Google photos is simply refusing to let you use their app all unless you grant them access to view all of your photos.
I'm all for privacy -far beyond the average person- but this seems like one of those cases of uninstall it and move on if you don't agree with the product decision.
Fwiw: Not a fan of google. Currently on iCloud + Flickr for non-sensitive photos
"(iv) Access: Apps must respect the user’s permission settings and not attempt to manipulate, trick, or force people to consent to unnecessary data access. For example, apps that include the ability to post photos to a social network must not also require microphone access before allowing the user to upload photos. Where possible, provide alternative solutions for users who don’t grant consent. For example, if a user declines to share Location, offer the ability to manually enter an address."
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#pri...
E.g. a navigation app is useless without GPS permission and is okay, but a Maps app do not specifically require GPS permission as it can be used to view maps.
So to me, it seems Google is requiring permissions that are not strictly necessary for using the app.
This is not the problem. The problem is that they use that to do
> Google photos is simply refusing to let you use their app all unless you grant them access to view all of your photos.
This is not an appropriate use of the API.