# Google Play photo and video permissions policy

> Google Play rejected the app for READ_MEDIA_IMAGES or READ_MEDIA_VIDEO? Remove the permissions and use the photo picker, or declare a core use.

**Photo and Video Permissions — Photo and video permissions: use the photo picker.** The app requests READ_MEDIA_IMAGES or READ_MEDIA_VIDEO, which Google keeps for apps whose core feature is browsing or editing media. An app that only lets people pick a photo now and then must use the Android photo picker, which needs no permission.

- Google Play · Photo and Video Permissions. Photo and video permissions: use the photo picker.
- Interactive page: https://capwr.app/free-tools/app-store-rejection-explainer/google-play-photo-video-permissions
- Rejection explainer: https://capwr.app/free-tools/app-store-rejection-explainer
- Last updated: 2026-10-14

## What this rejection means

The app requests READ_MEDIA_IMAGES or READ_MEDIA_VIDEO, which Google keeps for apps whose core feature is browsing or editing media. An app that only lets people pick a photo now and then must use the Android photo picker, which needs no permission.

## Why reviewers send it

Broad access to photos and videos is reserved for apps built around media, such as galleries and editors. Apps that let people pick an image now and then must use the Android photo picker, which needs no permission.

## The message Google Play sends

```
Issue found: Violation of Photo and Video Permissions policy

Your app requests the READ_MEDIA_IMAGES permission but only needs one-time or infrequent access to photos. Use the Android photo picker instead.
```

The exact wording changes from one review to the next; the policy name is what to look for.

## How to fix it

1. Remove READ_MEDIA_IMAGES, READ_MEDIA_VIDEO and READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE from android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml if the app only picks photos occasionally.
2. Pick images through the Android photo picker.
3. If media access is the app’s core feature, fill in the photo and video permissions declaration in Play Console instead.
4. Upload a build with a higher version code.

## Fix it with Lovable, Bolt or Cursor

If the app was built with an AI builder, paste this into it, then check the result on a phone:

```
In android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml, remove READ_MEDIA_IMAGES, READ_MEDIA_VIDEO and READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, and choose images through the Android photo picker, which needs no permission.
```

## What to tell Google Play

Replace the [brackets] with what you actually changed:

```
We removed the READ_MEDIA_IMAGES and READ_MEDIA_VIDEO permissions. The app now uses the Android photo picker to choose images.
```

## Got a different message?

Paste the whole rejection into the [rejection explainer](https://capwr.app/free-tools/app-store-rejection-explainer). It recognises this one and 26 others, in your browser — nothing is uploaded.

## Other Google Play rejections

- [Google Play Broken Functionality rejection](https://capwr.app/free-tools/app-store-rejection-explainer/google-play-broken-functionality)
- [Google Play webview and minimum functionality](https://capwr.app/free-tools/app-store-rejection-explainer/google-play-webview-minimum-functionality)
- [Google Play invalid privacy policy](https://capwr.app/free-tools/app-store-rejection-explainer/google-play-invalid-privacy-policy)
- [Google Play Data safety section inaccurate](https://capwr.app/free-tools/app-store-rejection-explainer/google-play-data-safety-inaccurate)
- [Google Play missing login credentials](https://capwr.app/free-tools/app-store-rejection-explainer/google-play-missing-login-credentials)
- [Google Play account deletion requirement](https://capwr.app/free-tools/app-store-rejection-explainer/google-play-account-deletion)
- [Google Play Payments policy: use Play Billing](https://capwr.app/free-tools/app-store-rejection-explainer/google-play-payments-policy)
- [Google Play Metadata policy violation](https://capwr.app/free-tools/app-store-rejection-explainer/google-play-metadata-policy)
- [Google Play production access refused](https://capwr.app/free-tools/app-store-rejection-explainer/google-play-production-access-denied)

## Fixed it? Ship the new build to Google Play

CapWrapp builds and signs the Android app from your GitHub repo, bumps the version code, and uploads it to Google Play — then promotes it to production when you are ready.

[Get started free](https://capwr.app/login).

## About CapWrapp

CapWrapp turns a web app on GitHub — built with Lovable, Bolt, Base44, Cursor or by hand — into iPhone and Android apps. It adds Capacitor if the repo needs it, signs the builds, and ships them to TestFlight and Google Play from GitHub Actions, with no Mac or Xcode on your side. [Get started free](https://capwr.app/login) · [Lovable to App Store guide](https://capwr.app/guides/lovable-to-app-store)