To those who haven’t been following the upcoming macOS update, they’ve added changes lately that bring back the nagging pop-ups for apps that use the Screen / System Recording features once a week — then they’ve adjusted it to once a month.
macOS Sequoia Will Require Users to Update Screen Recording App Permissions Monthly
So imagine going to a video call, and you need to share your screen. Screen sharing generally requires your app (say, Zoom, or your web browser) to peek to your desktop or a particular app when it does this. And to proceed, macOS will give you a nagging prompt.
Back then, this only happens once, forever. Once Sequoia comes out and if they don’t change this, expect to see that popup once in a while.
Sounds nice on paper, but if you’ll ask me, it’s not good enough.
Terrible execution, if you ask me.
I’m glad they relaxed the duration, but the execution still remains shit.
The massive purple indicator is already distracting as it is. When I say “allow”, I fucking meant it, and I don’t want to be reminded like a kid that I should be mindful of these things.
Apple is basically saying it will nag me with prompts for every single app listed in this screen.
If I was Apple, I’d address this issue by doing the following:
<app-icon> Application Name is recording your screen marquee, similar to that of the macOS VPN connection. Only show this for 5–10 secs, then revert back to the already-distracting purple icon.
See those icons next to Voice Memos? Make it like this. And if I click on it, take me to the Screen Recording permissions screen and/or the Screen Time dashboard I just suggested.
Control Center already does a nice job of showing recent use for Mic and Camera. Just do the same for Screen Recording. Oh and make it stay there for around 15 mins or so, and actually say when it’s used (e.g., “OBS (4 minutes ago, for 10 minutes)” rather than “recently”.
I’m no UI designer, but here’s a mock of what I want to see.
A lot of the things I kind of want are exactly what Google already did for how they deal with permissions on Android, and I wish macOS copied it.
This view is much cleaner and easier to navigate compared to the clutter in macOS.
I love master switches for camera and microphone as well. Yes, they’re software switches, but it’s reassuring that it’s a system-level restriction.
macOS does this too, but Android does it better by showing the app count.
Totals are unlikely in macOS but at least give me how many are using a particular permission.
macOS does this screen better since it has toggles instead, but I do like that Android shows if it was accessed in the past 24 hours.
Apple actually does this, but only to Location permissions.
This is the kind of dashboard that I want. And it could be better on the big screen on a Mac if they tried something like it.
Permissions history!
This sounds excessive, but it’s actually good to have especially if you’re investigating an app and if they’re truly honest about their permissions use.
Finally, the “unused apps” section.
You’ll get a notification about these once in a while, and when you do, you can get back to it and see which apps were flagged and which permissions were removed.
THIS right here, is the best execution imho, and I want this rather than monthly nagging popups.
It’s so well thought out, if you’ll ask me. Good job on the Android team, really.
