[Bug]: Swift Package does not obey BYPASS_PERMISSION_LOCATION_ALWAYS setting

[pento]

Please check the following before submitting a new issue.

• I have searched the existing issues.
• I have carefully read the documentation and verified I have added the required platform specific configuration.

Please select affected platform(s)

• Android
• iOS
• Linux
• macOS
• Web
• Windows

Steps to reproduce

1. flutter create --platforms=ios geolocator_package_bug
2. Set your pubspec.yaml to enable swift package manager:

flutter:
  config:
    enable-swift-package-manager: true

3. Add geolocator to your dependencies, along with a package that still uses Pods (eg, flutter_keyboard_visibility), to force the Podfile to be created.
4. To generate the initial Podfile: flutter build ios --release
5. Add the config.build_settings['GCC_PREPROCESSOR_DEFINITIONS'] ||= ['$(inherited)', 'BYPASS_PERMISSION_LOCATION_ALWAYS=1'] section to the Podfile, as defined in the README.
6. flutter clean && flutter build ios --release
7. strings build/ios/iphoneos/Runner.app/Runner | grep -c "requestAlwaysAuthorization"

Expected results

% strings build/ios/iphoneos/Runner.app/Runner | grep -c "requestAlwaysAuthorization"
0

Actual results

% strings build/ios/iphoneos/Runner.app/Runner | grep -c "requestAlwaysAuthorization"
1

Code sample

No additional code required.

Screenshots or video

No response

Version

14.0.2

Flutter Doctor output

Doctor output

[!] Flutter (Channel [user-branch], 3.35.7, on macOS 26.2 25C56 darwin-arm64, locale en-AU)
    ! Flutter version 3.35.7 on channel [user-branch] at /Users/pento/Projects/flutter
      Currently on an unknown channel. Run `flutter channel` to switch to an official channel.
      If that doesn't fix the issue, reinstall Flutter by following instructions at https://flutter.dev/setup.
    ! Upstream repository unknown source is not a standard remote.
      Set environment variable "FLUTTER_GIT_URL" to unknown source to dismiss this error.
[✓] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 36.1.0)
[✓] Xcode - develop for iOS and macOS (Xcode 26.2)
[✗] Chrome - develop for the web (Cannot find Chrome executable at /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome)
    ! Cannot find Chrome. Try setting CHROME_EXECUTABLE to a Chrome executable.
[✓] Android Studio (version 2025.2)
[✓] VS Code (version 1.107.1)
[✓] Connected device (3 available)
    ! Error: Browsing on the local area network for Your iPhone. Ensure the device is unlocked and attached with a cable or associated with the same local area network as this Mac.
      The device must be opted into Developer Mode to connect wirelessly. (code -27)
[✓] Network resources

[pento]

I was able to fix it in a local fork of geolocator_apple, by modifying geolocator_apple/darwin/geolocator_apple/Package.swift like so:

// swift-tools-version: 5.9
// The swift-tools-version declares the minimum version of Swift required to build this package.

import PackageDescription

let package = Package(
    name: "geolocator_apple",
    platforms: [
        .iOS("11.0"),
        .macOS("10.11")
    ],
    products: [
        .library(name: "geolocator-apple", targets: ["geolocator_apple"])
    ],
    dependencies: [],
    targets: [
        .target(
            name: "geolocator_apple",
            dependencies: [],
            resources: [
                .process("PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy")
            ],
            publicHeadersPath: "include/geolocator_apple",
            cSettings: [
                .headerSearchPath("include/geolocator_apple"),
                // Disable "Always" location permission - only use "When In Use"
                .define("BYPASS_PERMISSION_LOCATION_ALWAYS", to: "1")
            ]
        )
    ]
)

[jaanus]

I was also hit by this. TestFlight gives me a warning, and the CocoaPods patch does not help. I don’t really want to fork this, I hope this can be fixed soon.