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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...
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.
For me and my family, I think the best solution would be to leave it as-is but with a way to lift the restrictions for power users that doesn't involve root access. Something akin to enabling developer mode without having to buy a specific rootable phone
There is already a solution:
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.
So by default, a user is already safe from a malicious app trying to steal info. (That is, unless they just be an idiot and give the app "Draw Over Top" permission)
Some password managers want draw over top.
Bitwarden required it, iirc
Well you are gonna be trusting the password manager anyways, since its literally storing all your passwords. If you trust Bitwarden to store all your passwords, then you can trust it to not abuse the "Draw Over Top" permission.
Or changing or just adding a system font.
Or setting a charge capacity limit.
Or adding separate quick access tikes for wifi and cellular.
The first two don't bug me but dam, give me my 6 buttons back!! I hate these fat notification tray icons. And yes, fuck Google for making it take MORE clicks to toggle wifi/cellular than before.
Unless they changed something in Android 15, which I haven't been able to try yet, I don't think the separate WiFi / Mobile Data tiles were ever removed. At least they still exist on LineageOS 21 (Android 14), just hidden in the tile editor. You might want to check if you still have them there.
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.
When did airplane mode ever require root?
Up until Android 14 I think. Android 13 for sure does not support it.
Unless an ADB trick counts https://tasker.joaoapps.com/userguide/en/help/ah_secure_setting_grant.html
You used to be able to do everything I wanted through tasker without root but Google has been stripping away functionality for years
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.
Fair enough, though experience with my unsavvy family makes me think a lot of people will do whatever an app tells them to do
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.
The target use case for incognito mode is to prevent the device from saving your activity during the browsing session through things like cookies and history. To that end, incognito also blocks it to prevent other apps from saving your activity through screen recordings or screenshots.
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.