How Android 15 Could Protect Your Data During a Screen Sharing Session

Android 15 could arrive with a powerful new privacy feature that could help prevent users from leaking their personal information while sharing their screen, according to a report. The next version of Google’s smartphone operating system — expected to arrive in the second half of 2024 — might obscure certain parts of the screen, such as password fields or sensitive notifications, from being displayed when screen sharing is enabled. Google might also allow users to disable these protections on their Android smartphone.

As per an Android Police report, the latest Android 15 Beta 1.1 release contains a new toggle in the Developer options menu titled Disable screen share protections. The description for the toggle explains that the setting will disable system protections for “sensitive app content” when a user shares their screen in the future. Unfortunately, the feature is yet to be enabled by Google on the latest Android 15 beta.

The publication also spotted a new API on the latest Android 15 beta release that allows apps with custom virtual views, WebView, and Jetpack Compose to access a sensitive content protection feature. The feature could reportedly allow the operating system to block specific fields that show sensitive information, such as passwords or email addresses.

It’s currently unclear how phones running on Android 15 will determine what parts of the screen to obscure during a screen sharing session. However, the feature could also protect users from scammers who convince users to share their screens to gain access to their passwords, one-time passwords (OTPs), or two-factor authentication codes.

The feature is reportedly disabled on Android 15 Beta 1.1, which means it cannot be tested by users who have flashed the first public beta on their Pixel phones. It could either be enabled on Android 15 Beta 2, or could be unveiled by the company at Google I/O in May before it is rolled out to beta testers, according to the report.