In this guide
For most permissions, iOS shows its system prompt only once. After a user answers, your app normally cannot show that dialog again, so you must know how to get back to the first-run state. This checklist covers resetting, then what to verify. Apple changes menu names and behavior between iOS versions, so confirm each method on your own device.
Reset the prompt
Pick the lightest method that works:
- Delete and reinstall the app. On many iOS versions this brings permission prompts back, but not always for every permission type. Check on your device.
- Reset Location & Privacy. In Settings, look under General for Transfer or Reset iPhone, then Reset, and choose the option for location and privacy. This resets permission answers for all apps, so use a test device. Names differ by iOS version.
- Change the answer later. To test the denied state, open Settings, find your app and switch the permission off, then return.
- Use a fresh device or simulator when you need a clean slate for a full run.
The checklist
- First-run timing. Does the prompt appear at the moment the feature is needed? A camera prompt on launch, before the user has seen why, invites a "Don't allow". Why: users decide faster when they understand the benefit.
- Purpose text. Read the sentence under the system prompt. Is it specific ("to scan receipts"), not generic? Is it translated for every language you ship?
- Pre-prompt screen. If you show your own explanation first, check that declining it does not burn the system prompt.
- Allow path. Grant permission and check the feature works immediately, without restarting.
- Deny path. Deny it. Does the app say what it cannot do, and does the rest still work? A blank screen or a crash is a finding.
- Denied, second visit. Return to the feature after denying. The system dialog normally will not reappear, so there must be a way to Settings with a clear message and button.
- Changed in Settings. Turn the permission off and on while the app runs or is suspended. The app should react on return.
- Limited options. Some permissions allow partial answers (selected photos, approximate location, only while using the app). Test each answer you can receive.
- Several prompts in sequence. Notifications, location, camera on the same first run feel hostile. Spread them out.
- Restricted state. Parental controls or device management can block a permission. Check that the app does not loop or show an endless spinner.
Record
Per permission: reset method used, prompt timing, wording, result for allow, deny and changed-later. A small table works well.
Then check push notifications, which add their own layer on top of permission, and Face ID.
Get fresh eyes
A first-run prompt only works once per device. Other developers on AppReviewX give you private, structured feedback from their own first run; one feedback you write earns one credit. New accounts start with 0 credits.
Hub: iOS app testing guide. Related: push notification testing, Face ID testing.