In Settings>Privacy and Security>Photos, Safari shows Private Access as the only option and states "This app can show your photo library but can only access the items you select." I cannot find anywhere to select/deselect photos. All other apps show None, Limited Access or Full Access. I am missing something.
Can anyone shed some light?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
iPhone 14 Pro, iOS 17
The setting “Private Access” is perfectly fine. If you have trouble selecting photos from your Photo Library to upload to websites there might be another problem (like e.g. not seeing videos in the selector because the site would only take stills).
As the text for this “unchangeable setting” explains, it means that Safari and therefore websites by default have No Access to your Photo Library, it remains “Private”.
When you want to upload photos to a website from your Photo Library, you get a photo picker like the one for „Limited Access“ to select which photos the upload process will see at all. The only difference to „Limited Access“ is, that it does not remember your last choices but defaults to no photos selected for access every time. Hence the different naming „Private Access“.
This is by the way not new and exactly the way photo selection for certain apps like Browsers worked before (I assume since iOS 14). With iOS 17 only the presentation and wording of this function changed. Up to iOS 16 “Limited Access” showed as “Selected Photos” and Apps like Safari would be listed separately under the heading “Apps with One-Off Photo Selection”, see screenshot.
I interpret your response as attempting to explain how we have different options to chose from, privacy wise. As well as a slight change to wording and behavior in recent updates. Thank you for trying however you missed the mark. We all understand how to select different access levels for each app. The problem is/was that it appears we can’t lock down Safari. Only 1 option is available and it’s an undefined level of access. With no explanation from Apple it appears as if websites could have unfettered access to our entire photo library. Perhaps it’s true that the default is no access. But why is there only one option available, it appears as a bug.
That’s what was happening to me. Every new app, if i uploaded one photo, it automatically would get stuck on “private access” until i deleted the app or turned off cellular usage. I hope it gets figured out for you!
Apple "NEVER" listens!! literlly! Apple sent my iphone 14 plus in for repairs & gave me a iphone XR as a loaner & 3 wks later I pick up my iphone only to be told ot has a new serial number & the motherboard of the phone was replaced!! Phone would not activate on my carrier & apple ignored all calls asking for help!! 3 wks later I finally got the phone to accept the eSIM!! No aapilogies or accountability from Apple!! No explanation as to what cause the phone to need a new motherboard plus apple stated "your phone is passing all test & doesnt need repairing!!" I only had the phone for 78 days!! Apple has the worst customer/tech support!!
I’m having this problem as well. The issue for me is that I am also unable to SAVE any photos to my camera roll. I have a paid membership for Canva and need to download my designs to my phone for work. I am no longer able to do this as it’s set to “private access” with no other option and it restricts me. How does this issue get escalated to Apple to be fixed? This is a HUGE problem!!!
I am having the same issue. Any of my Apps that are marked Private Access I cannot change. Maybe because it is not technically an option: Full Access, Limited Access, None. Regardless we need a way to fix this!
I’m on ios 17.2.1 and this hasn’t been fixed.
i specifically want to long press on a photo in safari and save it to my camera roll/photos app. This is incredibly frustrating to have this mechanism broken with no way to back it off and settings in privacy are unchangeable.
Huge negative for you Apple devs. 👎🏼
There are a few issues raised, as far as I can tell, one of which is by people like me, who are concerned that Safari appears to have unfettered access to one’s/my entire photo library. The wording suggests the web can see the entire library but can access (what does that mean — presumably upload?) only selected photos. I’m horrified at the thought that Safari can see everything. It certainly reads that way, and I’m clearly not the only commenter who thinks so. If that’s not what it means, then Apple needs to clarify the wording. If it does mean that, then Apple needs to fix the issue ASAP. No work around fixed the issue for me. I had already updated iOS, and I turned iCloud on/off for photos as one commenter suggested, to no avail. Please fix!!
As an aside, I’m getting a bit tired of feeling compelled to check privacy settings on my phone after every upgrade out of fear some privacy setting has been reset or changed without my knowledge.
Did anyone figure this out yet? I have been trying to access my photos in all my socmed but it keeps on bringing me to settings which leads to “private access”.can someone please help,by someone I mean Apple!!!
