You told us: You're opposed to Google killing third-party call recording apps

Google recently announced changes to its Play Store policy, and the most divisive change is that it’s now barring third-party call recording apps from the Play Store. The move is set to come into effect from May 11, but doesn’t affect first-party call recording functionality.

We posted a survey inside our news article last week, asking whether you support Google’s decision. Here’s how you voted in this poll.

Do you support Google killing third-party call recording apps?

Results

This poll attracted plenty of votes, with 8,600 votes counted as of writing. Starting from the bottom, 12.24% of respondents say they don’t care whether Google kills third-party call recording apps. Meanwhile, 14.83% of polled readers say they support Google’s decision.

A massive 72.93% of respondents said they don’t support Google’s move to kill third-party call recording apps, making this the runaway choice. It’s worth noting that first-party call recording functionality in pre-installed apps are exempt from this move, while you can still likely sideload third-party apps.

Pretty much all of the reader comments are opposed to Google’s decision. Some readers suggest Google is doing this to push sales of its Pixel phones (which have pre-installed call recording functionality), while one comment points out a legitimate use-case for call recording (e.g. for those in an abusive relationship). Finally, some readers also bemoan the fact that Google is making a blanket decision despite varying privacy laws in the US and around the world.

Comments

• Jay S: I don’t understand why Google keeps doing this. Over time, we’ve seen Android become more and more restrictive about what you’re allowed to do with your own hardware. I hope they realize that they’re alienating power users in doing so, and at some point, the power users might as well jump ship to iOS. If they’re going to be essentially the same capabilities wise, why wouldn’t I opt for the device with much a much greater accessories and 3rd-party support ecosystem, with seemingly greater privacy controls to boot?
• Jim Propert: So if someone was in an abusive relationship, or receiving death threats, bullying, etc calls won’t be able to record the conversations? Oh well, back to speaker phone, and a third party audio recorder it is then…
• AnArizonaGuy: In the State I live in it is legal to record calls without the other parties consent. Not happy about this.
• John Jackson: I want Google to keep its nose out of my use of my phone. Entirely. They otherwise are pushing me to find someone else’s product who will.
• Consumer: It seems like they are handicapping to try and make others buy a pixel to make the features more exclusive. Kinda ironic because they still allow it natively but not 3rd party, kinda dumb.
• Slayer: As a result of this change, app development competition in call recording disappears. Surely there are recording options. Please make it easy!
• James Collins: To me, it sounds like they are trying to increase sales of their PIXEL devices. I’ve stuck with ANDROID – BECAUSE of the ability to record ALL my calls. Hopefully Samsung will step up their game and allow native call recording. Otherwise, I’ll avoid “play store” and get the apps that do what I want.