this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2024
407 points (97.2% liked)

Android

28169 readers
263 users here now

DROID DOES

Welcome to the droidymcdroidface-iest, Lemmyest (Lemmiest), test, bestest, phoniest, pluckiest, snarkiest, and spiciest Android community on Lemmy (Do not respond)! Here you can participate in amazing discussions and events relating to all things Android.

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

Rules


1. All posts must be relevant to Android devices/operating system.


2. Posts cannot be illegal or NSFW material.


3. No spam, self promotion, or upvote farming. Sources engaging in these behavior will be added to the Blacklist.


4. Non-whitelisted bots will be banned.


5. Engage respectfully: Harassment, flamebaiting, bad faith engagement, or agenda posting will result in your posts being removed. Excessive violations will result in temporary or permanent ban, depending on severity.


6. Memes are not allowed to be posts, but are allowed in the comments.


7. Posts from clickbait sources are heavily discouraged. Please de-clickbait titles if it needs to be submitted.


8. Submission statements of any length composed of your own thoughts inside the post text field are mandatory for any microblog posts, and are optional but recommended for article/image/video posts.


Community Resources:


We are Android girls*,

In our Lemmy.world.

The back is plastic,

It's fantastic.

*Well, not just girls: people of all gender identities are welcomed here.


Our Partner Communities:

[email protected]


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Not sure if this is the correct place to post, but I just wanna kinda rant a bit.

I'm not the only one that hates this, right?

An app can just do a "This App Does Not Allow Screenshots"? Like... wtf?

Like, its my phone, and some app can just decide to disable a fuction of my phone. It's my phone and if I wanna take a screenshot, I'm taking a screenshot. I don't care about whatever "security" the app developer wants.

Imagine if every online shopping app whether fast food or amazon, just used this to block you from taking a screenshot so you can't save the records in case of a dispute.

Which android developer thought it was a good idea to let an app disable a function on your phone. Even iPhone doesn't have this stupid concept.

Sorry for the rant.

Anyone wanna share your stories?

(P.S. I have a cheap secondary phone to take photos of the screen. "This App Does Not Allow Screenshots" my ass lmao, I'm taking the screenshot whether the app wants it or not.

(page 4) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 72 points 4 days ago (15 children)

I work for a company that builds an app /sdk that handles credit cards / payments. It's one of the (many) requirements for getting an industry standard certification (like PCIDSS / MPOC). The app Must block screenshots, and Must disable the camera while using it...

load more comments (15 replies)
[–] [email protected] 21 points 4 days ago

I agree that it's infuriating! I downloaded an LSPosed module called CaptureSposed that overrides it.

It shouldn't take a specific module hack on a rooted phone with a custom OS with an unlocked bootloader to get this functionality back.

[–] [email protected] 41 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I like that it's possible, but I think it should be treated like a permission with a user accessible toggle in settings for each app.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (4 children)

I would like to see the same thing for clipboard read access. In the same way app has to prompt you for location permission it would have to prompt you to read the clipboard and you would actually have the option to allow it all the time which is handy for some apps like clipboard manager, or don't allow it alltogether which is handy for some random apps you don't trust.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago (6 children)

Oh yea, something needs to be done about the clipboard. It's unsettling to know that a random app can just get your clipboard. Sometimes bitwarden doesn't detect a password field for some reason so I have to copy it to the clipboard 😖 don't feel safe...

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

I believe Bitwarden has a setting to “wipe” the clipboard after some time.

Not perfect, but better

load more comments (5 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 days ago

Drives me nuts too! Signal at least has a toggle for it, so the user can decide. I wish more apps would do the same, maybe with a pop up warning explaining the risks.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 4 days ago (2 children)

That's nothing. My workplace disabled copy/paste on everyone's work iPhones completely. Not in their own apps but system wide. Apparently that's something ios allows them to do. Doesn't affect me much because I use the phone as a glorified dual auth token but some people have it as their primary phone.

[–] [email protected] 44 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (3 children)

work iPhones

some people have it as their primary phone.

Bruh, I have no idea how people can put up with their employer being able control their device. Like... the employer can freak out about some perceived "security breach" and decide to wipe everyone's phone and you lose all your data like photos. Also, their employer can see if they are shit talking about the employer or mangement people, and it's a terrible idea if they want to unionize.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

As an IT guy that manages MDMs, no we cannot see communications on the device

[–] [email protected] 17 points 4 days ago (1 children)

As another guy that does, yeah we can push ediscovery apps to the phone and pull all kinds of data

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago

My work phone battery lasts for like 5-6 days because I only have Slack, MFA app, and outlook on it. It's crazy to use it for personal use

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

They are okay with it because it isn't their phone. It's a free phone that comes with the job.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

"Free"

hmm I rather not... like its not just "privacy" you'd have to worry about, there can be potentially a rogue employee of the company just stealing all your bank info and possibly steal your identity. Might be a "free" phone, but there's just much more risks than just getting a cheap android phone. People don't think this though and only think about the "free". Dealing with identity theft is not fun. If only people understand the risks... 🤦‍♂️

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Don't put personal stuff on your work phone. Use your own phone for that. If you have trouble carrying both, hit the gym.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

Yea exactly. I would just carry 2 phones, but I'm just saying: I don't understand how other people just use their work phone for personal use simply because it's "free"

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

Yes it's just a terrible idea. People do all sorts of dumb things though.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

I understand the reasoning for it since many apps can see photos on your device so if it is something that should stay private you probably shouldn't be taking screenshots anyway, but I also can see how it could be annoying. I quite like the feature on messaging apps actually.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

My doctor's app does this and it annoys the fuck out of me. I get test results and I want to share them with my wife and it's like nope.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Second phone or cheap camera off ebay..

