Google to ban all call recording apps on Android from May 11
Google has made changes to its Play Store policy in a move to enhance users’ safety and privacy.
All the third-party call recording apps that you have downloaded on your Android smartphones will stop working from Wednesday, May 11 as Google has made changes to its Play Store policy in a move to enhance users’ safety and privacy.
However, it remains uncertain how Google plans to implement this policy. This means it’s unclear if Google will block all the third-party call recording apps on its Play Store or if it will ask developers to remove their apps from the platform.
Under the new policy, the search engine giant will prevent third-party apps from using the Android's accessibility API (Application Programming Interface) which is used by them for call recording.
This means the new policy will not allow call recording using Google's accessibility APIs, which is a popular feature among Android users.
For third-party apps, accessibility APIs are the only way to record calls on Android.
According to a clause from the updated Play Store policies the Accessibility API is not designed and cannot be requested for remote call audio recording.
While Google is banning call recording apps on its platform starting May 11, not all call recording apps are being banned from the platform.
The company has clarified that all built-in call recording apps that are available as a part of the user interface will not be affected by this change.
Apps such as Truecaller offer a call recording feature on Android and it is used by a lot of users to record voice calls.
However, it will stop providing the option to record phone calls across the globe.