New Google Play Policy Change Will Render Call Recording Apps Useless

Recently Google made severe changes to some of its Play Store Policies. Starting May 11, these Play Store Policy changes are aimed at ultimately killing call recording apps on Android permanently.

According to the search giant, Google, the new Play Store Policy states that “The Accessibility API is not designed and cannot be requested for remote call audio recording.” This particular policy change is said to affect the ability to use the Accessibility API by app developers. Google has also taken the pain to clarify the policy in a developer webinar that was streamed live just a few hours ago.

In most recent times Google has reportedly been responsible for slowly removing APIs that enable call recording over several Android versions. The search giant has attributed privacy and security as the reason for this. Another reason is due to the fact that call recording laws vary across different countries and regions. According to reports Google blocked call recording for Android 10 by default. To circumvent the restriction, apps on the Play Store started making use of the Accessibility API to record calls. After the implementation of the new changes starting in the new month, Google states this will no longer be possible.

However, Google’s new Play Store Policy is quite definite but only limited to third-party call recording apps. The new policy will in no way affect native call recording functionality on Android devices such as the Google Pixels or Xiaomi phones with the Mi Dialer etc.

In the developer webinar discussing the Play Store Policy updates, Google states that “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.”

Essentially, native apps have abilities that third-party apps don’t and that’s obtaining any permission because they come pre-installed on the phone. Third-party apps don’t have the ability to acquire the same permissions.

Fingers are crossed to find out the new directions the new policy will turn out or will be received. We await to see if developers will start implementing the new policy changes before the May deadline or if Google will resort to removing these apps from the Store for non-compliance. 

This isn’t the first time Google is commencing a crackdown on items in the Google play store. Recently in a bid to limit outdated apps, all existing apps in the store are expected to target an API level within two years of the latest major Android OS release. Failure to comply, Google says limits would be on such apps making it difficult for users to discover or install them.

However this pans out, one thing is certain and it’s that Google Play policy change will effectively render third-party call recording apps useless starting May 11. So you might want to start reducing dependency on that favourite third-party app you rely on for recording calls.