I'm not opposed to a trusted UI approach, but I don't think it is possible
to provide adequate functionality using a "take picture" button.  The
preview point is spot on.  Think about the camera apps people use - preview
is a universal feature among them.

One solution might be to bundle the preview option into the take picture UI
- what happens now? That's basically reducing the typical access
confirmation modal with a button that does the same thing, but doesn't have
an option to "always allow".

As an example of another (existing) camera permissions flow, look at Flash.
 They pop a settings dialog that can't be modified by the application, and
the user has an option to persist the granted access.  Taking that one step
further, on Apple laptops there is a *hardware* indicator for camera
access.  That is something users trust.

Also notice that there really aren't any popular systems that are designed
to be secure from the ground up.  Users want an experience that works and
uses their device to its full potential *first*, and worry about security
after that need has been met.  For examples of this, look to Android's SD
security or iOS's lazy address book access control (or any iOS API access
for that matter).  When security comes at the price of usefulness, you
might want to think about how much security will matter if users return
their devices in favor of a phone that has expected features like a camera
viewfinder.

I don't mean to specifically knock your point, however.  If there was a way
to use a trusted UI approach while still allowing for the features
developers need now (and to a reasonable degree in the future), then surely
that's the ideal path.  I just have yet to see a workable concept.

At the very least, the typical permissions based approach gives the users
who genuinely care about their security rather convenient tools to manage
it.  Reading comments on the Android market does seem to confirm that this
group of users actively polices their apps to ensure they aren't being
duped.

- Jason


Jason Miller
519.872.0797 // developIT <http://developit.ca/> // Jason Miller
Design<http://jasonmillerdesign.com/>
*Developer of amoebaOS <https://amoebaos.com/>,
Shutterborg<http://shutterb.org/> &
more

*
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