How to Check Which Apps Are Accessing Your Photo Library on iPhone

Remember how many times you installed an app, quickly tapped Allow on the photo access prompt, and moved on without a second thought? Now might be a good time to check which apps have access to your photo albums.

How to See Which Apps Have Access to Photos on iPhone

When you first install an app and it wants to use photos or videos from your camera roll, you'll be asked if you want to allow the app to access your photo library. This prompt typically appears when you try to upload, edit, or share media content within the app.

For example, when you upload a photo to an Instagram story, a prompt appears asking Instagram to access your photo library.

You're usually given three options: Restrict Access, Allow Full Access , or Don't Allow . With Restrict Access , you can manually select which photos or videos the app can access, while Full Access means the app can access your entire camera roll.

To check which apps can access your Photos app, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Photos . A list of all the apps that have previously requested access to your Photos app will appear.

To modify the level of access an app has to your Photos app, select it from the list and choose one of the following options under the Photo Library Access heading: Limited Access or Full Access . If you want to completely revoke the app's access to your library, select None .

While you're at it, you may also want to manage which apps can access your location on your iPhone for better privacy control.

Why should you keep track of which apps have access to your photos?

For most people, the Photos app is often the most private app on their smartphone. The last thing anyone wants is for their private memories to end up in unwanted places.

While you can lock the Photos app on your iPhone , when an app has full access to your photo library, it could theoretically view, copy, or even use your images without you realizing it. This is rarely an issue for popular apps like Instagram or Facebook, as they adhere to privacy guidelines and privacy violations can be very damaging to the platform.

However, if you have a bad habit of installing every cool app you see on the App Store, this can quickly become a problem. Little-known apps have the potential to misuse this access in ways you never intended.

A good rule of thumb is to only grant full access to apps that you're 100% sure you can trust. Otherwise, grant limited access or avoid granting it altogether. And if you accidentally grant permissions to an app in haste, just follow the steps above to revoke them!

Isabella Humphrey

Update 26 May 2025