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Some users have noticed settings that let Meta analyze and retain phone photos

(www.zdnet.com)
530 points mdhb | 6 comments | 29 Aug 25 12:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.696s | source | bottom
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nomilk ◴[29 Aug 25 12:37 UTC] No.45063289[source]▶
IMO Apple should provide the user with audit logs of which photos/videos were accessed by each app. It might be a long list but it alleviates doubt and would put huge pressure on reputable developers to ensure they don’t get caught doing things the user wouldn’t have expected (even if the user technically allowed it).
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AndroTux ◴[29 Aug 25 13:55 UTC] No.45064188[source]▶
I don’t understand why apps need access to my photos at all. (with some very specific exceptions,) apps should only access a photo, which I first select using the system photo picker. There’s no need for apps to access the entire camera roll just so I can select one photo to use with that app.

I know that that’s partially implemented with the limited photo access now, but it’s confusing from a UI perspective and I don’t understand why this isn’t the default.

The only apps that need full access to my camera roll, are apps like Google Photos, Nextcloud or Immich. Everyone else can suck a lemon.

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1. signal11 ◴[29 Aug 25 17:43 UTC] No.45067186[source]▶
iOS has had a private photo picker for a few years now, where you can pick photos from within an app without giving access to all photos.

WhatsApp doesn’t use it and Apple doesn’t hold them to account over it. So, um, yay? Apps like Signal do use it.

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2. sefrost ◴[29 Aug 25 17:45 UTC] No.45067205[source]▶
WhatsApp does appear to only have access to a subset of photos on my iPhone.

The UX is a little clunky because you have to “add” a new photo which it can then access, but I prefer the privacy of it.

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3. bee_rider ◴[29 Aug 25 18:04 UTC] No.45067433[source]▶
Do apps have the option to not use the photo picker? I thought from the app’s point of view, the photos that iOS shows it are all the photos on the filesystem.
4. ks2048 ◴[29 Aug 25 18:58 UTC] No.45068012[source]▶
If you set the access to “Limited Access”, then that’s what the App has. It’s not a decision for WhatsApp to make - it’s in iOS.
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5. signal11 ◴[30 Aug 25 02:06 UTC] No.45071310[source]▶
“Limited access” is an older iOS feature from 2020, and different from the “private access” photo picker introduced with iOS 17[1].

[1] https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2023/10053/?time...

Limited access isn’t great UX because it’s not reasonable for users to have to manage a list of photos for every app. The new one is much better, but unfortunately app devs have to opt into it for now.

6. signal11 ◴[30 Aug 25 02:16 UTC] No.45071368[source]▶
The subset of photos thing was a relatively clunky addition in iOS 14. iOS 17 introduced a much better picker but devs have to opt into using it for now.

Signal[1] and a bunch of other apps do use the newer iOS 17 picker.

[1] https://ibb.co/KpkfrDMZ