Enhances Android permission requests with improved UX by addressing issues like Compose Preview breaks, initial permission states, and detecting permanently denied permissions, using Accompanist Permissions.
repositories {
mavenCentral()
}
implementation("com.eygraber.permissionx:compose-permissionx:0.3.0")
Snapshots can be found here.
Have you ever struggled with providing a good UX to your users when it comes time to ask them for permissions? Do you get the sense that Android makes it really difficult to do this?
If so, you're on to something. Requesting permission in Android is not as straightforward as it should be. With the best of intentions around user safety, a monster was created. Unfortunately, the complicated nature of requesting permission from users usually results in a lot of frustration and corner cutting that leads to a poor UX, and a loss of trust from our users.
Through very careful state management, it is possible to get it right, but it comes with a lot of frustration. Accompanist Permissions goes a long way to solving that frustration, and that is why Compose PermissionX is built on top of it.
However, there are a couple of issues that Accompanist won't (or can't solve):
Both of these issues have the same underlying cause, namely the Android permissions framework doesn't want you to have this information (allegedly for user safety, and so that it isn't simple to send users to the App Settings to grant the permission). It looks unlikely that this will ever change1 2 3, and that's why Compose PermissionX is here.
One particularly tricky scenario occurs when a permission request is canceled. This can happen when:
In these cases, Android returns a denied result without showing the rationale flag (shouldShowRationale = false).
This makes it impossible to distinguish between:
Compose PermissionX solves this with a hybrid approach:
The first request will always transition to Denied, even if the underlying system status indicates permanent denial.
This gives the consumer a chance to show rationale and request again:
NotRequested → Denied
After the first request, Compose PermissionX uses a timing threshold to distinguish between cancellations and permanent denials:
cancellationThreshold), the system likely
didn't show a dialog (true permanent denial) → PermanentlyDeniedDeniedDenied → (fast result) → PermanentlyDenied
Denied → (slow result) → Denied (can request again)
This threshold is configurable:
val permissionState = rememberPermissionState(
permission = android.Manifest.permission.CAMERA,
cancellationThreshold = 200.milliseconds, // custom threshold
)
The default of 135ms was chosen because it's slightly longer than typical system response times for pre-denied permissions, while being short enough that user interactions (even quick taps) will exceed it.
Most of the API mirrors Accompanist Permissions.
For single permission requests:
For multiple permission requests:
Currently, this library just supports Android. If there is ever a need to solve a platform specific issue on other platforms it can get added here. It is not a goal of Compose PermissionX to be a general use case multiplatform permission solution.
rememberPermissionState breaks Compose Preview
An issue exists, but was closed,
delegating the responsibility for the fix to the
findActivity API. While that might be the correct place to fix this issue, devs have had to deal with this for years,
with no movement towards a fix.
Compose PermissionX solves this by simply making sure findActivity isn't called while in a preview.
The default state of the permission before a request is made
Detecting whether a permission was permanently denied
fun FeatureThatRequiresCameraPermission() {
val cameraPermissionState = rememberPermissionState(
android.Manifest.permission.CAMERA
)
when(val status = cameraPermissionState.status) {
PermissionStatus.Granted -> FeatureWithGrantedCameraPermission()
PermissionStatus.NotGranted -> {
val message = when(status) {
PermissionStatus.NotGranted.NotRequested ->
"Camera permission required for this feature to be available. Please grant the permission."
PermissionStatus.NotGranted.Denied ->
"The camera is important for this app. Please grant the permission."
PermissionStatus.NotGranted.PermanentlyDenied ->
"This feature can't be used without granting the camera permission. Please grant it in the app's settings."
}
val buttonLabel = when(status) {
PermissionStatus.NotGranted.PermanentlyDenied -> "Open App Settings"
else -> "Request Permission"
}
Column {
Text(message)
Spacer(modifier = Modifier.height(8.dp))
Button(
onClick = {
// alternatively call cameraPermissionState.launchPermissionRequestOrAppSettings()
when(status) {
PermissionStatus.NotGranted.PermanentlyDenied -> cameraPermissionState.openAppSettings()
else -> cameraPermissionState.launchPermissionRequest()
}
}
) {
Text(buttonLabel)
}
}
}
}
}
fun FeatureThatRequiresCameraAndRecordAudioPermission() {
val multiplePermissionsState = rememberMultiplePermissionsState(
android.Manifest.permission.CAMERA,
android.Manifest.permission.RECORD_AUDIO,
)
when {
multiplePermissionsState.isAllPermissionsGranted -> FeatureWithGrantedCameraAndRecordAudioPermission()
else -> {
Text(multiplePermissionsState.getTextForDeniedPermissions())
Spacer(modifier = Modifier.height(8.dp))
val buttonLabel = when {
multiplePermissionsState.isAllNotGrantedPermissionsPermanentlyDenied -> "Open App Settings"
else -> "Request Permissions"
}
Button(
onClick = {
// alternatively call multiplePermissionsState.launchMultiplePermissionRequestOrAppSettings()
when {
multiplePermissionsState.isAllNotGrantedPermissionsPermanentlyDenied ->
multiplePermissionsState.openAppSettings()
else ->
multiplePermissionsState.launchMultiplePermissionRequest()
}
}
) {
Text(buttonLabel)
}
}
}
}
private fun MultiplePermissionsState.getTextForDeniedPermissions() = buildString {
if(isNotRequested) {
append(
"Camera and record audio permissions are required for this feature to be available. Please grant the permissions."
)
}
else {
val isCameraPermanentlyDenied = isPermanentlyDenied(android.Manifest.permission.CAMERA)
val isRecordAudioPermanentlyDenied = isPermanentlyDenied(android.Manifest.permission.RECORD_AUDIO)
if(isCameraPermanentlyDenied && isRecordAudioPermanentlyDenied){
append("This feature can't be used without granting the camera and record audio permissions. ")
append("Please grant them in the app's settings.")
}
else {
val isCameraDenied = isDenied(android.Manifest.permission.CAMERA)
val isRecordAudioDenied = isDenied(android.Manifest.permission.RECORD_AUDIO)
append("The ")
if(isCameraDenied && isRecordAudioDenied) append("camera and record audio permissions are ")
else if(isCameraDenied) append("camera permission is ")
else if(isRecordAudioDenied) append("record audio permission is ")
append("important for this app. Please grant the ")
if(isCameraDenied && isRecordAudioDenied) append("permissions.")
else append("permission.")
}
}
}
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