No, Google is Not Developing Call Recording Feature for Android P

In the past couple of days, the internet has been flooded with reports that Android P will debut a call recording feature, citing few terms scattered randomly in the commits made in the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). But these reports now seem to be nothing more than a misinterpretation of information, something which has now been explained in detail by the editor-in-chief of XDA-Developers, Mishaal Rahman, in a lengthy Reddit post with proper evidence in tow.

The XDA editor-in-chief did not mince words in making it clearly known to all that the reports of call recording’s arrival on Android P are false, and the proofs they furnished for the wild speculation are just that, arising out of clear misunderstanding.

The details of the commits made in the AOSP are explained comprehensively in his post, which states that the mention of call recording in the commits does not hint at its implementation as a feature, but rather as a warning tone that will be played by Telecom operators.

I have been following these commits since before they were merged, and the gist of why this is inaccurate is because the mention of recording apps is just so Telecom can warn that a call may be recorded. It does this by playing an outgoing 1400Hz tone every 15 seconds while a call is being recorded.

In reality, the functionality being talked about is a call recording tone that will be played by carriers every 15 seconds during a call to warn users that their call may be recorded. According to the post, Vodafone’s German subsidiary, in particular, asked for the feature, but this does not mean that APIs for call recording will be universally present and active in Android P. Following is the image of the actual quotes listed in the AOSP commit.

Hopefully, the aforesaid evidence can resolve the mess of misinterpretation created around the development of a call recording feature in Android P.