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Detecting Screen Recordings

warning

Android 15 (API Level 35) is still in Beta 1 phase. Some changes and APIs might not be final and are still subject to change.

Android 15 introduces a way to detect a screen recording performed by user.

Basic Usage​

First, you need to declare DETECT_SCREEN_RECORDING install-time permission inside your AndroidManifest.xml file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools">

    <!-- Add this permission: -->
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.DETECT_SCREEN_RECORDING" />

</manifest>

To start detecting screen recordings, you need to utilize these 2 key components within your Activity:

  1. addScreenRecordingCallback: This method registers your screen recording detection callback.
  2. removeScreenRecordingCallback: This method unregisters your screen recording detection callback.

Here is a simple example of such Activity:

MainActivity.kt
package com.hanmajid.androidnotebook

import android.annotation.SuppressLint
import android.os.Bundle
import android.util.Log
import android.view.WindowManager.SCREEN_RECORDING_STATE_VISIBLE
import androidx.activity.ComponentActivity
import androidx.activity.compose.setContent
import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.Column
import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.fillMaxSize
import androidx.compose.material3.MaterialTheme
import androidx.compose.material3.Surface
import androidx.compose.material3.Text
import androidx.compose.ui.Modifier
import com.hanmajid.androidnotebook.ui.theme.AndroidNotebookTheme
import java.util.function.Consumer

class MainActivity : ComponentActivity() {
    private val screenRecordCallback = Consumer<Int> { state ->
        if (state == SCREEN_RECORDING_STATE_VISIBLE) {
            Log.i("TAG", "✅ Recording!")
        } else {
            Log.i("TAG", "⛔️ Not recording!")
        }
    }

    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContent {
            AndroidNotebookTheme {
                // A surface container using the 'background' color from the theme
                Surface(
                    modifier = Modifier.fillMaxSize(),
                    color = MaterialTheme.colorScheme.background
                ) {
                    Column {
                        Text("Hello Android Notebook")
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }

    override fun onStart() {
        super.onStart()

        val initialState = windowManager.addScreenRecordingCallback(mainExecutor, screenRecordCallback)
        screenRecordCallback.accept(initialState)
    }

    override fun onStop() {
        super.onStop()

        windowManager.removeScreenRecordingCallback(screenRecordCallback)
    }
}

The callback will be invoked whenever the screen recording state changes. There are two possible screen recording state values:

  1. SCREEN_RECORDING_STATE_NOT_VISIBLE: Indicates that the app that registered the callback is not visible in screen recording.
  2. SCREEN_RECORDING_STATE_VISIBLE: Indicates that the app that registered the callback is visible in screen recording.

References​

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