Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Taking screenshots isn't allowed by the app after upgrading to Android 11

support.google.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 385 posts

Re: Taking screenshots isn't allowed by the app after upgrading to Android 11

#161

Post by adrianmonk »

WesolyKubeczek wrote: post #49
shawnz wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If a user initiated screenshot was distinguishable from an API initiated one, then you could argue third party screenshotting apps aren't first class citizens on the platform

Okay, here’s a question: why should third party screenshooting apps exist? What benefits do they offer over the stock functionality?

Writing tutorials is a common use for screenshots. Suppose I want to write an app that makes it easier to create tutorials. It could have companion software on my desktop computer so that when I hit the enter key, it captures a screenshot and transfers it to the computer. This would eliminate tedious steps and streamline the process.

It might seem like a niche application, but it seems there is tutorial creation software for other platforms already. It's probably pretty useful for people working in IT departments.

Re: Taking screenshots isn't allowed by the app after upgrading to Android 11

#163

Post by _odey »

zrobotics wrote: post #143
_odey wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in the UK and have used 5 banking apps so far (not all of them at the same time): - Barclays (App won't work with LineageOS, website is horrible). - Monzo (App only, no website, works with LineageOS). - Revolut (App only, no website, works with LineageOS). - TransferWise (Web and App, both work well, but never tried it on LineageOS). - ING Home Bank (App won't work with LineageOS, website is manageable, but st…

Question: if there's no website, how TF are you supposed to use Monzo or Revolut from a proper computer? Is there really no way to do something simple like xfer money or view balance without using your phone? If so, why did you even open an account, I'm assuming that since you are on this site you are at least a little bit technically inclined. Just looked, and apparently Revolut is 1) app only 2) tied to a mobile nu…

> Question: if there's no website, how TF are you supposed to use Monzo or Revolut from a proper computer?

You can't. That's why you don't use them for serious work.

> why did you even open an account

Different use cases, different circumstances. I don't depend on them but they give good exchange rates and zero fees when transferring or spending money abroad. It's the "it just works" and "fast and cheap" effect that the traditional banks don't have. And opening an account is done online, and you get access to your account in hours, compared to Barclays which took 2 months of ping pong, when I first moved into the UK (since I did not have a bill issued in my name at my UK address I could not open an account, so I could not pay my landlord rent so I could get an address to open an account, fun times). Without that Monzo account I could have not been paid in my first 2 months.

But if you want to know how crap Revolut really is, try contacting their support to report a bug in their app, they don't have an email, but instead ask you to get in touch with them on Facebook.

Re: Taking screenshots isn't allowed by the app after upgrading to Android 11

#164

Post by seaish »

Fiveplus wrote: post #5

>Removing the ".nomedia" file from my snapshot folder solved the issue. Not sure whether I created the file or not, but apparently excluding it from the library breaks snapshots. Hope this helps! That seems like it.

Had to look it up, but the purpose of .nomedia is to tell apps not to scan that directory for content. It's basically a suggestion, but say you have a dir with a bunch of cached web assets; it would be useful to drop a .nomedia file in there. So really this seems like a bug in the screenshot tool for being too strict (it isn't supposed to prevent writing, only reading). Like the screenshot tool tries to create the dir when it already exists (but can't be seen), fails, and gives the wrong error message.

Re: Taking screenshots isn't allowed by the app after upgrading to Android 11

#165

Post by smolder »

chordalkeyboard wrote: post #150
pengstrom wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, we don't own the means of production today either.

You do if you own stock.

Owning a fragment isn't quite the same as owning the whole thing. Majority stock ownership would be close enough.

Re: Taking screenshots isn't allowed by the app after upgrading to Android 11

#166

Post by crazygringo »

A bunch of comments here are assuming this is something intentional on Google's part.

Simply from the error message alone, it's obvious that this is a bug. As well as from how easy the workaround is.

Google might do many things wrong intentionally, but I see zero evidence this is one of them. Just a bug, folks.

Re: Taking screenshots isn't allowed by the app after upgrading to Android 11

#167

Post by eertami »

jaspergilley wrote: post #152
swebs wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They already block you from disabling location services if you want to use bluetooth.

Jesus, I had no idea. Remind me to never, ever switch to Android

If this is truly a problem for you, your statement should be "Remind me to never, ever use Bluetooth". It is nothing to do with Android.

Re: Taking screenshots isn't allowed by the app after upgrading to Android 11

#168

Post by [deleted] »

db48x wrote: post #25
JosephRedfern wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd think that a user-initiated screenshot should be distinguishable from a API initiated one, though. In my experience, it mainly seems to be banking and messaging apps that monitor or block screenshot events.

It's a weird problem. Some application running on the device must accept some user event, such as a key press, mouse click or touch event and turn that in to a request for a screenshot. This is true regardless of operating system. I agree that it should always be possible for a physically present user to take a screenshot and save it, but how can the OS really know if its really the user initiating the action and not…

[deleted]

Re: Taking screenshots isn't allowed by the app after upgrading to Android 11

#169

Post by WesolyKubeczek »

indymike wrote: post #112
WesolyKubeczek wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, here’s a question: why should third party screenshooting apps exist? What benefits do they offer over the stock functionality?

Lots. Automatic watermarks. Automatic resizing. Different storage options, putting a phone frame around the screenshot, and lots of other things that are really user workflows. And that is the heart of the issue: when we restrict user workflows, we reduce the utility of the tool.

Then make it a generic image editor. What we have now is: an editor but for screenshots, an editor but for selfies, an editor but for cat photos, each with its own cloud storage which leaks (or spills) data once a year and which data is also being processed by the app owners in ways you’d be disgusted about.

There’s a screenshot functionality in the OS and there’s a Share button which should work just as fine and be way more secure.

Re: Taking screenshots isn't allowed by the app after upgrading to Android 11

#170

Post by [deleted] »

_odey wrote: post #105
Farbklex wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Scrcpy is also available for Windows and Mac. The link here states, that the screenshot settings were apparently broken due to a bug. So no bad intent from Google here. Besides that, apps can declare their content as sensitive and add the `FLAG_SECURE` to their activity which then hides the app content form "unsafe screens", the "recent apps" screen and screenshots. But this is a choice of the app developer instead o…

Not denying what you said, but I'd want a way to ignore "FLAG_SECURE" as a setting, so when I really want to take a screenshot, I should be able to do it regardless of what the app vendor wants to impose.

[deleted]
Post reply on HN