> For applications such as WhatsApp/TikTok/Snapchat, etc., there needs to be a new controller/view for accessing private information such as the address book. This view will allow the user to see all of the contacts and select one to call, only then the app has access to that particular contact.
This is what Android already does. Without any special permission, an app can ask the user to choose a contact, a photo, a freshly snapped image from the camera, or various other things, and the app gets access to what the user explicitly gives it.
iOS has a similar thing for photos, but apps don’t use it. (The reason that the “give us your entire photo album API” exists is ostensibly so you can show it using your own UI. The number of apps that abuse this reason is very high, including some that absolutely should know better–as in, they’re market towards privacy-conscious users.)
This is what Android already does. Without any special permission, an app can ask the user to choose a contact, a photo, a freshly snapped image from the camera, or various other things, and the app gets access to what the user explicitly gives it.
That is what almost every app should do.