Google will remove apps to record calls from the Play Store: now the function will be exclusive to smartphone manufacturers

Google will remove the ability to record calls on Android with apps. For advanced users, it is known that for several versions compatibility with apps to record calls has been gradually limited, and it is increasingly difficult for one to work, but now Google will end the function once and for all.

Reddit user u/NLL-apps reports the discovery of a major Google Play policy change, which affects developers’ use of the Accessibility API. Google specifically states that the API is “not designed nor can it be requested for the audio recording of remote calls”.

In a webinar, Google clarified this change in the Play Store policy and confirmed that it will be effective on May 11, the date on which all call recording apps will stop working.

However, it’s important to note that this change affects only third-party apps, and default phone apps with native call recording, like the one on Pixel and Xiaomi, won’t be affected:

If the app is the default dialer on the phone and is also preloaded, the accessibility capability is not required to gain access to the incoming audiostream and therefore will not be in violation.

In short, developers will not be able to use the API for their call recording apps, but smartphone manufacturers will be able to use the API in their native applications because since it is pre-installed, they do not require a request to use the API in question.

This movement by Google is in favor of the privacy and security of its system, as it has been doing for years, but more noticeably with Android 12, and soon in Android 13, whose control of permissions is much more aggressive. In addition, as our Spanish colleagues mention, there is also the legal aspect. In countries like Spain, recording calls without permission is illegal, which is why manufacturers do not allow this possibility on their smartphones either.

In the case of Mexico, the recording of calls without permission is not illegal, but the dissemination of this material can be illegal. Finally, another important aspect to note is that all this change applies to the Play Store. In other words, the apps cannot be downloaded from the official Android store, but they can be downloaded from APK repositories, and in theory, the recording of calls will work without problems, since the limitation of the use of the API is not at the system level.