Google Will Kill Call Recording Android Apps Starting May 11

Last Updated on April 22, 2022 by Asif Iqbal Shaik

Google has introduced some new changes to its Play Store Policy that will no longer allow third-party apps to offer call recording services. The new developer policies will come into effect starting May 11. Users will not be able to record calls on their devices using any of the call recording apps available on the Google Play Store. However, the changes won’t affect the native call recording functionality that comes pre-installed on some phones.

You Will No Longer Be Able To Record Calls Using A Third-Party App On Your Android Phone

The new Google Play Store Policy changes, which were first discovered by a Reddit user, will no longer allow users to record calls on their Android phones using any third-party app. As a result, apps on the Play Store have been barred from using the Accessibility API for call recording. It also implies that Android smartphone users who do not have a built-in call recorder will no longer be able to record calls starting from May 11, 2022.

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However, the new policy changes do not affect the functionality of the native call recording apps available on some smartphones. Speaking on the update, the presenter explained in the developer webinar discussing the Google Play Policy Updates:

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.

Call recording functionality is available on MI smartphones, some Samsung devices, and Google Pixel phones. Since the call recorder is pre-installed on these devices, they can procure any permission and continue functioning as usual.

Google has been working to prevent call recording on Android devices for a while now. It limited access to real-time call recording on Android 6 and then further severely limited call recording over the microphone on Android 10. And now the tech giant is finally implementing the necessary policy changes to get various developers to adhere to the same goal.

Will you be able to survive without a call recording app on your Android smartphone? Do let us know in the comments section below.