MacOS 15 Sequoia Adds Weekly – That’s Right, Weekly – Nagging Permission Prompts for Screenshot and Screen Recording Apps

Chance Miller, writing for 9to5Mac:

With macOS Sequoia this fall, using apps that need access to screen recording permissions will become a little bit more tedious. Apple is rolling out a change that will require you to give explicit permission on a weekly basis to these types of apps, and every time you reboot your Mac. [...] In the current macOS Sequoia beta, this prompt says:

“[App name] can access this computer’s screen and audio. Do you want to continue to allow access? This application may be able to collect information from any open applications on your desktop while the app is running.”

Users can then choose to “Continue To Allow” that app to have screen recording access, or they can click “Open System Settings” and immediately be taken to the preferences pane for screen recording permissions.

This prompt is designed to appear on a weekly basis. The first time you attempt to use the app each week, you’ll see this prompt and have to decide whether to “Continue To Allow” or change the permission settings. The prompt will also appear each time (for each app) when you use that app for the first time after rebooting your Mac.

I think it shows just how much care and thoughtfulness went into turning up the dial on these nags that the button label incorrectly capitalizes the “to” in “Continue To Allow”. You can say, well, that’s a little thing. But that’s exactly the sort of little thing that almost never shipped from Apple, even in beta, until the last few years.

Having to click through these confirmation nags every week, for every such utility you use, is not a little thing at all. It’s the sort of thing companies do when decisions like this are made by people looking to cover their asses, not make insanely great products.

★ Wednesday, 7 August 2024