> This is the most complicated and brittle way to implement this. It’s also not at all how other sandboxed platforms work. If I want file access permissions on Android, I don’t just try to open a file with the Java File API and expect it to magically prompt the user. I have to call Android-specific APIs to request permissions first. iOS is the same. So why shouldn’t I be able to just call flatpak_request_permission(PERMISSION) and get a callback when the user approves or declines?
On macOS you try to open a file and it’s handled transparently. “iOS is the same” also could use a citation (I don't recall off hand if it is, and kinda doubt it based on the macOS behavior, so I feel a citation is appropriate). I’m slightly confused why the author is comparing Linux desktop with mobile rather than existing desktop implementations of sandboxing… feels a tad disingenuous.