Are you using a third-party call recording app? Your time is running out. Google will kill all of these apps on May 11 with an update to its developer policies. Ever since Android 10, call recording apps have been using a solution that involved connecting to the Accessibility API. Google has finally decided to crack down on this.
Reddit user NLL Apps (via Android Authority) noted the change in policy and elaborated on the current situation. Google has been making call recording steadily more difficult for several years now, but the company created a particularly annoying restriction for users starting in Android 10. That’s why third-party apps started using the accessibility service solution.
Recording calls is an insecure gray area. The laws surrounding it vary between states in the United States and between individual nations around the world. Everyone should know that this day would come, especially as Google takes a firmer stance on Android privacy and security in Android 12. It said directly that “The Accessibility API is not designed and can not be requested for remote call audio recording. ”
The Wild West days with Android are long gone, although the platform is still much more open than iOS. Native call recording is blocked on iPhones in case you were wondering.
Interestingly, built-in call recording built into some of the best Android phones will continue to work as they use preloaded, hard-coded calling apps instead of relying on the Accessibility API.
“If the app is the default caller on the phone and also preloaded, availability is not required to access the incoming audio stream and therefore it will not be in conflict,” Google said in a webinar presentation.
We can not honestly say whether this policy change is a good or bad thing. On the one hand, Android has a reputation for openness. But on the other hand, recording calls is such a murky topic that it makes sense for Google to crack down on it.
If you use a third-party call recording app, we’m not sure how your experience will change on May 11th. It is possible that Google will give developers a chance to update their app in accordance with the new policy (mainly hoarding). them) or if the company wants to remove them from the Play Store on the 11th.