Details on Google Play's Photo and Video Permissions policy

Examples of one-time or infrequent use of photos or video files include but are not limited to: uploading a profile picture, uploading an image for a playlist or uploading a photo of a check for banking purposes.

Infrequent use infers that your app does not have a photo or video use case as its core functionality. If your app has a one-time or infrequent use case for photos or video files, you may not use the READ_MEDIA_IMAGES or READ_MEDIA_VIDEO permission, and we urge you to instead use a system picker to preserve user privacy. 

Some examples of use cases that are not infrequent or one time include: apps that are in the social, communication, photo/video editor categories and others that can demonstrate broad access needs like photo editors, user generated content platforms, image search features, and similar.

Apps whose core functionality revolves around broad access to photos and videos may use the permissions above. Apps that are photo/video managers and gallery apps are the most commonly eligible apps to use these permissions.

We consider core functionality to be the main purpose of an app. This means that the feature that you document in your app description is central to your app working and without it, your app won’t function.

In addition to complying with all other relevant Google Play policies, the app must  demonstrate a core use case that requires persistent or frequent photo/video access of files located in shared storage.

Apps whose core function includes editing, managing and maintaining photo/video galleries would need broad access to photos and videos on a user’s device. These apps are commonly known as “gallery apps.”

Because your app only needs access to photos that users select in this experience, this does not qualify as a reason to retain broad access.

Private and enterprise device management apps are exempt from this policy requirement.

Yes, in order to be compliant with this policy, if your app does not need broad access to photos and videos via a supported core use case, the media access permissions must be removed from the app by the effective policy date.

Broad access to media files on shared storage is a vector for abuse and can harm both users and developers. A picker experience is elegant and efficient, and it helps developers avoid unnecessary access to sensitive data. By minimizing data access, the chance of being victims of leaks or targets of exploits is also minimized. It provides a consistent user experience, satisfies user expectations of privacy while using your app, and helps further maintain a safe and trusted Google Play experience.

Integrating Android photo picker in your app is easy and the tool updates automatically, offering expanded functionality to your app’s users over time without requiring any code changes. To simplify photo picker integration, include version 1.7.0 or higher of the androidx.activity library.

The photo picker is available on devices that run Android 11 (API level 30) or higher and receive changes to Modular System Components through Google System Updates. Older devices that run Android 4.4 (API level 19) through Android 10 (API level 29) and Android Go devices running Android 11 or 12 that support Google Play services can install a backported version of the photo picker.

You are not required to use the Android photo picker and can integrate other system pickers per your preference as needed.

In accordance with the Restricted Permissions policy, you must make a reasonable effort to accommodate users who do not grant broad access to media files on their device. This includes facilitating a more transactional method (for example, via a system picker) where users can still enjoy the feature or functionality of your app. This could also include gracefully facilitating a modified app experience where users can still enjoy the applicable functionality of your app.