Google to bar third party call recording apps for Android

Search engine giant Google has made a few changes to its Play Store policy which is all set to take effect on May 11, 2022. One of the important changes includes barring call recordings apps on Android. This means that soon Play Store will soon not have any applications on call recordings. NLL Apps, one of the Reddit users noted that the changes in the policy would affect the use of Accessibility API by app developers. Google in its statement clarified that the Accessibility API has not been designed and will not longer be requested for remote all audio recordings.

The clarifications on the new policy were sorted out, clarified and announced during a webinar streamed live on March 21, 2022. It has been noticed that the search engine has been curbing on the APIs that enable call recordings over a number of Android versions and the company does it while citing privacy and security and also says that the call recording laws differ in different countries. Google had blocked call recording in Android 10 by default. To take the restriction a step further, the company applied it to the Accessibility API to record calls. This means that it will no longer be possible after the changes are implemented next month.

This also means that the new policy by Google is only applicable on third-party call recording apps on the Play Store. Meanwhile, the native call recording functions on the phones like the Pixels and the Xiaomi phones with Mi Dialer will not be affected.

During the webinar, it was explained that it the app is a default dialer and has been pre-loaded then that will not be considered as a violation. It actually means that the system apps can have permission as they are pre-installed in the phone. On the other hand the third party apps does not have the same privilege.

Photo Credits: Pixabay