Android’s Phone call recording may be region restricted
We still don’t have official word that it is officially arriving but it looks like we will indeed be getting a call recording feature on the Google Phone app. However, it will understandably be limited as there are different laws and restrictions when it comes to recording phone calls. A support document on showed up on the Google website but it has since been taken down. But as with a lot of things on the Internet, people were able to screen capture it so we may have more information about it.
According to Engadget, an APK teardown earlier this year showed that Google was already working on a feature on its native Phone app that would let users record voice calls. In fact, some users in India using Nokia phones may have already gotten it. A support document also showed up on Google but it was since then removed, probably because it wasn’t meant for public consumption yet or they had to fix something first.
Based on what was seen on the support document, the call recording feature would only work for smartphones running on Android 9 and above. It also needs to be running on the latest version of the Phone app. There’s mention as well of the device being on a supported country or region, which means if your country has strict laws when it comes to voice call recording, this probably will not show up for you.
When you make or receive a phone call and you start recording for the first time, you’ll be advised you need to comply with local laws. The other party will also hear an audio recording that the call is being recorded and it will also inform them when the recording has stopped. You will not be able to start recording until the other party has answered it, if the call is on hold or on mute or if you’ve started a conference call.
Of course all this information is based on that now deleted support document so things may not be final yet. We’ll have to wait for the official announcement about which countries or territories will be able to get call recording.
