Determine if the access to photo library is set or not - PHPhotoLibrary

Question

With the new functionality in iOS 8, if you are using a camera in the app, it will ask for permission to access the camera and then when you try to retake the pic, it asks f

Answer 1

Swift 2.0+

Based on a combination of answers here, I've created a solution for myself. This method only checks if there is no permission.

We got a method pickVideo() that requires access to photos. If it is not .Authorized ask for permission.

If permission is not given, pickVideo() will not be called, and the user cannot pick a video.

As long as the user did not give full access to photos, you can avoid to let them pick 'or crash' your application.

  // Method that requires access to photos
  func pickVideo(){
    // Check for permission
    if PHPhotoLibrary.authorizationStatus() != .Authorized{
      // If there is no permission for photos, ask for it
      PHPhotoLibrary.requestAuthorization(requestAuthorizationHandler)
      return
    }
    //... pick video code here...
  }

  func requestAuthorizationHandler(status: PHAuthorizationStatus){
    if PHPhotoLibrary.authorizationStatus() == .Authorized{
      // The user did authorize, so, pickVideo may be opened
      // Ensure pickVideo is called from the main thread to avoid GUI problems
      dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue()) {
        pickVideo()
      }
    } else {
      // Show Message to give permission in Settings
      let alertController = UIAlertController(title: "Error", message: "Enable photo permissions in settings", preferredStyle: .Alert)
      let settingsAction = UIAlertAction(title: "Settings", style: .Default) { (alertAction) in
        if let appSettings = NSURL(string: UIApplicationOpenSettingsURLString) {
          UIApplication.sharedApplication().openURL(appSettings)
        }
      }
      alertController.addAction(settingsAction)
      // If user cancels, do nothing, next time Pick Video is called, they will be asked again to give permission
      let cancelAction = UIAlertAction(title: "Cancel", style: .Cancel, handler: nil)
      alertController.addAction(cancelAction)
      // Run GUI stuff on main thread
        dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue()) {      
          self.presentViewController(alertController, animated: true, completion: nil)
        }
      }
    }