Apple’s macOS Sequoia will take the annoyance to a whole new level: The operating system will ask users for permission to use screen recording apps every week and after every reboot.
Apple is known for its efforts to protect the privacy and security of its users, but its latest efforts may go too far for some users. According to 9to5MacThe company is adding a prompt to Sequoia asking users to authorize access for all types of third-party apps that record screen activity or take screenshots.
The prompt appears the first time you run the app, every week after that, and on every reboot. To make matters worse, the prompt appears for every single app that falls into the affected category.
Needless to say, users and developers are not happy with the decision. xScope developer Craig Hockenberry was one of those who spoke out on Mastodon.
I’ve always prided myself on xScope being a tool that runs unobtrusively in the background and is ready when you need it.
So much for the “quiet” part…
Craig Hockenberry (@(email protected)) | August 6, 2024
Hockenberry went on to say that Apple’s Persistent Content Capture could be a solution to the problem, but pointed out that Apple has not yet provided any documentation on how to actually use it.
“A friend recently brought this to my attention and it feels like a solution to the (justified) uproar over the screen sharing nagging,” he writes.
“The problem is that Apple has not provided any documentation or other guidance on how to obtain this permission and prevent an app from becoming nagware.”
Hockenberry goes on to say that Apple should have communicated such important changes in advance rather than surprising users.
“You would think Apple would realize that it would be a good idea to notify developers in advance about security changes,” he continued.
“Instead, we get intrusive dialogue that (rightly) freaks everyone out.”
There is no doubt that screen capture and recording apps pose a greater security risk than other categories. A malicious app could capture sensitive data and send it to malicious actors. Apple is rightly concerned with ensuring that users understand the risks and knowingly installed and enabled such features.
Still, security that consists of pestering users with endless prompts hardly seems like the right approach and will hurt developers and end users alike.
