Android 15 QPR1 brings another new method to stop sharing your screen

Improving security and privacy was one of Google’s biggest priorities for this year’s Android 15 release, and one of the features in desperate need of an update was Android’s screen recorder. To solve this problem, Google introduced partial screen sharing in Android 15, a feature that lets you record or cast a single app instead of the entire screen. However, Google is not done with the screen recorder yet as it plans to update it again in the upcoming Android 15 QPR1 release. As part of that update, Google is changing Android so that it automatically stops screen sharing when you lock your phone.

Last month, Google rolled out Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2, which introduces a much better screen recording system. When you cast or record your screen from the system menu in Android 15 QPR1, you’ll see new status bar chips that not only tell you that a screencasting or screen recording session is in progress, but also how long that session has been going on. Additionally, you can tap those chips to bring up a dialog box that lets you stop casting or recording the screen.

Additionally, Android now also distinguishes between system-initiated screen sharing sessions and third-party screen recording apps. When a third-party app starts a screen sharing session, the screen sharing dialog box will have a different icon and description indicating that you are sharing the screen with a particular app instead of Android.

That’s not all, though: screen sharing initiated by third-party apps will now automatically stop when you lock the device in Android 15 QPR1. In previous versions of Android, this wasn’t the case, as screen sharing continued even after you locked the device.

Google recently updated the release notes for Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 to mention this change, which we can confirm is happening on our own Pixel devices. The company encourages developers to update their apps so that they release resources and update their user interface when screen projection is stopped. Developers can do this by creating an instance of MediaProjection.Callback and then implement the callbacks onStop() method that is called when the screen projection stops.

If Google had made this change to previous versions of Android, it would have been a bigger problem, as previous versions didn’t have the new, upgradeable status bar chips. Since the new screen sharing chips make it possible to end sessions without making your notifications visible, there is no need to deliberately lock the device to stop the session.

However, I understand that this change could still be useful as it prevents users from accidentally sharing their home screen if they somehow accidentally lock their device during a screen sharing session (your lock screen is already hidden from screen sharing).

Since this change is part of Android 15 QPR1 and not the base Android 15, it means it won’t be available on most other Android devices until next year’s Android 16 update. The same goes for other Android 15 QPR1 features we noticed, like the new desktop window mode and the lock screen widgets feature for tablets.