If Firefox on your iPhone won’t let you upload a photo, open the camera, or attach an image on a website, it’s usually not the site “breaking.” It’s almost always an iOS permission, a restriction, or a site-level setting that got denied once and stuck.
Start with the quick iOS toggles first, then move to Firefox’s site permissions.
1. Confirm iPhone-level Camera + Photos permissions for Firefox
iOS controls access for every app. If Firefox is set to “None,” uploads and camera prompts can fail silently.
- Camera: Settings > Privacy & Security > Camera > turn on Firefox.
- Photos: Settings > Privacy & Security > Photos > Firefox > choose All Photos (or Limited Access and select images).
If you only need uploads occasionally, “Limited Access” is fine—just make sure you actually selected photos for Firefox.
2. Check Screen Time restrictions (they can block camera/photos even when permissions look “on”)
Screen Time can override normal permission behavior, especially on managed devices or family devices.
- Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions
- Open Allowed Apps (make sure Camera is allowed)
- Then check Content Restrictions and any privacy-related toggles
If this is a work/school phone (MDM), you may not be able to change these—IT would need to.
3. Re-allow permissions for the specific website inside Firefox
Even with iOS permissions enabled, the website itself can be blocked inside Firefox (for example, you tapped “Don’t Allow” once).
- In Firefox, open the problem site.
- Tap the lock/permissions area (site info) and review what the site is allowed to use.
- If you see camera or photo/library blocked, switch it to Allow.
If you don’t see a clear permission prompt, try closing the tab and reopening the site so it asks again.
4. Try a clean test: Private tab + disable content blockers for that site
Upload widgets (especially embedded ones) can break when a tracker blocker or strict privacy mode blocks a required script.
- Open a Private tab and test the upload again.
- If it works in Private, a cookie/session setting or site data is likely involved.
- Temporarily relax protection for that site (where Firefox offers site-specific protections) and retry.
After you finish uploading, you can turn protections back on for day-to-day browsing.
5. Clear site data for just the problem website (not a full reset)
Sometimes a site keeps an old “denied” state or a broken upload session in its local storage/cookies.
- In Firefox, open Settings > Data Management (or similar area).
- Look for options to clear Website Data or remove data for a specific site.
- Restart Firefox and sign back into that site, then try uploading again.
If you rely on the site, be ready to log in again after clearing its data.
6. Update Firefox and reboot (it fixes stuck permission prompts)
On iOS, permission prompts can get “stuck” after an update, a crash, or a long uptime.
- Update Firefox from the App Store.
- Restart your iPhone (power off/on).
- Try the upload again on a known-good site (for example, an email attachment or a cloud drive upload page) to confirm the camera/photo picker opens.
If it still fails everywhere, re-check Step 1 and Step 2—those are the most common root causes.
Final thoughts
When Firefox can’t access Photos or the Camera on iPhone, the fix is usually an iOS privacy toggle or a Screen Time restriction—not something you need to “reinstall everything” for.
Work from iOS permissions to site permissions, and only clear site data when you’ve confirmed the basics.