Android @lemmy.world ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed @lemmy.dbzer0.com 10h ago

Anyone just hates how some apps can disable screenshots?

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.

73 comments

There's an option in Developer options that'll allow to bypass that setting
- Not sure what OS you are using. Are you using Graphene OS or something like that.
  
  I'm on One UI (Samsung Variant of Android) and I just check through every row on Developer options, the only thing remotely related was an option that allows apps to overlay over the "Settings" app, which still wouldn't bypass an app specific restriction.
I understand that for security compliance reasons. But beyond that, yupp. It sucks.
I fuckin hate that Playstation 4 and 5 do this for taking screenshots from movies. I just want to get a good screen grab for meme purposes! Do you think I'm going to screen shot every goddamn frame of a movie, one at a time, paste those back together as a video, then somehow rip the audio too, and then share this necromantically-assembled abomination with all my pirate buddies? Fuck you!
- Now that is really stupid, especially given how easy it is to just fire up the movie on your PC and take a screenshot from there.
  
  Netflix does this on windows too
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...
- What on earth are those in charge of certification standards thinking they'll achieve with requirements like this?
  
  It's probably to stop third party apps from screenshoting the banking app.
  
  Accidentally screenshotting your bank acct and routing number is the only one I can really think of.
- Why did you capitalize "must"?
  
  Probably a nod to the written style of RFC definitions, which have the word entirely in capital letters, as in... the implementation MUST do such and such, and SHOULD do this other thing. In this case, the relevant security standard(s)
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.
- 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.
  
  It’s a really good feature imo and I’d love to see it be more common. This is how iOS does it:
  
  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...
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.
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.
- 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.
  
  As an IT guy that manages MDMs, no we cannot see communications on the device
  
  They are okay with it because it isn't their phone. It's a free phone that comes with the job.
  
  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
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.
- 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...
  
  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.
  
  Or changing or just adding a system font.
  
  Or setting a charge capacity limit.
  
  Or adding separate quick access tikes for wifi and cellular.
  
  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.
  
  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.
  
  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.
- 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.
  
  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.
- "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.
Like, its my phone, and some app can just decide to disable a fuction of my phone.

Is it your phone though?
- 🙃
  
  It should be, but the reality is that is isn't.
- Yes, and we should not give app developers a free pass because "everybody is doing it".
iPhone absolutely has this concept
- Interesting, I never seen an app in iOS that can block screenshots.
  
  You can’t screen shot in streaming apps like Netflix and Disney. When you do the resulting image is just a black screen
  
  You can hit "take screenshot" but it results in a black frame iirc. Same for screen record.
  
  Ticketmaster.
  
  I remember one (snapchat maybe?) that couldn't block it so it just alerted the other person you took the screenshot. Maybe it's changed in a decade.
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.
I get banking and financial apps doing it. But shopping apps yea, wish we had a permissions override
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.
- Second phone or cheap camera off ebay..
  
  There are also probably usb-c capture dongles that should work
  
  Also: Split Screen + Take photo using front camera in front of a mirror.
I've seen public transportation apps doing that to curb sharing the ticket/barcode with someone else.
- Time to split screen and taking a selfie via a mirror lmao
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.
This thing is super annoying. Maybe there is some xposed module to bypass this . i don't known my phone isn't rooted.
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.

73 comments