How to know what library requests particular iOS permissions in Flutter?

Question

I'm developing a Flutter app that relies on several external libraries. I don't use the camera in the app, however when I try to submit the app to AppStoreConnect, Apple rejects my app because they say that I don't have the NSCameraUsageDescription in my Info.plist file. Since I'm not using it directly in my app, it must be an external library. Is there a way to understand what is the library that is requesting this permission?

You can check in pub.dev, on the right side, there is a section called "Dependencies", you can look for some permissions related. If you are requesting other permissions in the app, check that the library you are using for it, does not have an issue at the time of publishing the app, there was a package called 'permission_handler' that presented that issue. — EdwardLi, Jan 06 '22 at 19:33

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 07 '22 at 00:03

Run this command:

flutter pub deps | grep permission_handler

If you get any output at all, then the package is being pulled in. IF that is the package that's requesting permissions, there is a way to customize exclude/disable the imported permission libraries, in your Podfile. Find this section:

post_install do |installer|
  installer.pods_project.targets.each do |target|
    flutter_additional_ios_build_settings(target)
    ...  (you may have additional customizations here)

  end
end

And add some flags to disable those permissions, by adding a flag such as 'PERMISSION_CAMERA=0', to the permissions you want to disable, like so:

post_install do |installer|
  installer.pods_project.targets.each do |target|
    flutter_additional_ios_build_settings(target)

    target.build_configurations.each do |config|  # <-- start adding from here        
      
      # You can remove unused permissions here
      # for more infomation: https://github.com/BaseflowIT/flutter-permission-handler/blob/develop/permission_handler/ios/Classes/PermissionHandlerEnums.h
      # e.g. when you don't need camera permission, just add 'PERMISSION_CAMERA=0'
      config.build_settings['GCC_PREPROCESSOR_DEFINITIONS'] ||= [
        '$(inherited)',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.calendar
         'PERMISSION_EVENTS=0',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.reminders
         'PERMISSION_REMINDERS=0',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.contacts
        # 'PERMISSION_CONTACTS=0',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.camera
        # 'PERMISSION_CAMERA=0',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.microphone
         'PERMISSION_MICROPHONE=0',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.speech
         'PERMISSION_SPEECH_RECOGNIZER=0',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.photos
        # 'PERMISSION_PHOTOS=0',

        ## dart: [PermissionGroup.location, PermissionGroup.locationAlways, PermissionGroup.locationWhenInUse]
         'PERMISSION_LOCATION=0',
       
        ## dart: PermissionGroup.notification
        # 'PERMISSION_NOTIFICATIONS=0',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.mediaLibrary
         'PERMISSION_MEDIA_LIBRARY=0',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.sensors
         'PERMISSION_SENSORS=0',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.bluetooth
         'PERMISSION_BLUETOOTH=0'
      ]
    end # <-- end adding here
  end
end

In the example above, I've commented out (because my apps uses them) contacts, camera, photos, and notifications; and disables all the other permissions.

Hopefully permission_handler is the package requesting the permission, because they make it easy to fix.

How to know what library requests particular iOS permissions in Flutter?

1 Answers1