Android 15 could let apps selectively hide sensitive content when screen sharing

Android 15 is shaping up to be a subtle change on the surface but a substantial upgrade when you peek under the hood. Another change that could come to Android 15 is how apps can selectively hide sensitive content when you are screen sharing.

As Android Police reports, Android 15 Beta 1.1 has a new Developer Options toggle named “disable screen share protections.” This toggle disables the system-applied app and notifications protections during screen sharing. Reportedly, the visibility of this toggle is controlled by flags related to a feature known internally as “sensitive content protection.”

According to the report, this feature could allow apps to block specific fields from ending up in screen recordings or screen shares. This way, apps that occasionally display sensitive information can selectively block those fields instead of disabling screen recordings or screen shares in a blanket manner. It could also help combat the use of malicious apps as it could get that much more difficult to leak your data to any malicious app that tricks you into sharing your screen.

There are a few mysteries about how this feature pans out. Flags for controlling “sensitive notification app protections” and hiding notifications during screen shares have been spotted, but it’s unclear why both are needed. Blocking a notification entirely from a screen share would also block sensitive notifications from appearing. It’s also unclear how Android would know when a notification contains sensitive content either.

We’ll have to wait for Google to release more betas or officially announce the feature to learn more about this functionality and related APIs.