Highlighted for support for the new “Camera Control” button during the iPhone 16 presentation, the Halide application saw its latest update rejected by Apple for a ridiculous reason.
Apple has a reputation for being particularly strict about app updates, particularly when it comes to controlling the permissions granted to those apps.
In some cases, this is perfectly normal and actually beneficial for users’ privacy. Indeed, one might wonder why a barcode scanning app would need, for example, access to the phone’s microphone. But in others, these controls can be absurd.
This was reported by developer Ben Sandofsky, co-founder of the app. Halide. This is an iPhone application that allows you to capture photos with more advanced functions than Apple’s native application. Logically, such an application needs access to the iPhone’s camera. However, Apple did not see it the same way.
Authorization not sufficiently defined according to Apple
On the Mastodon social networkit states that the latest Halide update was denied by Apple on the grounds that the request for permission to access the camera — ” the camera will be used to take photographs ” — was not detailed enough. However, it is difficult to be clearer about an application whose objective is to capture photos.
Eventually, Apple accepted the update and clarified the origin of the problem with the developer, as it states in a second publication on Mastodon :
Apple has reached out to us to explain what happened. They don’t normally do this for camera apps, when it’s obvious that the camera is being used. They expect more details in permission requests for apps that don’t necessarily need access to the camera.
The situation was all the more comical because Halide is not just any application in the iOS ecosystem. It won the Apple Design Award, presented by Apple in 2022, for the best graphical interface.
Above all, during the presentation of the iPhone 16 a few weeks ago, Halide’s publisher, Lux, was highlighted for the integration of the Camera Control button in its other application, oriented towards video: Kino.
Want to join a community of enthusiasts? Our Discord welcomes you, it is a place of mutual aid and passion around tech.