There are also probably usb-c capture dongles that should work

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

Also: Split Screen + Take photo using front camera in front of a mirror.

[–] [email protected] 122 points 4 days ago (3 children)

The point of many of android's "protection" features isn't to protect the user from apps, but to protect apps from the user. I hate it.

[–] [email protected] 82 points 4 days ago (8 children)

In this case, I think it's protecting apps from other apps. No secret screen recording going on while you're looking at bank statements, etc. I find that annoying, too, but I'm less annoyed by the reasoning in this case.

Now if Google could explain why toggling wifi through Tasker requires root, I would LOVE to hear the reasoning...

[–] [email protected] 15 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

In this case, I think it's protecting apps from other apps. No secret screen recording going on while you're looking at bank statements, etc.

I think with all the engineers at Google developing Android they could come up with a solution of how to discern whether the act of screenshot was triggered solely by the user, or an app on the phone. They are the ones in power of all the APIs that allow other apps to capture the screen content in the first place. Maybe I am simplifying it too much, but this seems as a bad excuse to me.

Maybe it would be too hard of a solution since there's so many ways third party apps could capture screen content (including for example the Android accessibility service which also allows apps to read content of the screen and even simulate screen touches and gestures which many automation apps make use of) that blocking the screenshot alltogether is by far the most feasible solution.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

There is already a solution:

Third-party apps, unless a user specifically go to settings and find that option, don’t have the permission known as “Draw Over Top” that’s required to do screen recordings/screenshots.

So by default, a user is already safe from a malicious app trying to steal info. (That is, unless they just be an idiot and give the app "Draw Over Top" permission)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Some password managers want draw over top.

Bitwarden required it, iirc

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

Well you are gonna be trusting the password manager anyways, since its literally storing all your passwords. If you trust Bitwarden to store all your passwords, then you can trust it to not abuse the "Draw Over Top" permission.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

For me and my family, I think the best solution would be to leave it as-is but with a way to lift the restrictions for power users that doesn't involve root access. Something akin to enabling developer mode without having to buy a specific rootable phone

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Third-party apps, unless a user specifically go to settings and find that option, don't have the permission known as "Draw Over Top" that's required to do screen recordings/screenshots.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

Fair enough, though experience with my unsavvy family makes me think a lot of people will do whatever an app tells them to do

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Ok but why is my browser doing this in incognito mode? Incognito mode isn't a banking app. It's me not wanting my browser to save my Facebook login info or history.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago

The target use case for incognito mode is to prevent the device from saving your activity during the browsing session through things like cookies and history. To that end, incognito also blocks it to prevent other apps from saving your activity through screen recordings or screenshots.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago (2 children)

They changed it the other day where airplane mode doesn’t require root. That one’s nice for me.

Never mind that shortcuts on iOS has been able to do that simple task from its inception.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

You used to be able to do everything I wanted through tasker without root but Google has been stripping away functionality for years

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago (2 children)

When did airplane mode ever require root?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Up until Android 14 I think. Android 13 for sure does not support it.

Unless an ADB trick counts https://tasker.joaoapps.com/userguide/en/help/ah_secure_setting_grant.html

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 27 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Or changing or just adding a system font.

Or setting a charge capacity limit.

Or adding separate quick access tikes for wifi and cellular.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 days ago (6 children)

The first two don't bug me but dam, give me my 6 buttons back!! I hate these fat notification tray icons. And yes, fuck Google for making it take MORE clicks to toggle wifi/cellular than before.

load more comments (6 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 20 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Being able to block screenshots is "supposed" to protect users from having malware take screenshots of banking apps and other such information.

If app developers were good, this could have been a good feature.

But I agree with OP. It still should be the user's choice.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 days ago

My Banking App does have the option to disable this feature.

It's all fine if it's a user choice, very annoying if it's not.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 4 days ago (1 children)

"Protections" are fine, as long as there's an override for it.

User doesn't like potential malware from "sideloading"? Then don't enable "Install from Unknown Sources".

Same thing with everything else, there should be an override switch.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

Some android apps bypass this but don't work 100 percent but sadly, they are the only safe option.

By safe I also mean, the others you must root so you void certain updates from your carrier in many cases, you have to search the APK code and delete a line, or you have to install a certain entity which hinders your security in other ways.

Shopping apps should have, and Amazon usually lets you email a copy of a receipt anyway. Don't know about other shopping apps. Banks and other financial institutions you would just need to contact them for records etc, and I know it is a pain.

Some browsers have settings to bypass if you are using a site that tries to stop a screenshot.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago

This thing is super annoying. Maybe there is some xposed module to bypass this . i don't known my phone isn't rooted.

load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›