Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 missing call recording feature

[vs88888]

Hi

 

Any one using Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 face this missing call recording features ?

Myself like this feature very much since my first Xiaomi mobile phone.

 

However, recently brought the Redmi Note 8 & found this feature missing.

Some online discussion mentioned that re-installing India version of the firmware

had this call recording feature.

 

Mine is using the global version.  Myself try some third party

call recording app without much success, most of them

had poor recording audio.

 

So, can anyway confirm that India version of the firmware got

the call recording feature and it will not affect my phone

functionality  or there is other way to bring back this

app.

 

Thank you

 

 

[Theo Dorex]

Maximum smartphones have an inbuilt call recording feature these days. You just need to tap on the cassette symbol to start the recording. Still, there are phones which do not have this feature inbuilt. For such phones, you can install the ACR app.

 

1. : Download the ACR call recording app from the play store. 

   
   

    

    

    

    

2. : Then Follow the instructions from the app and allow all the access to the app as shown in the Image below

    

    

3. : Ten Tap the three bar on the top left of the app.

   
   

    

    

4. : There you will find the Enable option on the top.

   
   

    

    

5. : Enable it and enjoy the app.

    

   
   You can check our the video:

   
   

    

   You can check the specs of Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 here: Xiaomi Redmi Note 8

[zanderthunder]

If I'm not mistaken, Global ROM will have Google Phone and Google Dialer pre-installed instead of MIUI Contacts and Dialer. Previous Xiaomi phones have MIUI Contacts and Dialler, but not anymore.

In addition, heard that Android 9 closes the support of call recording, so you're out of luck.
https://bitbucket.org/copluk/acr/issues/2418/kb-android-9-p-call-recording-issues

However, heard that Indonesian ROM has the call recording feature. But take note that this was tested for Note 8 Pro variant, not sure that it applies same for other models.
(https://forum.xda-developers.com/redmi-note-8-pro/help/call-recording-indonesia-rom-t4043161)

But I would against of flashing other country ROM on top of Global ROM, as this would void your warranty and possibly bricking your phone. Also changing ROM will also require to unlock your bootloader, which also carries the same risk if it's not done properly.

Unless you are AWARE of the risks and knowledgeable of flashing ROMs and unlocking the bootloader, you can proceed. Refer to MIUI forums or XDA developers for more info.

Edited May 6, 2020 by zanderthunder

[vs88888]

22 hours ago, Theo Dorex said:

Maximum smartphones have an inbuilt call recording feature these days. You just need to tap on the cassette symbol to start the recording. Still, there are phones which do not have this feature inbuilt. For such phones, you can install the ACR app.

 

1. : Download the ACR call recording app from the play store. 

   
   

    

    

    

    

2. : Then Follow the instructions from the app and allow all the access to the app as shown in the Image below

    

    

3. : Ten Tap the three bar on the top left of the app.

   
   

    

    

4. : There you will find the Enable option on the top.

   
   

    

    

5. : Enable it and enjoy the app.

    

   
   You can check our the video:

   
   

    

   You can check the specs of Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 here: Xiaomi Redmi Note 8

 

Hi

 

thank for your recommendation, don't seem to work on my phone.

 

 

[vs88888]

6 hours ago, zanderthunder said:

If I'm not mistaken, Global ROM will have Google Phone and Google Dialer pre-installed instead of MIUI Contacts and Dialer. Previous Xiaomi phones have MIUI Contacts and Dialler, but not anymore.

In addition, heard that Android 9 closes the support of call recording, so you're out of luck.
https://bitbucket.org/copluk/acr/issues/2418/kb-android-9-p-call-recording-issues

However, heard that Indonesian ROM has the call recording feature. But take note that this was tested for Note 8 Pro variant, not sure that it applies same for other models.
(https://forum.xda-developers.com/redmi-note-8-pro/help/call-recording-indonesia-rom-t4043161)

But I would against of flashing other country ROM on top of Global ROM, as this would void your warranty and possibly bricking your phone. Also changing ROM will also require to unlock your bootloader, which also carries the same risk if it's not done properly.

Unless you are AWARE of the risks and knowledgeable of flashing ROMs and unlocking the bootloader, you can proceed. Refer to MIUI forums or XDA developers for more info.

 

Hi

 

According to the Mi Forum, Google will introduce their own call recorder in future release.

However, their timeline is not given which is bad. Hope they release such features soon.

 

As for risk of flashing ROMs & unlocking bootloader, checking with my country's

MI service centre said that it does not void my warranty. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[zanderthunder]

5 minutes ago, vs88888 said:

Google will introduce their own call recorder in future release.

But then, take this with a grain of salt.

According to XDA Developers, this feature will might roll out to selected Pixel, before rolling it to other phones. Futhermore since they make an APK teardown on the app, they are reminding that an APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.
https://www.xda-developers.com/google-phone-app-call-recording-hands-on/
 

10 minutes ago, vs88888 said:

As for risk of flashing ROMs & unlocking bootloader, checking with my country's

MI service centre said that it does not void my warranty. 

