Comply with new Google Play's Photo and Video Permissions policy

[RootSoft]

Motivation

Google announced a new Google Play's Photo and Video Permissions policy.
The full details are available at https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/14115180?hl=en

This is mainly about upcoming changes around the READ_MEDIA_IMAGES and READ_MEDIA_VIDEO permissions.

The stream_chat_flutter package uses photo_manager to access the device's photo library. Follow this wiki to fulfil the Android requirements.

Note: READ_MEDIA_IMAGES and READ_MEDIA_VIDEO are both required whether requesting images or videos.

<manifest>
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_MEDIA_IMAGES" /> <!-- If you want to read images or videos-->
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_MEDIA_VIDEO" /> <!-- If you want to read videos or images-->
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_MEDIA_AUDIO" /> <!-- If you want to read audio-->
</manifest>

Quoting:

Mid 2024: Apps with one-time or infrequent use of photos requested to use a system photo picker and remove READ_MEDIA_IMAGES and READ_MEDIA_VIDEO permissions from their app manifest.
Early 2025: Only apps with broad access core functionality can use READ_MEDIA_IMAGES and READ_MEDIA_VIDEO permissions.

Apps using those permissions for the Stream Chat feature are likely to fall into this "one-time or infrequent use of photos" bucket.
See https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/14115180?hl=en#zippy=%2Cwhat-does-it-mean-to-have-a-one-time-or-infrequent-use-of-photos-or-video-files

What does it mean to have a one-time or infrequent use of photos or video files?

Examples of one-time or infrequent use of photos or video files include, but are not limited to, uploading a profile picture, uploading an image for a playlist, or uploading a photo of a check for banking purposes. Infrequent use infers that your app does not have a photo or video use case as its core functionality. If your app has a one-time or infrequent use case for photo or video files, you may not use the READ_MEDIA_IMAGES or READ_MEDIA_VIDEO permission, and we urge you to instead use a system picker to preserve user privacy.

Proposed solution

Google suggests using a system picker, such as an Android photo picker.
See https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/14115180?hl=en# and https://developer.android.com/training/data-storage/shared/photopicker

Acceptance Criteria

Stream SDK switches to a system picker or an alternative method, so we no longer use the READ_MEDIA_IMAGES and READ_MEDIA_VIDEO permissions.

More information can be found on this React Native thread.

[AndreHaueisen]

This is urgent. Without the READ_MEDIA_VIDEO and READ_MEDIA_IMAGES permissions, users cannot pick media. However, with these permissions, we are unable to release new Android versions. As a result, our app is currently blocked from new releases.

[RootSoft]

@AndreHaueisen You can temporarily request to extend the deadline until May 2025 on the Play Console at the App Content section. But yes, this needs to be handled.

[xsahil03x]

Hey, we are discussing this with the Android and React Native SDK teams and will come up with a solution soon. Thanks