Why does the microphone permission specifically concern privacy researchers?

Beyond the obvious concern of recording audio, there's a documented ad-tech tactic where apps use the microphone to listen for audio patterns from nearby TV or radio ads, matching what a household is watching to better target advertising — without ever recording or transmitting actual conversations. A coloring app has no legitimate feature that requires this.

Is it enough to just deny a permission request when the app asks?

It helps, but it's not the same as the app never having the code path to request it, and some apps nag repeatedly or limit functionality until you grant access. Checking the App Store's own "App Privacy" section before downloading — which lists what data types an app says it collects — is a stronger first filter than deciding in the moment.

App Permissions Red Flags for Kids' Coloring Apps

Q: What permissions does a basic coloring app actually need?

In most cases, none at all. A standard tap-to-fill coloring app doesn't need camera, microphone, location, or contacts access to function. The one legitimate exception is photo library access, and only for apps that specifically offer a feature to color a photo you upload — a feature you should be able to identify from the app's own description.

The permission prompt — “Allow [App] to access your Camera?” — is easy to tap through without reading, especially mid-install when a kid is waiting to start coloring. That instinct is common: one analysis found 79% of parents grant an app’s permission requests simply because they assume the app won’t work properly without them. A separate audit found that 67% of apps marketed to children request permissions that actually violate COPPA guidelines. For a coloring app specifically, the honest answer is that almost none of those permissions are actually needed.

What a Coloring App Actually Needs

A standard tap-to-fill coloring app — pick a page, tap a region, choose a color — has no functional reason to request camera, microphone, precise location, or contacts access. The entire experience runs locally on pre-loaded artwork.

The one legitimate exception is photo library access, and only for an app that specifically advertises a feature to turn a photo into a coloring page. Even then, that’s a narrow, identifiable feature — not a blanket justification for broader access.

Real Red Flags to Watch For

Camera access with no photo-based feature. If the app’s own description doesn’t mention a camera-dependent feature, there’s no reason for the permission to exist at all.
Microphone access. Beyond the obvious concern of recording audio, there’s a documented ad-tech practice where apps listen for audio patterns matching nearby TV or radio ads — not recording conversations, but identifying what’s playing in the room to better target advertising to that household. A coloring app has no legitimate feature that needs this.
Precise location. A coloring app has no reason to know where the device physically is. If a permission prompt asks for this, it’s a strong signal the request is serving ad targeting rather than app functionality.
Contacts access. Unless an app has an explicit, obvious sharing or invite feature, there’s no reason a coloring app needs to read a device’s contact list.
A login requirement with no obvious reason. As we’ve noted separately when looking at what apps actually collect, a sign-in requirement for a simple, single-player coloring app is itself worth questioning — it’s not a permission in the technical sense, but it serves the same purpose of pulling in more account-linked data than the app needs.

Why This Is Easy to Miss

Permission prompts are designed to be answered quickly, usually right when a kid is waiting to start using the app — exactly the moment a parent is least likely to stop and read carefully. That’s part of why the 79% figure exists: it’s not that parents don’t care, it’s that the interaction is built for a fast yes.

How to Actually Check

Check the App Store’s “App Privacy” section before downloading, not after. Every listing includes a section showing what data types the developer says the app collects — this is a better first filter than deciding in the moment a prompt appears.
Review granted permissions periodically, not just at install. On iPhone, Settings → Privacy & Security lists every app with access to a given permission type (Camera, Microphone, Location, and so on), so you can audit what’s actually been granted across every app on the device, not just the one you just installed.
Deny by default, and see what breaks. If denying camera or microphone access doesn’t visibly break anything in a coloring app, that’s confirmation the permission wasn’t needed for the core experience.

Our Take

We test coloring apps hands-on for artwork, ease of use, safety, ads, value, offline behavior, age appropriateness and performance — we haven’t built a formal permissions audit into our BCA Score methodology the way security researchers do, and we want to be upfront about that rather than imply we’ve verified every app’s permission requests line by line. What we can say is that a coloring app requesting camera, microphone or location access with no corresponding feature is a red flag regardless of how well it otherwise scores, and it’s worth checking yourself using the App Store’s privacy section before you install anything for a kid. This pairs directly with what we’ve written about what data kids’ coloring apps actually collect more broadly.

Sources: Wait, Why Does That Game Need My Location? (ScreenWise), Allow or deny: What families should know about app permissions (Verizon), 5 Steps to a 15-Minute Family App Privacy Audit (TCEA)