Enhanced Privacy Features for Screen Recording in Android 14
With the availability of Android 14 beta for select smartphones, users have had the opportunity to explore the upcoming operating system and its new features. One notable enhancement being introduced by Google is a more privacy-focused approach to screen recording.
Currently, the screen recording feature on stock Android allows users to disable sound recording and hide touch inputs. However, the new screen recording functionality in Android 14 takes privacy further. Users will now have the option to restrict screen recording to a specific app or conceal sensitive information like notifications during the recording process.
Mishaal Rahman has shared a demonstration of these features on Twitter. When selecting a single-app screen recording, a carousel displays recently opened apps, with the complete list also accessible. Exiting the app while recording causes the screen to turn black until the user returns to the app, ensuring that actions outside of the selected app are not captured in the recording.
Hands-on: I finally got this fully working, so here's a full demo of Android 14's new partial screen recording feature.
This feature lets you record a single app without any System UI elements or notifications appearing in the video!
(Resulting video in the follow-up reply.) pic.twitter.com/T7cCFJK13N
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) May 19, 2023
An alternative option is available where users can opt to record the entire screen while selectively hiding sensitive elements like notifications. Notably, the recording process conceals the entire status bar.
While certain Android overlays, such as Samsung’s OneUI, have already introduced privacy-related features for screen recording, this marks the first instance of such functionality being implemented natively within the Android operating system.
