Call recording on Android phones will soon be restricted, but not entirely

Pranav — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 15:29:06 +0000

The Android OS, for a long time, has a feature that the competitor OS – iOS – lacks. We are talking about none other than the call recording feature. While some Android users rely on the native call recording feature, others have to depend on the third-party apps available on the Play Store. However, call recording on Android phones will soon stop, but now entirely.

Google recently updated its Play Store policy which has several changes that will come into effect from May 11. One of the significant changes that the policy brings will have a major effect on call recording applications that are available on the Play Store.

As per Google’s new Play Store policy (via), the Accessibility API cannot be requested for remote call audio recording, meaning that apps won’t be allowed to get permission for call recordings. This could mean that popular apps like TrueCaller, Automatic Call Recorder, Cube ACR, and others won’t work.

However, if your Android phone’s dialer has a call recording feature by default, then you can still record calls. Google has revealed that a pre-loaded call recording app or a feature does not require accessibility permissions, thus the native call recordings will work.

“If the app is the default dialer on the phone and also pre-loaded, accessibility capability is not required to get access to the incoming audio stream, and hence, will not be in violation,” said a presenter of a webinar held by Google.

As of now, the Google Pixel, Xiaomi , Oppo, OnePlus, and Samsung come with a default call recorder on their native dialer apps. So, if you own phones from any of these brands, you don’t need to panic.

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Call recording on Android phones will soon be restricted, but not entirely