What you need to know
- Google looks to be working on adding the ability to capture device playback to its screen recorder.
- The feature isn't available in Android 11 Developer Preview 2.
- However, some code in the SystemUI files shows the feature is currently under progress.
If you like sharing videos of your virtual triumphs in mobile games, Android 11 may bring with it a much-needed feature for the default screen recording app in Android.
As discovered by XDA Developers, the Mountain View giant is seemingly working on letting you use more than just your microphone for recording audio. The screen recorder will soon also be capable of adding whatever's playing on the phone itself to the screen capture (e.g., game audio or music that you're playing on Spotify).
The screen recorder found in the second Android 11 Developer Preview that Google just released has received a bit of a facelift, with a new UI that warns users about capturing sensitive information while screen recording. It also has options for recording audio from the microphone and capturing your taps on the screen.
And while it doesn't have the aforementioned device playback option yet, new code found in the SystemUI files does include text that suggests the feature is under work. The strings suggest Google's final product will offer the following three options for audio:
- Device audio and microphone
- Sound from your device, like music, calls, and ringtones
- Device audio
Another point of note is that Google is likely going to make this addition part of AOSP and not a Google-specific feature. This means that other phone makers would be able to use the implementation for themselves, if they so desired.
Of course, many third-party screen recording apps already have this feature, so Google is merely bringing its offering up to par with them. Most OEMs' screen recorders built into their Android skins are also generally superior to Google's own implementation. So, while this may be a welcome addition for some, it's not necessarily the most groundbreaking feature you'll ever see.
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