Android P May Bring Native Call Recording Support

While tons of third-party apps have already offered call recording on Android devices, Google may be planning to bring native call recording functionality to mobile devices in Android P. Some recent commits made to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) have been spotted with support for a "call recording tone", suggesting the native availability of the new feature. Android P, which will be the successor to the presently available Android Oreo and is likely to be announced at sometime this year, was previously in the headlines for supposedly letting carriers hide signal strength on mobile devices.

The commits, which are available on Android Open Source Project site since February 2, reveal the support a 1400Hz frequency tone that repeats every 15 seconds to notify the other party on the phone call about the recording, as spotted by folks at Neowin. The commits note that the frequency tone is available to "meet regulatory compliance requirements" that are subject to local regulations. Also, carriers have been provided with an option to disable the tone. This would be a solution for markets where no specific regulations are available for recording voice calls. "Adding carrier configuration option to specify whether the carrier requires the incall recording tone be played," information available on one of the commits reads.

It is unclear at this point whether Google will open the functionality for call recording to app developers via new APIs. However, the built-in Android P feature is likely to work with recording apps after obtaining certain permissions, as evident in the commits.

The ability to record voice calls isn't something totally new on Android devices. Companies such as Asus, OnePlus, Samsung, and Xiaomi have offered their proprietary call recording solutions for a long time. Similarly, there are many third-party apps to enable call recordings. But, of course, intrinsic support to enable call recording could be highly appreciated by Android users.

Android P details are expected to be announced at Google's I/O 2018 conference in the coming months. As mentioned earlier, the new Android version is additionally reported to have the option to allow carriers to hide signal strength in the "SIM Status" settings.