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How Can i find out what app is recording my mic

Michlham

Lurker
Oct 22, 2018
5
3
I have wiretap detection installed on my Samsung Galaxy Note 8. The log is reporting "A mic recording was detected." I do have an app installed to record calls when i choose to. This app starts automatically, but must have a button pressed to start recording the call. Wiretap is also reporting "A possible hidden call was made to 122334454", when i make outgoing calls to know numbers.

Is there a way to ascertain what app is doing the recording so i can tell if it is the app i have installed or an app i did not approve of?
 
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It is a Samsung Note 8. Google Now is not installed. I was hoping for a solution that would reveal the culprit.
Bixby? I'm asking to make sure we can eliminate the valid, legitimate apps first. I'm not saying whether you want, like, or use them, just that they may produce the symptom you are trying to diagnose.
 
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You can take a look at valid apps from within the setting page under apps, options button and app permissions. Then pick the mic permission to see what has access to the mic with handy toggle buttons to switch off that permission per app.

Check the attached screenshots. (Your settings page may look a a little different.)
 

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Yeah, Bixby is on there and i have no use for it at all. Is there a way i can disable this? I will look myself while i await an answer.
For the short term I moved the thread to the Note 8 forum where other experienced Note owners can speak to the specifics of Bixby or other Note 8 quirks. If folks are able to move beyond Samsung specific issues I'll move it back. Knowing how voice assistants like Bixby work, it wouldn't surprise me if that is giving the false positives. Hopefully someone in here can help you disable it. :)
 
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Ok, I found the list of apps that have permissions. I do not get why some of them have those permissions. But i will go through them to see what might be occurring. Some fo them i get. Voice recorder, for example, but that should only access the mic when i activate it. Now that i have a list of apps, how do i find out which one is triggering the logged entry of a mic recording?
 
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I think i have figured out what is going on. Apparently Wiretap detection does not clearly differentiate between a call being recorded and a mic recording. I went through the permissions and disable use of the mic by apps that do not need it, in my opinion. Apps like S Note, for example.

I started looking at the time the recording are reported and compared them to my phone log. Some of the calls i make are reported as "possible hidden calls." some of them when i get a call are reported as "A mic recording was detected." Some of them are reported as a "Call from 12345678910 was being recorded." It appears that all of these coincide with a call that i was on. I did not know that initially, because some were reported as calls being reported and some were reported as a mic recording. Technically all are mic recordings. Now i know to look at my call log whenever a new log entry is entered to see if it coincides. I guess i should not be concered unless i get a notice when i am not on the phone.

I appreciate your suggestions. This did get me to dig a little deeper. Something i should have done before posting the issue. But hopefully this will give others direction in the future.
 
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