Google To Ban All Third-party Call Recording App
Are you using a third party call recording app? Your time is running out. Google will remove all of these apps on May 11 with an update to its developer policy.
Since Android 10, call recording applications have used a solution that involves connecting to the accessibility API. Google has finally decided to address this issue.
Reddit user NLL Apps (via Android Authority) noted the policy change, explaining the current situation.
Google has been making it harder and harder to record calls for a few years now, but the company has created a particularly annoying limitation for users starting with Android 10.
That’s why its apps Third parties have started using the solution to bypass the accessibility service.
Call recording is an indistinct grey area. The laws surrounding it vary from state to state in the United States and from country to country around the world.
Everyone should have known that day would come, especially since Google took a tougher stance on Android privacy and security in Android 12.
He stated emphatically that “Accessibility APIs were not designed and cannot request the recording of remote calls.”
The days of Android in the Wild West are long gone, although the platform is still much more open-minded than iOS. Private call recording is blocked on iPhone, in case you were wondering. APIs.
“If we see that the application is the default dialer for phones and comes pre-installed, we don’t need the accessibility features to access the incoming audio stream, so we won’t violate that,” Google said to the Community Network.
We honestly cannot say if this policy change is a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, Android is known for being open-minded. But on the other hand, call recording is such a confusing subject that Google has a reason to crack it.
If you’re using a third-party call recording app, you’re not entirely sure how the experience will change on May 11.
It’s possible that Google will give developers a chance to update their app following the new policy (essentially hamstringing them) or if the company will flat out remove them from the Play Store on the 11th.
Google`s been cleaning house in the Play Store to weed out bad apps, but it`s breaking some features in the process. If you rely on a particular third-party app to do call recording, you may not have access to it anytime soon.
As we have already seen and is also reported by Android Police, the developer of the popular Call Record ACR app posted on Reddit to complain about the upcoming Play Store policy changes.
Earlier this month, Google announced that it would be banning Android apps from using the call recording support API for purposes other than its own.
This is the specific API that developers use to build these apps, but it wasn’t created for this purpose. As the name implies, this is an accessibility feature.
Google’s accessibility API policy states that “it is not designed to record audio from remote calls and cannot be requested.”
In other words, the app that is currently using it for this particular feature is technically inconsistent with its intended usage. The new rule will come into effect on May 11. This is also the first day of Google’s developer conference.
In a follow-up webinar for developers, Google explained the policy changes. Employees who moderated the event explained that the new policy could affect apps that record calls without explicitly notifying others on the line and could violate various state laws.
Developers who want to maintain this access should add a disclaimer to request explicit consent before recording the call, or use another method of recording the call.
As a journalist who relies on recording everything recorded on discs, I can see how frustrating this news is for those who have to find new ways to bypass everyday workflows. We also understand why Google is taking this step.
As mentioned earlier, the company has buttoned down its Play Store policy to sell to more people on Android devices and other ecosystems.
Google continues to allow call recording on the Google Phone app, but some have been criticized for not being for developers. However, Samsung’s phone app doesn’t use the Accessibility API, so it can record accurately.
In any case, it makes sense for Google to allow its products to use the accessibility APIs it maintains. Is there a future where Google Forks will call recordings from accessibility options and open them up to developers, return to their good grace, or just keep this feature on Android phones?
Starting with Android 10, Google will stop recording calls by default, and on May 11th, we will implement a new Google Play Store policy to prevent third-party apps from recording audio streams of calls using the Accessibility API.
These changes are intended to improve privacy and security as call recording methods vary widely around the world. However, pre-installed system apps that already have permission to tap the Accessibility API will not be affected by the change.
For example, the Pixel and Xiaomi dialers are two exceptions to the rule and this is called as a native call recording system. Google hasn’t disclosed any plans to address this, but we hope that some additional policies will be implemented in the future.
Google is making another major attempt to stop recording calls with third-party Android apps. Following Google’s new policy, all call recording apps will be banned from the Google Play Store after May 11th.
All legitimate call recording apps stop working on Android. Therefore, if you want to record a voice call over the phone, you should use the native call recording feature available on your smartphone.
If your smartphone does not have a built-in call recording function, you will not be able to record calls after May 11th.
However, you can always record the call using the voice recorder app on another smartphone after you make a call through the speaker.
One of India’s most popular dialer apps – Truecaller is also used by many users to record voice calls.
Call recording is one of the most reliable features of India’s Truecaller app. Unfortunately, Truecaller has confirmed that it does not offer the option to record calls anywhere in the world. In a statement to
News18 Tech, an official Truecaller spokesman said: “Truecaller has rolled out call recordings for all Android smartphones based on overwhelming customer demands. Call recordings with Truecaller are free and privilege-based for all users, and users use the Google Accessibility API.
I had to use it to enable this feature. However, the updated Google Developer Program policy can no longer provide call recordings.
Truecaller reveals that call recording does not affect devices that are natively embedded in the device.
Few smartphone brands such as Xiaomi, Samsung, OnePlus, and Oppo offers built-in call recording capabilities that will continue to work after May 11th.
What’s wrong with the call recording app? Google has been cracking down on call recordings for years. This started with the release of Android 10, where Google stated that users wouldn’t have access to call recording capabilities as part of their privacy and security strategy.
All call recording apps, including Truecaller, provided this functionality using the Accessibility API.
Accessibility APIs now covers many aspects, and it turns out that rogue developers are exploiting these permissions to track users.
Currently, Google is removing access to the Accessibility API for call recording purposes. That is, all third-party apps lose their core functionality.
edited and proofread by nikita sharma
