Why won't my app ask permission to use the microphone?

Working on a recording app. So I started from scratch, and basically jump right into recording. I made sure to add the Privacy - Microphone Usage Description string.

What strikes me as odd, is that the app launches straight into recording. No alert comes up the first time asking the user for permission, which I thought was the norm.

Have I misunderstood something?

override func viewDidLoad()   {
   super.viewDidLoad()
   record3()
}

func record3()   {
    print ("recording")
    let node = audioEngine.inputNode
    let recordingFormat = node.inputFormat(forBus: 0)
    var silencish = 0
    var wordsish  = 0
    makeFile(format: recordingFormat)

    node.installTap(onBus: 0, bufferSize: 8192, format: recordingFormat, block: {
           [self]
           (buffer, _) in

        do {
               try audioFile!.write(from: buffer);
               x += 1;
               if x > 300 {
                   print ("it's over sergio")
                   endThis()
               }
           } catch {return};})
    
    audioEngine.prepare()
    do {
        try audioEngine.start()
    } catch let error {
        print ("oh catch \(error)")
    }
}