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Android takes snapshots (screenshots) of apps as soon as you switch to another app. When you view the app list, it already has the last view of each app. But t

by aritmo 5y ago

Android takes snapshots (screenshots) of apps as soon as you switch to another app. When you view the app list, it already has the last view of each app. But the Xiaomi/MIUI Android sends over those screenshots back to the company is new information.

aero-glide2 5y ago
The article doesn't mention screenshots at all.
- jand 5y ago
  > System apps on several handsets upload details of user interactions with the apps on the handset (what apps are used and when, what app screens are viewed, when and for how long). I am too far away from Android development to make any claim about what "app screens" are. Is that android-lingo? Could someone please clarify?
  - Arnt 5y ago
    Sounds like an attempt at phrasing for the general public. Android apps have zero or more activities, each of which may be thought of as a single screen and a single Intent, which is a bit like a URL (and sometimes very much like a URL). A messenger or email app will typically have a main activity, an activity to view a single message, an activity to view a conversation with someone, perhaps an activity to view a single attached image, probably an activity to view and edit the application's settings, and so on. What is sent is perhaps the app's name and a class name within the app for each activity that's started.
    - dr_kiszonka 5y ago
      Exactly right. And you don't have to be a system app to access this information. Any app with sufficient permissions granted explicitly by a user can access these data (no root needed), and it may have legitimate reasons for doing it.
  - alickz 5y ago
    It sounds a lot like the screen events Firebase reports (a library by Google for analytics, among other things) It allows you to know which screens a user views, but not the data on the screen. A pseudo-example would be like "User opened LoginScreen/LoginActivity at yyyy-mm-dd and stayed on that screen for X seconds" Not an actual screenshot of said screen
AuthorizedCust 5y ago
I had a Pixel. That it took a screenshot when I switched apps makes sense. It allows the task switcher to open immediately and show the most recent state of all my apps. A screenshot of some sort is mandatory for the OCR functionality that allowed me to select text from these tiles in the task switcher (super handy!). I’m now on iOS 15 on an iPhone 12 Pro Max. I think I’ve seen movement on the tiles in its task switcher, so I’m not clear if it takes screenshots. But the fact that the task switcher opens with no delay suggests that screenshots might be used? I’m only defending taking screenshots. Transmitting them to other parties is problematic.
- extr 5y ago
  How have you found the transition to iOS? For me, the task switcher OCR feature is absolutely killer, one of the main things still keeping me on Android. Does iOS have anything similar?
  - marcellus23 5y ago
    iOS 15 now OCRs text across the OS, including screenshots. So you can take a screenshot and get OCR'd text from there.
    - AuthorizedCust 5y ago
      That's more of a process than simply selecting text on the task manager tile.
      - marcellus23 5y ago
        I guess. You have to hit the screenshot combo and then tap the screenshot, versus hitting the app-switcher button. Are you doing this often enough for that 1 extra step to be a big deal?
        AuthorizedCust 5y ago
        I’m increasingly finding great value in reducing complexity of simple tasks. I thought the push button rear door closer on my minivan was silly, but it came with it, so (shrug). I’ve grown to like it! Reducing from a few steps plus a major context switch to just one step is valuable.
WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
> Android takes snapshots (screenshots) of apps as soon as you switch to another app. For the interested, here's info on where those are stored: https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/172913/where-does-android-store-the-snapshots-used-on-the-recent-apps https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/172913/where-doe...
hansel_der 5y ago
> But the Xiaomi/MIUI Android sends over those screenshots back to the company is new information. i looked in the paper but could not corroborate this

by aritmo 5y ago

aero-glide2 5y ago

The article doesn't mention screenshots at all.

jand 5y ago
> System apps on several handsets upload details of user interactions with the apps on the handset (what apps are used and when, what app screens are viewed, when and for how long). I am too far away from Android development to make any claim about what "app screens" are. Is that android-lingo? Could someone please clarify?
- Arnt 5y ago
  Sounds like an attempt at phrasing for the general public. Android apps have zero or more activities, each of which may be thought of as a single screen and a single Intent, which is a bit like a URL (and sometimes very much like a URL). A messenger or email app will typically have a main activity, an activity to view a single message, an activity to view a conversation with someone, perhaps an activity to view a single attached image, probably an activity to view and edit the application's settings, and so on. What is sent is perhaps the app's name and a class name within the app for each activity that's started.
  - dr_kiszonka 5y ago
    Exactly right. And you don't have to be a system app to access this information. Any app with sufficient permissions granted explicitly by a user can access these data (no root needed), and it may have legitimate reasons for doing it.
- alickz 5y ago
  It sounds a lot like the screen events Firebase reports (a library by Google for analytics, among other things) It allows you to know which screens a user views, but not the data on the screen. A pseudo-example would be like "User opened LoginScreen/LoginActivity at yyyy-mm-dd and stayed on that screen for X seconds" Not an actual screenshot of said screen

AuthorizedCust 5y ago

I had a Pixel. That it took a screenshot when I switched apps makes sense. It allows the task switcher to open immediately and show the most recent state of all my apps. A screenshot of some sort is mandatory for the OCR functionality that allowed me to select text from these tiles in the task switcher (super handy!). I’m now on iOS 15 on an iPhone 12 Pro Max. I think I’ve seen movement on the tiles in its task switcher, so I’m not clear if it takes screenshots. But the fact that the task switcher opens with no delay suggests that screenshots might be used? I’m only defending taking screenshots. Transmitting them to other parties is problematic.

extr 5y ago
How have you found the transition to iOS? For me, the task switcher OCR feature is absolutely killer, one of the main things still keeping me on Android. Does iOS have anything similar?
- marcellus23 5y ago
  iOS 15 now OCRs text across the OS, including screenshots. So you can take a screenshot and get OCR'd text from there.
  - AuthorizedCust 5y ago
    That's more of a process than simply selecting text on the task manager tile.
    - marcellus23 5y ago
      I guess. You have to hit the screenshot combo and then tap the screenshot, versus hitting the app-switcher button. Are you doing this often enough for that 1 extra step to be a big deal?
      - AuthorizedCust 5y ago
        I’m increasingly finding great value in reducing complexity of simple tasks. I thought the push button rear door closer on my minivan was silly, but it came with it, so (shrug). I’ve grown to like it! Reducing from a few steps plus a major context switch to just one step is valuable.

WarOnPrivacy 5y ago

> Android takes snapshots (screenshots) of apps as soon as you switch to another app. For the interested, here's info on where those are stored: https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/172913/where-does-android-store-the-snapshots-used-on-the-recent-apps https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/172913/where-doe...

hansel_der 5y ago

> But the Xiaomi/MIUI Android sends over those screenshots back to the company is new information. i looked in the paper but could not corroborate this