It is absolutely NOT fine -it's shady! The choice to allow any access whatsoever to photos, contacts, calendar, location, camera, microphone, and myriad other data sources is mine alone -not Apple's, nor any other entity's. Especially not an app that virtually IS the internet! I set Safari's access to everything on "deny", and grant it TEMPORARY access if necessary. Now it controls it's own access to my photos.
I also discovered 2 non-Apple apps with "Private Access" to my photos which never need access to photos. At least I could delete those. We're stuck with Safari!
By blocking users from denying Safari's access to photos, and offering no other options- "Private Access" might as well say "All Photos, All the Time". We have no idea when Safari is "privately accessing" our photos. What circumstances trigger the access? Is it a nightly maintenance task? What info is being gathered
and/or exposed to websites? I promise, there are hackers right now working to exploit these tunnels through Safari & other apps to our photos.
Believe it or not, some of us WANT to save photos from Safari to our photos app and now that functionality is destroyed. Good job Apple. Break something that some of us find ESSENTIAL for use on our phones. In case the sarcasm was lost on you eggheads who clearly didn’t think this through, this is unacceptable behavior and needs to be fixed. If you make a change this drastic then also make sure the user can turn it off/roll it back/undo it. Don’t tell me that Safari is not allowed to share a photo to have it saved to the camera roll, that’s unacceptable and needs to be fixed and escalated. Wake up Apple!!!
I also had the same problem but!…I managed to fix it but not in the editing apps which sucks but if you want to send images to texting apps like: messenger, discord, etcetc.
Photos>Share icon>Click the server and channel/group>Then send a message (optional.
This image is a example.
Hello, I’m not sure how “Private Access” equates to “No Access”.
Besides, access to my photos are locked as “Don’t allow changes” under Content & Privacy Restrictions. When I download the “Private Access” apps, my restriction is somehow bypassed. And the apps are automatically given “private access” without even asking.
Apple doesn’t define what “private access” means. We cannot see the images that are privately accessed. And most importantly, we cannot control the privately accessed images. You could simply uninstall the apps other than Safari and Mail. This is a whole new level of privacy and concern
It’s happening to me too, but as a free lancer artist, it’s debilitating my career since I can’t upload images from one art program I use to another. The main program I use has full access, but the one I use to add additional details and my animation program is stuck on private access. I’ve tried deleting the apps and reinstalling them, but they’re still stuck on private access and only lost all the images on those apps. (Luckily I have backups on Google photos, but I’m still going to have to redraw all that work again by hand if this issue doesn’t get fixed.) Trying to make art a living is hard enough, but being unable to edit the permissions to two of the art programs I use? That’s criminal.
"I’m getting a bit tired of feeling compelled to check privacy settings on my phone after every upgrade out of fear some privacy setting has been reset or changed without my knowledge."
Same, thank you! After every update -big or small. Despite having all changes disallowed via Screen Time Content & Privacy Restrictions, changes are made to general security & privacy settings, apps given access to photos, contacts, camera, microphone, files, media, local network, location, & cell data; apps are added to those keeping/snycing/backing up files/data in iCloud, & doing background activities; Safari experimental features -excluded from Content & Privacy Restrictions- are added &/or turned on. The most recently added security/privacy risk turned ON by default, is in AirDrop settings: "Start Sharing by Bringing Devices Together" -found by accident when 2 family members comparing phone sizes brought their devices together. Good/bad news is the feature (too easily) works well.
@ATX24
"I’m getting a bit tired of feeling compelled to check privacy settings on my phone after every upgrade out of fear some privacy setting has been reset or changed without my knowledge."
Same, thank you! After every update -big or small. Despite having all changes disallowed via Screen Time Content & Privacy Restrictions, changes are made to general security & privacy settings, apps given access to photos, contacts, camera, microphone, files, media, local network, location, & cell data; apps are added to those keeping/snycing/backing up files/data in iCloud, & doing background activities; Safari experimental features -excluded from Content & Privacy Restrictions- are added &/or turned on. The most recently added security/privacy risk turned ON by default, is in AirDrop settings: "Start Sharing by Bringing Devices Together" -found by accident when 2 family members comparing phone sizes brought their devices together. Good/bad news is the feature (too easily) works well.
Photo settings on iPhone's Safari stuck on “Private Access” with iOS 17
