Permissions

React Native · Reference cheat sheet

📋 Overview

Sensitive APIs (camera, photos, location, mic, notifications, tracking) require runtime permission prompts plus Info.plist / AndroidManifest declarations. Expo: expo-* modules + config plugins.

🔧 Core concepts

• Declare — usage strings (NSCameraUsageDescription) and manifest permissions.
• Request at need — when the user taps an action, not on cold start spam.
• Check status — granted | denied | undetermined | limited (iOS photos).
• Settings — if denied, deep-link to app settings (Linking.openSettings()).
• Expo — expo-camera, expo-location, expo-image-picker, etc.

💡 Examples

import * as ImagePicker from "expo-image-picker";
import { Alert, Linking } from "react-native";

export async function pickImage() {
  const current = await ImagePicker.getMediaLibraryPermissionsAsync();
  let status = current.status;
  if (status !== "granted") {
    const req = await ImagePicker.requestMediaLibraryPermissionsAsync();
    status = req.status;
  }
  if (status !== "granted") {
    Alert.alert("Permission needed", "Enable photo access in Settings", [
      { text: "Open Settings", onPress: () => Linking.openSettings() },
      { text: "Cancel", style: "cancel" },
    ]);
    return null;
  }
  const result = await ImagePicker.launchImageLibraryAsync({
    mediaTypes: ImagePicker.MediaTypeOptions.Images,
    quality: 0.8,
  });
  return result.canceled ? null : result.assets[0];
}

⚠️ Pitfalls

• Missing plist usage descriptions → App Store reject / crash on access.
• Requesting everything at launch → users deny all.
• Ignoring Android 13+ granular media permissions.

🔗 Related

• Expo/plugins.md — config plugins
• Expo/config.md — app config
• notification.md — notification permission
• settings.md — open settings