Recently I became aware that the default camera application in Samsung phones (I have S23 Ultra) requires the "Nearby Devices" permission in order to function in any capacity. You cannot even open the app without this permission granted.
I understand why this permission exists, but the majority of the time it is not needed. I cannot think of a single justifiable reason why this permission is a requirement for app functionality. It should at least allow permission options such as "ask every time", or ideally the option to completely deny that permission.
I no longer use the Samsung camera app because of this, and the existence of this feature actively makes me want to not use Samsung products.
This issue has definitely not been solved by any definition of the word. The error still exists, and no explanation of any sort has ever actually been given. The issue of "Allow Voicemail to find, connect to, and determine relative position of nearby devices" (also an issue with the camera at the very least, and probably others) been asked in hundreds of places, and marked as "I have the same question" by thousands, yet it has never been explained or corrected. "The app needs the permission to function in order to function is not an answer. That is circular and meaningless. "You don't have to use the feature" is also not an answer. That is irrelevant. It is perfectly acceptable to say you can't figure out how to untangle the code needed to make the Bluetooth work from the code needed to make, say, the voicemail and camera work. That's fine. If you say it, someone somewhere will probably help you no problem, and probably no questions asked. We need to know how to use the devices safely. What is nearby? Is it 10 metres? Is it 100 metres? Is it three miles? What is done with that information collected? Is the location and connectivity of the device recorded on my device? Is MY information being shared with the other unknown device? Is that data being sent somewhere else? What is that data being used for? Are either of the devices, or a third data base somewhere else storing that data? For how long? These are questions literally costing companies and consumers money. When I asked Verizon about this, they sent a new phone that now is also pestering me for my home address in order to send "emergency services" for "wi-fi calling", a feature I turned off already. That makes no sense either. What are the chances I'd call for emergency services and be home, but the phone doesn't work and somehow the wi-fi does work? We just want to know what we need to do to not participate in illegal activity, such as stealing other people's or company information, and not share our data for data brokers and criminals to use. That's it. The posts are never actually answered, and are always locked. The one I just shared is just one example of hundreds. So what's actually going on? How do we use these products safely for ourselves, our neighbours, and our work places? This seems to be across several devices and been going on at least since 2022. Direct technical support doesn't seem to grasp the concept, and employs either the circular explanation, the "Why did you buy it product" argument, or suggests repair, which just costs people money, since it's already known to be in the software, not the hardware. Someone somewhere can either help, or advice can be given if the question isn't simply shut down before giving them a chance to help.
Hello, Welcome to the Community. We appreciate your feedback and will tag it on the forum so that it will appear with other feedback. This will allow your post to be more easily found in the event that Samsung product groups are seeking outside feedback/requests regarding our products.
The phone uses this to connect to either a Bluetooth or a wired device. BOTH are nearby devices. As for what it connect to, that is stuff you have already paired to, or plugged in. it is not randomly searching to see if a compatible device happens to be nearby, but instead it is giving the permission to use the devices YOU painstakingly connected to the device. If there are none then it does nothing. I guess what YOU want trumps the functionality of what OTHER may want.
