Summary

During Android gateway setup, the QR scanner can fail because the app has camera: denied, but the UI does not request camera permission on first use or clearly explain that camera permission is the blocker.

What happened

A user attempted to scan a fresh gateway setup QR code from the Android app. The setup flow appeared to be an auth/gateway pairing problem, but gateway-side diagnostics showed the Android node status included camera: denied.

After granting camera permission in Android Settings and force-closing/reopening the app, the setup flow progressed.

Expected behavior

When the user taps scan/setup QR:

• If camera permission has not been granted, Android should prompt for it at that point.
• If permission is denied or permanently denied, the app should show a clear inline error such as: Camera permission is required to scan setup codes.
• The app should offer a direct action to open Android app settings when Android will no longer show the runtime permission prompt.

Actual behavior

The app did not ask for camera permission on first open/use, and the visible setup state made the failure look like a gateway/auth problem rather than a local permission problem.

Why this matters

A user cannot reasonably infer camera: denied from the setup screen. It blocks QR pairing and sends troubleshooting toward the gateway even though the actual fix is local Android permission state.

Environment

• OpenClaw gateway: 2026.6.10
• Android app/node: Samsung Galaxy S25, LAN gateway setup via QR
• Gateway bind: lan, setup URL advertised as ws://192.168.0.180:18789