Setup

Configuring Media Services for camera and gallery access

Prerequisites

• Essential Kit imported into the project from My Assets section of Package Manager

• iOS builds require camera and photo library usage descriptions

• Android automatically uses Photo Picker on Android 13+ (no permissions needed for selection)

Setup Checklist

1. Open Essential Kit Settings (Window > Voxel Busters > Essential Kit > Open Settings), switch to the Services tab, and enable Media Services

2. Configure which media operations your app will use (camera capture, gallery access, saving to albums)

3. Essential Kit automatically adds required platform permissions during build based on your configuration

4. Changes to the settings asset are saved automatically. If you use source control, commit the updated Resources/EssentialKitSettings.asset file

Configuration Reference

Setting	Platform	Required?	Notes
Enable Media Services	All	Yes	Toggles the feature in builds; disabling strips related native code
Uses Camera for Image Capture	All	Optional	Enable if capturing photos with camera; adds camera permission
Uses Camera for Video Capture	All	Optional	Enable if capturing videos; adds camera and microphone permissions
Saves Files to Photo Gallery	All	Optional	Enable if saving images/videos to gallery; adds write permission
Saves Files to Custom Directories	iOS	Optional	Enable if creating custom albums; requires additional iOS permissions

Only enable the features you actually use. Essential Kit automatically injects the appropriate permissions (CAMERA, READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE on Android; NSCameraUsageDescription, NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription on iOS) based on enabled settings.

Modern Platform Behavior: Essential Kit uses platform-recommended APIs automatically:

• Android 13+: Photo Picker (no permissions required for selection)

• iOS 14+: PHPicker for image selection (limited photo library access)

• Older versions: Falls back to traditional permission-based gallery access

Platform-Specific Notes

iOS Usage Descriptions

iOS requires usage descriptions that explain why your app needs access. Add these in your app's localization files or Essential Kit will use default messages:

• Camera: "We need camera access to let you capture photos for your profile"

• Photo Library: "We need photo library access to let you select images"

Android Permissions

• Photo Picker (Android 13+): No permissions needed for image selection

• Traditional Gallery: READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE automatically added for older Android versions

• Camera: CAMERA permission automatically added when camera features are enabled

• Saving: WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE automatically added when saving is enabled

Custom Albums/Directories on iOS: Enabling "Saves Files to Custom Directories" requires additional permissions. If you don't need custom albums, pass null for directoryName in MediaContentSaveOptions and disable this setting to avoid unnecessary permission prompts.

Need a working baseline? Run the sample at Assets/Plugins/VoxelBusters/EssentialKit/Examples/Scenes/MediaServicesDemo.unity to confirm your settings before wiring the feature into production screens.