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React Native permissions generator

React Native microphone permission

Recording audio, or capturing video with sound, needs the microphone permission: android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO on Android, and NSMicrophoneUsageDescription on iOS. A camera app that records video needs this in addition to the camera grant, which is the pair most often shipped half-complete.

expo-audio (and expo-av before it) declares both through its config plugin and exposes the runtime request. The iOS string is shown in the consent prompt, so write it as a sentence about the feature — 'to record voice notes' — rather than restating the permission's name.

Microphone at a glance

Android grants
android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO
iOS Info.plist key
NSMicrophoneUsageDescription
Expo package
expo-audio
Config plugin
expo-audio
What it enables
Record audio, or capture video with sound.
What the user agrees to
Record audio

The declarations, for Expo and the bare workflow

Expo config

app.json
{
  "expo": {
    "ios": {
      "infoPlist": {
        "NSMicrophoneUsageDescription": "TODO: why this app records audio."
      }
    },
    "android": {
      "permissions": [
        "android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO"
      ]
    },
    "plugins": [
      "expo-router",
      "expo-audio"
    ]
  }
}

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.RECORD_AUDIO" />

Bare workflow, iOS

ios/<App>/Info.plist
<key>NSMicrophoneUsageDescription</key>
<string>TODO: why this app records audio.</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-audio

Microphone permission, answered

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

What permission does React Native need for microphone?
On Android, declare android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO in AndroidManifest.xml (or expo.android.permissions in app.json). On iOS, add NSMicrophoneUsageDescription to Info.plist (or expo.ios.infoPlist) with a sentence explaining why — the user reads it in the consent prompt. expo-audio exposes the runtime request.
Do I still have to request microphone at runtime?
Yes. The declaration only makes the request possible. The first time the feature is used, call the request API from expo-audio; the operating system shows the prompt ("Record audio") 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 microphone permission?
Most often the NSMicrophoneUsageDescription 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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