needs to be able to see my photos...

Maybe you'd like to use a competitor to the Photos app and don't want to use the one Apple provides?

Maybe.

But what does the "Access to photos" permission really do here? It's not like not having that permission would stop Apple from accessing them against your will, as they have access via the OS anyway. And it's clear, that when you open the Apple Photos app, that it will access your photos.

On the other hand, when you open a third party app, it may not have been clear to you that it wants to access your photos, and the company did not have prior access to them.

I still think apps should only be pre-blessed sparingly. For example, the camera app should not have GPS permission by default, as many people probably aren't aware that camera apps use that information.

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whstl an hour ago | parent [-]

Tangential but:

"Access to Photos" is a complicated one: Lots of apps only needs this permission when building a custom photo selector. Like Facebook/WhatsApp/Instagram do, also Slack.

For every other app, they can use the system's default photo picker and it works without permission.

For example, the "Lunch Receipt Scanner" that my company uses: I'm happy to allow it on my phone, as it saves a lot of time, but I wouldn't want a company app having access to my entire camera roll!!!

I personally also don't like that WhatsApp/Instagram/Facebook/Slack asks for access to the whole album just to display the photo picker, but I'm pretty sure some designer or product manager made a strong case for it internally. (EDIT: Not saying having a case justifies it, I'm more lamenting the situation)

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datadrivenangel 40 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

And those product designers who violate privacy that badly should be personally liable imo.

	▲	whstl 34 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		I agree 100%.

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AlexandrB an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

> I personally also don't like that WhatsApp/Instagram/Facebook/Slack asks for access to the whole album just to display the photo picker, but I'm pretty sure some designer or product manager made a strong case for it internally.

Main reason I don't use the in-app photo pickers for these but "share" the photo I want to upload from Photos into the app. Zero trust for these companies.

	▲	whstl 33 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Yep I do the same. Also zero trust from my side.

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giancarlostoro an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

That should be supported, but if its the only "Photo Gallery" app installed, I think its okay. Curious, do you use another one that's better? I have looked (though not very invested in looking) and didn't really see anything that caught my eye.

	▲	greggman65 15 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		I can certainly imagine one that's better. One that catelogs all the images using better AI that apples and lets me do complex searches "Dog at beach", "Joey in red shirt with Jane"