You Are Coming To A Sad Realization...

If you've used an AI app on a Mac, you have likely encountered this "fun" prompt.

MacOS triggers this when an app (like OpenCode here) attempts to access local directories, or what Apple considers "other apps' data".

During a single AI session, this prompt can surface dozens of times in a row, forcing the user to select an option each time to dismiss it. Glaringly missing in the prompt is any sort of permanent way to resolve.

There is sort of a fix: (enable full disk access), but conveniently this isn't presented to the user. Neither is the inverse (permanently deny), thus trapping the user in an endless loop of prompts to achieve their tasks.

What Apple likely intended as a way to protect users from themselves actually operates as a constant interruption to daily workflows. My OS should facilitate my tasks, not stand in the way.

This is the sort of hostile pattern that Apple once stood against, and even ran ads on this specific issue against Windows. Remember "Get a Mac - Security"?

I'm not quite to the point of switching operating systems, but I can feel myself being pushed in that direction. AI is making the promise of personalized software a reality, and the products that I believe ultimately win are those that enable a truly open and delightful user experience.

I do believe Apple could dominate in this space, if only they wanted to.

In the words of Apple: "...you are coming to a sad realization. Cancel or Allow?"