Along with Android 14, Google released an API for developers that allows them to detect if there has been a screenshot in an app. While it may seem like a snitch or x9 feature (depending on your region), it can have certain privacy benefits for the user.
Some apps, such as Snapchat, notify the user when an uploaded image has been screenshotted. WhatsApp, on the other hand, as we even commented this week, prohibits taking a screenshot of single-view images. In these cases, the tool is owned by the companies — whereas now Google delivers the feature on Android through an API.
On its developer support page, Google shows that the app may send a pop-up stating that the screenshot has been detected. As dev Kamran Shahid explains, because it only works on Android 14, developers will have to release this functionality through other means on smartphones with earlier versions of the OS — for example, by creating this tool for apps with lower builds.
It may seem intrusive for the app to identify when you’re taking a screenshot, but this detection can be used to protect sensitive content. Not only compromising images, but personal data. By identifying that the print command has been made, the app can block the capture or warn another user, if it is a content exchange app.
Another practical example for this is in banking apps. If a malicious person has access to your banking app and tries to print your bank statement, the system can identify the action and hide the data or block the capture. However, the feature still doesn’t appear in Google Pay — after all, Google should start by showing the use of the tool.
Android Police reports that the German e-commerce app OTTO is already using the feature. When you take a screenshot, you get an “OTTO detected this capture” warning. This seems to be the default format of the message: name of the app followed by “detected this capture”.
