Truecaller will remove call recording feature after Google updates developer policy

Google has decided to pull the plug on third-party call recording applications and Truecaller is making the required changes. Recently, Google has decided to ban all call recording applications as a privacy concern and from May 11, the company will remove all the call recording applications from Play Store. To avoid being banned by Google, Truecaller is removing the call recording feature from its application. 

In its recent developer programme policy, Google said that a feature that enables third-party applications to record calls, called Accessibility API, is not designed and cannot be requested for remote call audio recording. It is important to mention that the use of a microphone for recording calls was removed in Android 10. Most recently, Google has also introduced a call recording warning on its own Dialer app. 

In an open statement, Truecaller has mentioned due to the updated Google Developer Program policy, it will not be able to offer the call recording feature anymore. However, this should not impact the devices that support native call recording functionality, which is completely up to the manufacturer of the smartphone. Further, the dialer's information provider mentions that it introduced call recording on Android devices based on demand. 

Android users can still record calls with the help of Google Dialer or the Phone app. However, as and when a user presses the record button, the dialer automatically announces "this call is now being recorded" so that both parties are aware of the call recording. Additionally, Google's stance curbs call recordings without the consent of a user, as most third-party call recording applications do. Nevertheless, some smartphone manufacturers still provide the feature in-built, in a way that users do not require to download any app. 

In related news, Google's purported smartwatch, the Google Pixel Watch might not come with the latest operating system. New information shared by known tipster Evan Blass states that the purported Google Pixel watch will run on Wear OS 3.1. The tipster has shared a screenshot of what looks like the interactive tutorials for the upcoming smartwatch, and it mentions that the device will run on Wear OS 3.1.