Android Q is off in the distance and while we still don’t know what tasty dessert related item it will be named, it does promise some interesting and necessary updates, additions, and features meant to enhance the overall user experience. One of the new features baked into Q called AudioPlaybackCapture will be an API which lets apps capture other apps’ audio.
The AudioPlaybackCapture API will allow you easier access and sharing of content. For example, as fun as gaming is for personal reasons, as you have noticed many folks have figured out how to monetize and stream their gaming experience. This new API lets you record and stream your gameplay to live audiences, helping you to further monetize your gaming, by sharing and expanding your reach onto social media. The AudioPlaybackCapture API also allows for live captioning, still furthering your reach by letting the app you are using, in real time, to be translated and captioned. This feature will be absolutely useful to those who listen in another language or need to listen without headphones, letting them read your app’s captured audio content.
Audio capture in Q works by having the user first permit the recording of audio from one app to the app being recorded. Prior to the audio recording session, a dialogue box will open up notifying the user about ‘Exposing sensitive info during casting/recording’. The dialogue will go on to notify you that ‘While recording or casting, My Audio Capturing App can capture any sensitive information that is displayed on your screen or played from your device, including sensitive information such audio, passwords, payment info, photos, and messages.’
Once the user taps ‘Start now’ to begin the capturing session, in the status bar the cast icon will show red, allowing you to capture both audio and video. The AudioPlaybackCapture API will capture the system app’s audio by default, while some third-party apps with a Target API of 28 and below need to explicitly opt-in before the audio capture session can begin. Target 29 API’s can also capture an app’s audio by default.
Beyond the AudioPlaybackCapture API found in Google’s next exciting mobile OS Android Q, we can also expect an official Dark Theme and Focus Mode, allowing the user to turn off notifications on certain apps. Also, Google’s commitment to providing better privacy and security will be shown off in Q by placing privacy controls right at the top of the Settings menu. There will also be Live Captioning which uses Google’s speech recognition technology, and the welcome addition of a notification system feature called bubbles, which will be expandable and collapsible and will ‘float’ on top of other content, allowing you to easily reply to messages.
Android Q will also bring better permission controls, official support for foldable phones, faster sharing with a feature named ‘Sharing Shortcuts’, support for HDR10 Plus, Depth formats for photos, an in-app setting panel, and lastly the possible omission of the mighty yet humble back button as Google goes all-in with gesture controls.
Google is clearly accepting and adopting not only gaming on the mobile platform, but the importance to stream and share any user content. With the AudioPlaybackCapture API baked into Android Q, Google is helping shape and mold the future of what we do with our mobile devices, and how we do it. Smartphones may never completely replace laptops as workstations but with new features like this audio capture functionality API, they are moving us ever closer.