Permission rationale provided before request prompts

Users who see an unexpected system permission dialog — with no context about why an app needs access — deny at significantly higher rates than users who receive an explanation first. iOS only allows one native permission request per permission type: if the user denies the cold prompt, the app can never ask again via the system dialog. GDPR Art. 7 requires consent to be freely given, informed, and specific; a system dialog with no preceding rationale does not satisfy the informed requirement. Google Play's permission UX guidelines similarly require that the app explain the purpose before the native prompt fires. A denied permission that could have been granted represents a permanently lost capability — the user must manually navigate to Settings to re-enable it.

Display an in-app explanation modal before every sensitive permission request. Keep the rationale specific to the feature the user is about to use.

import { Alert } from 'react-native'
import { request, PERMISSIONS, RESULTS } from 'react-native-permissions'

async function requestMicrophoneWithRationale() {
  await new Promise<void>(resolve =>
    Alert.alert(
      'Microphone Access',
      'Voice messages require microphone access. We never record without your action.',
      [{ text: 'Continue', onPress: resolve }]
    )
  )
  const result = await request(PERMISSIONS.IOS.MICROPHONE)
  return result === RESULTS.GRANTED
}

The rationale must reference the specific feature ("voice messages"), not vague purpose ("improve your experience"). For Android, set rationale directly in the request() call options — the library surfaces it via Android's built-in rationale dialog.