Based on your link, if they are using MediaStore and targeting Android 9 > Permissions are required for all files on Android 9 (API level 28) or lower I'm not

Based on your link, if they are using MediaStore and targeting Android 9 > Permissions are required for all files on Android 9 (API level 28) or lower I'm not an expert, but unless I'm missing something, there seems to be a legitimate set of circumstances where the requesting of additional permissions is required to function correctly. It seems overly reductive to deposit this entirely at the feet of app developers.