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React Native permissions generator

React Native calendar permission

Reading and creating events in the device calendar needs READ_CALENDAR and WRITE_CALENDAR on Android and NSCalendarsFullAccessUsageDescription on iOS 17 and later (earlier releases used NSCalendarsUsageDescription). The pair is always emitted together because half a pair can fail on a device even when the build passes.

expo-calendar declares both and exposes requestCalendarPermissionsAsync. iOS 17 also added a write-only key for apps that only add events; if that is the whole feature, the narrower prompt is the better one to ship.

Calendar at a glance

Android grants
android.permission.READ_CALENDAR android.permission.WRITE_CALENDAR
iOS Info.plist key
NSCalendarsFullAccessUsageDescription
Expo package
expo-calendar
Config plugin
expo-calendar
What it enables
Read and create events in the device calendar.
What the user agrees to
See and change your calendar events

The declarations, for Expo and the bare workflow

Expo config

app.json
{
  "expo": {
    "ios": {
      "infoPlist": {
        "NSCalendarsFullAccessUsageDescription": "TODO: why this app reads and writes your calendar."
      }
    },
    "android": {
      "permissions": [
        "android.permission.READ_CALENDAR",
        "android.permission.WRITE_CALENDAR"
      ]
    },
    "plugins": [
      "expo-router",
      "expo-calendar"
    ]
  }
}

Prebuild writes these into the native projects; the config plugin is what makes the package's native code part of the build.

Bare workflow, Android

android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_CALENDAR" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_CALENDAR" />

Bare workflow, iOS

ios/<App>/Info.plist
<key>NSCalendarsFullAccessUsageDescription</key>
<string>TODO: why this app reads and writes your calendar.</string>

The TODO is deliberate: the usage description is shown in the consent prompt and App Review rejects boilerplate.

Install the library

terminal
npx expo install expo-calendar

Calendar permission, answered

The longer version is in the guide React Native permissions that satisfy both stores.

What permission does React Native need for calendar?
On Android, declare android.permission.READ_CALENDAR and android.permission.WRITE_CALENDAR in AndroidManifest.xml (or expo.android.permissions in app.json). On iOS, add NSCalendarsFullAccessUsageDescription to Info.plist (or expo.ios.infoPlist) with a sentence explaining why — the user reads it in the consent prompt. expo-calendar exposes the runtime request.
Do I still have to request calendar at runtime?
Yes. The declaration only makes the request possible. The first time the feature is used, call the request API from expo-calendar; the operating system shows the prompt ("See and change your calendar events") and remembers the answer. A declared but never requested permission does nothing, and a requested but never declared one fails.
Why was my app rejected over the calendar permission?
Most often the NSCalendarsFullAccessUsageDescription string: App Review rejects a missing one at once and a vague or boilerplate one frequently. Write what the app does with the data in your own words. Google Play reviews the declaration against the app's visible features, so a grant no screen uses is also a finding.

Declare every feature the app uses

The React Native permissions generator builds the complete set from the same catalogue — tick each device feature and copy the paired Android grants and iOS usage descriptions, the Expo app.json fragment and the install line together. In the Nodlume workspace the declarations come from the screens themselves: a screen that uses the camera is what adds the camera permission to the Expo Router project it exports.

Open the generator

Other React Native permissions

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