[Updated] Samsung confirms Galaxy S9/S9+ feature improved call recording restrictions

Update (May 28):

It’s now possible to record calls on Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+. More information here.

Update (May 17):

One of the Galaxy S9 user recently heard from Samsung that they may implement call recording, at least for the countries where it’s not restricted. Here’s a translated version of what the user shared:

“They will study to implement the recording of calls in the countries where they are allowed, but they can not tell me the date for it”

Update (April 23):

Details of the lawsuit filed against Samsung over Galaxy S9 call issues.

Update (April 20):

Samsung hit with lawsuit over Galaxy S9 call issues. More information here.

Original story:

Nearly a couple of weeks ago, we came out with a story highlighting user reports that it’s not possible to record calls on Samsung’s new Galaxy S9 and S9+ smartphones. In fact, the story also carried confirmations from a couple of third-party call recording app companies (BoldBeast and ACR).

And now, we have an official confirmation from Samsung on the matter. The confirmation came through a moderator (BruceH) of the South Korean company’s official forum. Here’s what they said:

Based on Google’s security policy and local law, Samsung has blocked call recording through 3rd party applications. Thus this operation is intended behavior. However some 3rd party application developers had found a detour to record each voice during calls and applied it to their apps. Those applications have been working on previous Samsung devices whereas is blocked on S9/S9+ device due to improved call recording solutions. So we have a plan to apply this solution on old models.

So you can see, the statement effectively says the call recording feature was disabled long ago, but third-party app developers found some workarounds and the functionality was alive all this while in Samsung smartphones (this explains those reports where-in users said they could record calls in previous gen Samsung devices).

However, the Galaxy S9/S9+ feature some additional changes by Samsung due to which it’s currently impossible to properly record calls on these devices. And worse, the company is planning to implement these changes in its previous gen phones as well, presumably through software updates.

When explicitly asked if this is Samsung’s official take on the matter, another forum moderator (Nick) clearly said yes.

yes, this is indeed Samsung’s official response.

So there you go. If call recording is one of the major features you look for in a smartphone, Samsung’s new Galaxy S9/S9+ aren’t for you (unless you are in a selected few regions like the US or Hong Kong, where these phones offer the functionality). And if you’ve already purchased one of these, you’ll have to wait for either Samsung to change its mind, or some third party app developer to come up with a workaround. Until then, tough luck.

Thanks for the tip, FaisalAnwarUK (aka Think Positive)!!!

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