Image picker

Install

npx expo install expo-image-picker

import { ImagePicker, type PickedAsset } from '@ng-native/expo/image-picker';

The smallest thing that works

import { Component, inject, signal } from '@angular/core';
import { ImagePicker, type PickedAsset } from '@ng-native/expo/image-picker';

@Component({
  selector: 'app-avatar',
  template: `
    <pressable (press)="choose()"><text>Choose a photo</text></pressable>
    <pressable (press)="take()"><text>Take one</text></pressable>
  `,
})
export class Avatar {
  private readonly picker = inject(ImagePicker);
  protected readonly photo = signal<PickedAsset | null>(null);

  protected async choose(): Promise<void> {
    const [photo] = await this.picker.pick({ mediaTypes: ['images'], allowsEditing: true });
    if (photo) this.photo.set(photo);
  }

  protected async take(): Promise<void> {
    const [photo] = await this.picker.capture({ quality: 0.8 });
    if (photo) this.photo.set(photo);
  }
}

Picking and capturing

• pick(options) opens the system photo picker. It needs no permission to pick from - the system UI runs outside your app's sandbox - so pick() never asks for one.
• capture(options) opens the system camera, asking for the camera permission first. Without it, it resolves to an empty list rather than opening the camera.
• Both resolve to a list of assets, empty if the person cancelled (or refused the camera), rather than a result object to unwrap - so a destructured const [photo] = await picker.pick() gives undefined, not a { canceled: true } you have to check first.
• options is expo-image-picker's own ImagePickerOptions, passed straight through: mediaTypes ('images', 'videos', 'livePhotos'), allowsEditing, quality, allowsMultipleSelection and the rest.

Permissions

Two separate permissions, each a Permission (see Permissions):

• libraryPermission guards reading the library yourself, outside pick() - the picker itself needs nothing. Ask for it only if your app browses or uploads from the library directly.
• cameraPermission is what capture() asks for itself, via ensure(). Read cameraPermission.blocked() to know when to send the person to Settings instead of asking again.

Add to Info.plist:

<key>NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription</key>
<string>Allow this app to access your photos</string>
<key>NSCameraUsageDescription</key>
<string>Allow this app to access your camera</string>
<key>NSMicrophoneUsageDescription</key>
<string>Allow this app to access your microphone</string>

Android's permissions are added automatically by the module's config plugin.

Without the module

Every method behaves as though the person refused: pick() and capture() resolve to an empty list, and both permissions report denied with canAskAgain: false rather than throwing.

Reference