How to know what library requests particular iOS permissions in Flutter?

Question

I'm developing a Flutter app that relies on several external libraries. I don't use the camera in the app, however when I try to submit the app to AppStoreConnect, Apple rejects my app because they say that I don't have the NSCameraUsageDescription in my Info.plist file. Since I'm not using it directly in my app, it must be an external library. Is there a way to understand what is the library that is requesting this permission?

Answer 1

Run this command:

flutter pub deps | grep permission_handler

If you get any output at all, then the package is being pulled in. IF that is the package that's requesting permissions, there is a way to customize exclude/disable the imported permission libraries, in your Podfile. Find this section:

post_install do |installer|
  installer.pods_project.targets.each do |target|
    flutter_additional_ios_build_settings(target)
    ...  (you may have additional customizations here)

  end
end

And add some flags to disable those permissions, by adding a flag such as 'PERMISSION_CAMERA=0', to the permissions you want to disable, like so:

post_install do |installer|
  installer.pods_project.targets.each do |target|
    flutter_additional_ios_build_settings(target)

    target.build_configurations.each do |config|  # <-- start adding from here        
      
      # You can remove unused permissions here
      # for more infomation: https://github.com/BaseflowIT/flutter-permission-handler/blob/develop/permission_handler/ios/Classes/PermissionHandlerEnums.h
      # e.g. when you don't need camera permission, just add 'PERMISSION_CAMERA=0'
      config.build_settings['GCC_PREPROCESSOR_DEFINITIONS'] ||= [
        '$(inherited)',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.calendar
         'PERMISSION_EVENTS=0',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.reminders
         'PERMISSION_REMINDERS=0',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.contacts
        # 'PERMISSION_CONTACTS=0',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.camera
        # 'PERMISSION_CAMERA=0',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.microphone
         'PERMISSION_MICROPHONE=0',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.speech
         'PERMISSION_SPEECH_RECOGNIZER=0',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.photos
        # 'PERMISSION_PHOTOS=0',

        ## dart: [PermissionGroup.location, PermissionGroup.locationAlways, PermissionGroup.locationWhenInUse]
         'PERMISSION_LOCATION=0',
       
        ## dart: PermissionGroup.notification
        # 'PERMISSION_NOTIFICATIONS=0',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.mediaLibrary
         'PERMISSION_MEDIA_LIBRARY=0',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.sensors
         'PERMISSION_SENSORS=0',

        ## dart: PermissionGroup.bluetooth
         'PERMISSION_BLUETOOTH=0'
      ]
    end # <-- end adding here
  end
end

In the example above, I've commented out (because my apps uses them) contacts, camera, photos, and notifications; and disables all the other permissions.

Hopefully permission_handler is the package requesting the permission, because they make it easy to fix.