alt Hacker NewsI have a file search app that does its own indexing similar to Everything on Windows (https://lowtechguys.com/cling) and I only index paths.
I don't need file contents, I can skip showing file sizes and date modified on protected paths. Hell I can skip indexing Mail and Messages files altogether since they're pretty useless anyway. But how am I supposed to know beforehand which path will trigger a scary Cling wants to see your <private folder> when doing a simple traversal.
Similarly, window switchers like my rcmd app (https://lowtechguys.com/rcmd) need access to window titles to function properly, but for that, the app has to ask for Screen Recording permissions. I don't need to record anything, I just need the damn title text and users will be happy to give access to that, but not to recording the screen.
This goes on and on.
Want to register a more interesting hotkey like fn-letter? You have to act like a keylogger and ask for Input Monitoring.
Want to focus a specific window instead of activating the app and letting the OS decide which window comes forward? You need Accessibility permissions and full access to control the whole computer.
Want to paste some text into a text field? Accessibility Permissions.
Too granular permissions is hell. But there are these decade-old common use cases for macOS utilities that would make it much easier to keep permissions locked if they became their own permissions.
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> Similarly, window switchers like my rcmd app (https://lowtechguys.com/rcmd) need access to window titles to function properly, but for that, the app has to ask for Screen Recording permissions. I don't need to record anything, I just need the damn title text and users will be happy to give access to that, but not to recording the screen.
Window titles can and often do contain very personal information. A window titled "Planned Parenthood | Official Site" in the hands of a bad actor or some relative-monitoring spyware could have disastrous consequences.
> Want to paste some text into a text field? Accessibility Permissions.
Only if you aren't relying on user-initiated pasting like right click ' cmd+v.
I have a disk monitoring app that also gives quick access or the ability to eject external drives. Without Full Disk Access, you can’t open a Finder window to the root of the external drive. You can open the parent and select the disk mount point.
I burned a support request on this years ago, and was told that it seemed like a good idea for a future update… a API to open a Finder window at a known path.
macOS used to be one of the most power tool friendly operating systems. Apple Events and AppleScript dictionaries made automation like this so easy. Now everything requires a special permission or specialized Kit to do things that were simple two decades ago.