macOS Files & Folders System Settings Confusing UI

I use an M1 Mac mini for testing different major macOS versions. Currently the Mac has six boot volumes, macOS 12 Monterey through macOS 27 Golden Gate. While booted into macOS 26 Tahoe, I noticed a couple of strange things in the Privacy & Security section of System Settings. The Privacy & Security subsections Files & Folders and Full Disk Access are inextricably intertwined. Let’s look at Full Disk Access first. In case you’re wondering, smbd is the Server Message Block daemon for macOS file sharing, and siriactionsd is a daemon associated with the Shortcuts app. Notice that Full Disk Access is enabled only for smbd and Find Any File, the excellent and exhaustive file searching app. Now let’s look at Files & Folders. Strangely, siriactionsd, Terminal app, and Xcode app indicate Full Disk Access, even though Full Disk Access is disabled for them, as we saw in the other preference pane. This user interface is confusing and ill-conceived. Indeed, it seems like a design mistake to put…