Google will completely ban call recording apps on Android smartphones

apps Call recording are very useful tools – for example in the daily work of journalists. In the editorial office, we use it, among other things.at. To record telephone interviews or short comments. Unfortunately, soon the only way to record a conversation will be to put the voice recorder on the loudspeaker of our smartphone.

All thanks to Google’s recent decisions. creators Android It has been waging an unofficial war against call recording app developers for quite some time now. Publish such applications in Google Play Play It has not been banned, but the company from Mountain View has succeeded in blocking the use of the so-called programming interfaces (API), Without which these applications become useless.

Developers managed to circumvent these blocks for some time by switching to other APIs. Recently, to provide their users with a call recording function, they used the so-called API accessibility, That is, program interfaces designed to make it easier for people with disabilities.

However, there are many indications that the cat-and-mouse game is over. Google has made changes to the Play Store regulations. Under it, from May 11 this year. It will not be possible to use the Accessibility API to record calls. Thus, the last portal for developers of these applications has been closed.

Is this the end of Android call recording? Yes and no

It is worth noting that the changes made by the company from Mountain View only apply to the official Google Play Store. This means that recording apps can still be downloaded from third-party sources and bypassed Google Trustees.

The problem is that there are some risks involved in using third-party apps. We never know if the app officially used for recording is not a Trojan that will try to steal data from our phones or eavesdrop on conversations.

Why does Google block call recording?

Such a restrictive approach to Google’s call recording issue Results from legal terms. Google Play is a global store, and different countries have different laws regulating whether and under what circumstances we can record phone calls. There are countries where call recording is completely legal, but there are also countries where it is completely prohibited.

How is it in Poland? Penal Code It states that recording a call that you do not participate in without the callers’ consent is a crime. The situation is different when it comes to the conversations we participate in. Here, in case of disagreement with the interlocutor, we are no longer talking about a crime, but about a possible violation of personal rights and civil liability.

However, in Poland, we can record our conversations without any problems, if we inform our interlocutor in advance about them and agree to such a recording.