Google Play Store New Policy: READ_MEDIA_IMAGES and READ_MEDIA_VIDEO

Misc
1

Hi AppMySite Team, I tried submitting my app to the google play store and had this warning:

Google Play Photo and Video Permissions Policy taking effect on August 31, 2024. There are two ways to comply with this:

  1. Remove READ_MEDIA_IMAGES and READ_MEDIA_VIDEO permissions and use a system picker if access to photos and videos is infrequent.
  2. Pass an access review in Play Console if you need broad access to photos and videos.

Can I check if you guys are aware of this? Can we build the app without these permissions?

2

Just to add on, my app does not need to read any media at all, and during the build section in “AppMySite”, I did not activate any of the permissions.

3

Hi @Bobo

Thank you for reaching out to us!

Yes, we are aware of Google Play’s new Photo and Video Permissions Policy, which takes effect on August 31, 2024. To comply with these guidelines, there are indeed two available options:

  1. Remove the READ_MEDIA_IMAGES and READ_MEDIA_VIDEO permissions if your app only needs infrequent access to photos and videos. In this case, the app will rely on the system picker, which allows users to choose specific files they want to grant access to.
  2. Pass an access review if your app requires broad access to media files. This will involve submitting the app for review in the Play Console, where you’ll need to justify why your app needs continuous access to user media.

If your app does not require frequent access to photos or videos, we can remove these permissions during the build process.

To access these permissions, go to the DOWNLOAD menu on your account and click on the Rebuild button under the Android app section. On the next page you will see the app permissions and you can further toggle these permissions on or off as per your app’s functionality and requirement. Once you decide on the changes in the permission, you will be needed to rebuild your app and upload the latest build on your Google Developer account. For instructions please visit - Submit new Android version | Knowledge Base

You can also go through the link from Google for more information - Details on Google Play's Photo and Video Permissions policy - Play Console Help

If you would like further assistance from our side, we recommend you log a ticket with our support team through the link - https://app.appmysite.com/email-support/

Thank You!

4

Please check this similar issue google-play-console-read-media-images-permission-warning-not-getting-resolved/2485

5

Hi @Nihal_RG

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 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.