How Common Are Camera and Other Permission Asks in Mobile Apps?

In Lazyweb Research's corpus, camera-permission screens appear in 15 apps (20 canonical screens), and all other permission types are smaller still — bluetooth (6 apps), health (2), network (2), microphone (3) ^[1]^[2]. These are inventory counts only; samples are too small for timing or percentage claims. Camera is the largest of the 'minor' permissions but still a niche ask.

Camera-permission screens appear in just 15 apps (20 screens); every other minor permission is smaller — Lazyweb Research, July 2026.

By Ali Abouelatta · Lazyweb Research · n=15 · Published 2026-07-07 · Updated July 2026

mobileonboardingux-patternsnotifications

Locket Account Setup screen — real in-market example tracked by Lazyweb Research — Real in-market screens from **Locket**, **Faceapp**, **Uber Eats**, **Betterme** — tracked by Lazyweb Research

Faceapp Account Setup screen — real in-market example tracked by Lazyweb Research — Real in-market screens from **Locket**, **Faceapp**, **Uber Eats**, **Betterme** — tracked by Lazyweb Research

Screens — The finding

Screens — The finding
Item	Screens
Camera / photos	20
Bluetooth	9
Motion + generic prompts	8
Health	7
Network	4
Microphone	3

The finding

Camera-permission canonical screens span 20 screens across 15 apps ^[1]. Only 2 flows contain a camera screen, so flow-position stats were dropped below the reporting threshold — inventory and named examples only ^[1]. Other permission types are smaller still ^[2]:

Permission	Screens	Companies
Camera / photos	20	15
Bluetooth	9	6
Motion + generic prompts	8	3
Health	7	2
Network	4	2
Microphone	3	3

What this means

Camera is the largest of the secondary permissions but still an order of magnitude smaller than notifications (65 verified apps). Health (2 apps), network (2), microphone (3), and motion (3) are all below the n=8 threshold — anecdote-only, name the apps rather than generalizing ^[2]. There is no defensible 'when to ask for camera' timing benchmark in this corpus.

How to apply it

Ask for camera, microphone, or health permissions in-context, at the exact moment the feature needs them — there is no captured priming-screen norm for these the way there is for notifications. Because peer examples are sparse, borrow the just-in-time pattern (ask when the user taps the feature) rather than a dedicated onboarding screen.

Caveats

All counts here are inventory only; every category except camera is below the n=8 threshold and should be treated as anecdote ^[1]^[2]. Camera itself has only 2 flows with position data, so no timing claim is defensible ^[1]. Capture is incidental, so all counts are floors.

The numbers

Stat	Computed from
camera 20 canonical screens across 15 companies; only 2 flows contain one	camera_screens_inventory: camera label set
bluetooth 9 screens/6 companies, health 7/2, network 4/2, microphone 3/3, motion+generic 8/3	other_permission_inventory: remaining permission label sets

Methodology. Universe: 15 camera-permission apps plus smaller bluetooth/health/network/microphone/motion sets (of 807), July 2026. Inventory counts only; camera has just 2 flows, all other types below n=8, so no timing or percentage claims.

Sources & citations

[1] Lazyweb Research analysis of 15 apps (camera-permission set, 807-app corpus), July 2026. 20 canonical screens; only 2 flows contain one, so position stats dropped below threshold. ↩
[2] Lazyweb Research analysis of minor permission sets (807-app corpus), July 2026. Bluetooth, health, network, microphone, motion — all below the n=8 threshold, anecdote-only. ↩

Source: Lazyweb Research — proprietary analysis of real, in-market app screens. Cite as Lazyweb Research, 2026-07-07.