Did you know that Android 10 had a hidden screen recorder? Google was seen testing a built-in screen recorder for Android 10 in the beta versions. However, in the final version, the feature had disappeared.
But still, there is a workaround to enable it. A bit complicated for the layman, but I will walk you through the step by step process.
Why would you want to enable the hidden screen recorder?
Why would you go through the hassle of enabling a hidden screen recorder that was not meant to be used by you? The only answer I’d give is – because of the privacy and safety of my device,
You know almost all the apps on the Play Store collect your personal information in some way or other. Of course, Google also does that but we don’t want other companies feasting on our data as well. It’s about keeping that information leak to a minimum.
After all, LG and Samsung devices may already have this feature in Android 10. Just check if your device got it by swiping down the notification panel and then going to quick settings.
For other devices, it takes a little more work than swiping the notification panel down. I will list the steps below.
1. Enable USB debugging
Open Settings on your device. Go to ‘About Phone’. Find the build number. Tap quickly on the build number seven times. You will notice a message appear saying – “You are now a developer”.
Now go back to the settings list, and you will find a new setting called ‘Developer Options’.
Enter into the developer options and it will look like this.
Make sure to turn the first option on. It will always be the main switch to turn on the whole developer options panel.
Then scroll down a bit to find the ‘USB debugging’ option. Turn that on because later we will be connecting this device with a PC. We need USB debugging to pass commands to the device from the PC.
2. Install Android ADB platform
Do not get scared by the name. This is not the complete Android developer bundle. We only need a small package from that. Download the Android SDK Platform directly from Google’s Developer Tools website.
3. Execute the command
Now you have downloaded the SDK platform. Extract and open the SDK folder. It will have these items.
Now you have to press the shift key on your keyboard. While keeping it pressed, right-click inside this folder. You will see the option ‘Open Command Window Here’. Click on it. It will open a command prompt window.
Now attach your Android 10 device to the PC.
Type this and hit enter: adb devices
If you see the name of your mobile device in the command prompt window, all has gone well so far.
Then copy this code and paste it in the command prompt window and hit enter.
adb shell settings put global settings_screenrecord_long_press true
That will enable the hidden screen recorder in your Android 10 power menu.
4. Try the new screen recorder
To try this new feature, press and hold the power button. Once the power menu pops up, long-press on the ‘Screenshot’ icon.
It will present you with the recording settings. Select the settings according to your needs and hit ‘Start Recording’.
That’s it.
