I am trying to upload my android build on play console, but encountering this error which is caused by google’s updated privacy policy: All developers requesting access to the photo and video permissions are required to tell Google Play about the core functionality of their app.
I have removed the READ_MEDIA_IMAGES permission from my Android manifest file, and also replaced my image picker with the default Android image picker, but when I try to upload the build again it still throws the same error. Could this be because of my previous builds carrying this permission, or is there a way to remove these permissions on play console itself?
To enable file or image uploads from the device’s storage, please ensure that the “Read Photos and Videos” permission is enabled in the Android Build settings before rebuilding your app. Once done, you should be able to upload files within the app without any issues.
If you are still seeing a message or prompt in the Google Play Console regarding Media Images Access permissions, it may have been triggered by an older version of your app. This could be a previous build uploaded in the Internal Testing or Closed Testing tracks.
To address this, please navigate to the App Content section of your Play Console and confirm that these permissions are no longer required in your app. After that, proceed with submitting the latest build of your app as usual.
If you need further assistance, feel free to reach out.
Hey @Jacob
The older builds do have this permission, but I cannot delete these builds now. Also in the app content section the photo permission is checked because we do require access to the images (albeit the ones chosen by the user), and I do not think unchecking this would resolve our issue?
I do anyway, think that the it is the older builds that are causing the error, but I’m not sure what I can do about this. If you could shed some light on this it would be great, thank you.
Thank you for reaching out. To enable file or image uploads from the device’s storage, please ensure that the “Read Photos and Videos” permission is enabled in the Android Build settings before rebuilding your app.
Once this setting is enabled and the app is rebuilt, you should be able to upload files within the app without any issues. If the older builds are causing the error, updating the app with the correct permissions should help resolve the issue.
Please try this and let us know if you need any further assistance—we’re happy to help!
The issue I am referring to is on google play console. Could this be happening due to the permissions in my older builds? These builds are still active and they use this permission. Can I deactivate these tracks of my app? What will happen to the users on these versions if I do?
If your older builds are in any of the testing tracks—open, closed, or internal—you can remove them by discarding the release or pausing the track. This will prevent these versions from being available to testers.
Other than that, you don’t need to worry about this message unless you are actively trying to push an update to the Play Store. If the update is successfully published, the older builds should no longer be a concern.
Please let us know if you need any further clarification—we’re happy to assist!
