We have all seen it. You open the app for the first time and *POP* comes a screen, “Can we send you push notifications?”, “Can we access your camera?” and then “contacts?” and then “microphone?” It’s more like walking up a street and asking someone randomly for a date! Users are mostly scared to click on ALLOW unless it is big player like Facebook or WhatsApp or an Instagram app!
You spend weeks and months creating an app. It’s up on the Apple App Store and Playstore. And as expected the downloads figures are increasing every min! The last thing you would want to happen is users turning away due to in-app permissions. Here’s how you can calm people about in-app permissions-
- Answer their question of WHY?
Users appreciate transparency. Make it crystal clear for the users what they would get in return. Be clear and direct about how the access you need is essential to your app. Users will be good to share their information with you if you’re up-front and transparent about your permissions. Make sure to describe why your app needs the information, it might not be obvious as it seems to a designer who designed the app.
Users might even appreciate your UX and talk about it to others, if explained!
(Be clear and transparent why you want the permissions)
- Educate the user about your app
Imagine you are in a flight. You are not likely to share a lot of personal information with your co-passenger. As you become more comfortable with him, you might start revealing more about yourself.
The case of apps is almost the same! Build your credibility and trust with the users before you jump to asking permissions. The user is more likely to ALLOW the permission once these ground requirements are set.
(Give time to the users to establish credibility and trust on you)
- Ask for the permission on the right time and nudge them a bit
“Hit the iron when it is red hot!” Asking users for photo access after they tapped the camera and “choose photos” increased the acceptance rate for the “Cluster app” from 67% to 89%. That’s the magic of correct timing!
(How smartly Cluster app seeks permission)
Hope these ways help you increase the acceptance rates of your in-app permissions. Write to us at
monika[at]canvasflip.com or leave a comment below. We love to hear from you