It’s been over a year with these macOS pop-ups and I still have any idea why an app is asking, what should I say, what is the penalty for choosing Don’t Allow, etc. What a frustrating experience.

(Edit: I’m showing Chrome here but I am getting them for so many other apps without seemingly any rhyme or reason.)

Well, this explains… some things.
I can’t help but think this whole system just feels poorly thought through in terms of design and UX writing. I don’t imagine Digital Color Meter is capturing my screen, and in iOS 26 beta this dialog somehow became even more scary (granted, it’s a beta).
@mwichary How would the colorimeter know the colors without capturing the screen?
@bitnacht To me, there’s a difference between capturing and having access to. Capturing implies storage.
@bitnacht Plus, I just used it. I was there and saw what was happening. What does it help me to see this notification pop up a minute after I’m done?
@mwichary I don't know if you are venting or asking a question and I don't have all the details. So my idea is: You have installed an App and granted it privileges to do a task. After that task is finished the app starts using these privileges without you knowing about it. The trick is to detect when a voluntary user interaction triggers the access. There are heuristics for that (well behaved app necessary). The OS can't reliably determine if the app stores the image.

@bitnacht Thanks. The details are in my other posts under the original. But just to wrap up this one:

- this notification happens at a strange moment (after I put it aside) that adds more questions rather than providing answers
- this is Apple’s own app, so they know exactly what it’s doing
- even for other apps, there is a better way to describe it

I understand how this all works in principle. I just think a lot of details are wrong.

@mwichary Just in case you find it interesting: This is how it looks on my machine. #TahoeBeta … I get nothing else, just the thing in the control center.
@bitnacht Thanks! That seems a bit less prominent than what I see in Sequoia.