Permissions

Possible Voice asks for few permissions (at most three on each phone, depending on whether it is Android or iPhone), and never when the app opens. Before each system prompt the app asks for, it briefly explains what it needs the permission for. If you say no, the app keeps working with whatever it can: for example, you can listen without speaking.

1. At a glance

2. Microphone

• What for: so the room can hear you. The microphone is only used while you are in a room with your microphone on.
• When it is asked: when you join a room or tap the microphone. First our explanation appears, with "Continue" or "Not now", and then the system prompt.
• If you choose "Not now": you join as a listener. The app does not ask again by itself during that session; if you tap the microphone, it explains again.
• If it is blocked: Android blocks it after two refusals in a row. When you tap the microphone, you will see a sheet with "Open system settings". The app does not loop through prompts.
• Where to change it: Settings > Permissions > Microphone, or in your phone's settings.
• On iPhone: the app asks for the microphone with the text saying nothing is recorded.

3. Notifications (Android 13 or later)

• What for: the room notification shows which room you are in, and lets you mute yourself or leave without opening the app while you play.
• When it is asked: once per install, after your first connected room. First our explanation appears, and then the system prompt.
• If you say no: the room works the same; you just will not see the notification. "Not now" also counts as that one time.
• Where to change it: Settings > Permissions > Notifications, or in the system settings.
• Android 12 or earlier: there is no prompt. Notifications are on unless you turn them off in the system.
• iPhone: not asked, because the app does not use push notifications.

4. Screen capture (Android)

• What for: "Share screen" in a room. Only the video of your screen is shared, not its audio.
• When it is asked: each time you start sharing. Android shows its own prompt. It is not a permission the app keeps.
• If you say no: nothing is shared and the room carries on as usual.
• This feature only exists on Android.

5. Camera and photos (profile photo)

• What it is for: setting your profile photo, which is optional. Only the photo you choose is uploaded, cropped and without metadata.
• Photos: when you tap "Choose from your photos", the app opens the system photo picker (on Android 13 or later), with no storage permission and no access to your whole gallery: the app only receives the photo you choose. The first time, our explanation appears.
• Camera on Android: no permission is asked. Tapping "Take a photo" opens the phone's camera app, which takes the picture and hands it to Possible Voice; our app does not use the camera directly.
• Camera on iPhone: asked only when you tap "Take a photo", never when the app opens. Our explanation appears first, then the system prompt. The camera is used only while you take the photo.
• If you say no (iPhone): you keep your initial as your picture, and you can choose a photo from your photos. If the camera is blocked, you will see a sheet with "Open system settings".
• Where to change it (iPhone): Settings > Permissions > Camera, or in your phone's settings. On Android, that row says no permission is needed.

6. Permissions Android grants at install

Android grants these permissions when the app is installed, without showing any prompt:

• Internet and network state: connecting to the server and the room, and knowing whether there is a network to reconnect to.
• Audio settings: choosing the audio output (speaker, headphones or Bluetooth).
• Foreground service and foreground microphone: keeping your voice working while you play, with the room notification.
• Foreground service for playback: so you keep hearing the room even if you do not allow the microphone.
• Foreground service for screen capture: keeping "Share screen" running while you share.
• Promoted notifications (Android 16 or later): showing the room notification as a live update. You can turn it off in the app's notification settings.
• Bluetooth (Android 11 or earlier only): using Bluetooth headphones on older phones. On Android 12 or later, no Bluetooth permission is needed.

7. Permissions added by libraries

Some libraries the app uses add permissions to the Android package:

• Google Play purchases: for the "No ads" subscription.
• Advertising ID and ad services: for AdMob ads (see Advertising). Full-screen ads never appear during a voice call, and no banner appears while the room's music is on screen.
• Keep the phone awake: needed by Google's libraries (ads and Google Play services) for their background tasks. The app does not use it on its own.
• Google Play services: Google sign-in and advertising.

8. What we do not ask for

• Access to your whole gallery: not requested. The profile photo uses the system photo picker.
• Phone state: we do not read call status. Audio interruptions are detected without that permission.
• Biometrics (fingerprint or face): not requested. We remove it from the package even if a library declares it.
• Bluetooth on Android 12 or later: not requested, so the nearby devices prompt does not appear.
• Notification access: no longer used. Room music plays through the official YouTube player inside the app.

9. iPhone

• The app asks for the microphone with the explanation that nothing is recorded.
• For the profile photo, the camera is asked only when you tap "Take a photo", and photos are chosen with the system picker.
• Local network: the first time you connect to a room, iOS may show its local network access prompt. It is used only to set up the room's audio connection; the app does not look for or use other devices on your network. You can change it in the iPhone settings, under Privacy & Security > Local Network. While you are in a room, voice keeps working with the app in the background.

9A. Web app (beta)

• In the web app, permissions are asked for and remembered by your browser for that site, not by the system.
• Microphone: to speak in a room, as in the app, and for "Test my microphone" in Settings > Voice & audio, a test only you hear. If you say no, you can keep listening.
• Camera and photos: only if you set a profile photo, depending on what your browser offers.
• It does not ask for notifications, screen capture or any permission for ads or purchases: the web app has no ads and no purchases.
• Where to change them: in your browser's site settings (in Safari on iPhone, aA > Website Settings). If you opened the web app from its icon on the iPhone Home Screen, in Settings > Apps > Safari.

10. Changing or checking them

In Settings > Permissions you can see the real status of each permission, with a button to turn it on or to open the system settings. The screen updates itself when you come back from your phone's settings. You can also change permissions in the system settings at any time.