Flashing ROM and unlocking warranty does not void the warranty, that's correct, but if and only if you follow the strict guide provided, and executed properly to do that.

 

And as for unlocking the bootloader, the only way to unlock is to use the Mi Unlock Tool and you must follow the instructions on the tool very, very carefully.

 

And if these steps are not done right, there will a risk of device getting bricked (worst case scenario, hard brick) and the only way to recover from the brick is to sent it to authorized service center, where they will service it under "out of warranty" scenario.

 

The screenshot above is from Mi India Support, but I believe all Mi service centers in the world would echo the same statement. Ask anyone in MIUI forum, they would echo the same statement too.

 

But still, flashing ROM and unlocking bootloader still carries a risk if you don't know how to unlock and flash without a proper guide in hand. Even the admins and moderators of MIUI forum will advise you to flash the correct ROM region variant to avoid any brick and other inconveniences.

Therefore, the need for this reminder.

So far, I owned Xiaomi Redmi 3s with TWRP latest installed and Arrow OS based on Android 10 installed. No problems at all, as I followed the steps outlined by the moderators when I unlocked the bootloader and installing the custom recovery and custom ROM.

I know in Malaysia that some local stores sold China units of Mi smartphones with Global ROM, but these devices have been flashed beforehand from China ROM, which are done by technicians who are expert on flashing and unlocking these phones. Plus, these phones are under in-store warranty instead of original warranty by Xiaomi, due to their nature.

[Alanon]

As a Redmi Note 4X owner, all I can say is before you install MIUI meant for a different region, make sure that the Indian market phones have the same hardware. Xiaomi is notorious for changing camera sensors, processors and other elements for the Global, Chinese and Indian markets. I don't know the status on Redmi Note 8, but it's definitely something you'd want to look into.

 

With regards to your recording problems, I would suggest trying a replacement dialer app, especially if you've never unlocked a bootloader before and aren't sure how to proceed. Something like TrueCaller should be widely compatible and support the feature your require. Depending on your memory usage, and  the aggressiveness of MIUI's background app killing, no add-on app will be ideal, but it's far less intrusive.

[zanderthunder]

19 hours ago, Alanon said:

As a Redmi Note 4X owner, all I can say is before you install MIUI meant for a different region, make sure that the Indian market phones have the same hardware. Xiaomi is notorious for changing camera sensors, processors and other elements for the Global, Chinese and Indian markets. I don't know the status on Redmi Note 8, but it's definitely something you'd want to look into.

 

With regards to your recording problems, I would suggest trying a replacement dialer app, especially if you've never unlocked a bootloader before and aren't sure how to proceed. Something like TrueCaller should be widely compatible and support the feature your require. Depending on your memory usage, and  the aggressiveness of MIUI's background app killing, no add-on app will be ideal, but it's far less intrusive.

I agree with what you said, and to add what you have explained, there's another variant of Redmi Note 8, which is Redmi Note 8T which also bears almost the same specs. However, both of them have different internal codenames (Note 8 is ginkgo, while Note 8T is willow), therefore one should be aware of it before flashing the ROM.

And, there are many variants besides Global, Chinese, and Indian, which is Indonesian, Europe and Russian. So there are six (at this time of writing).

As for Truecaller, heard that the call recording feature is not supported under Android 9 and above.
https://support.truecaller.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001264545-Call-Recorder-FAQ
 

To add for the explanation, official call recording API was discontinued on Android 6 by Google on the grounds of user privacy. *(Google encourages users to lower their security by getting root access which they need to unlock this feature. Rooting also voids device warranty.)* Luckily, few developers found a workaround and it worked up until Android 8.1. Sadly, that workaround is closed beginning with Android 9.

 

[Alanon]

12 minutes ago, zanderthunder said:

I agree with what you said, and to add what you have explained, there's another variant of Redmi Note 8, which is Redmi Note 8T which also bears almost the same specs. However, both of them have different internal codenames (Note 8 is ginkgo, while Note 8T is willow), therefore one should be aware of it before flashing the ROM.

And, there are many variants besides Global, Chinese, and Indian, which is Indonesian, Europe and Russian. So there are six (at this time of writing).

As for Truecaller, heard that the call recording feature is not supported under Android 9 and above.
https://support.truecaller.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001264545-Call-Recorder-FAQ
 

To add for the explanation, official call recording API was discontinued on Android 6 by Google on the grounds of user privacy. *(Google encourages users to lower their security by getting root access which they need to unlock this feature. Rooting also voids device warranty.)* Luckily, few developers found a workaround and it worked up until Android 8.1. Sadly, that workaround is closed beginning with Android 9.

 

 

Yeah, most of my examples are a bit dated, they're based on the research I did when I was picking my phone way back when. Though it seems Xiaomi has just added to the confusion since.

 

I also wasn't aware of the whole recording situation. I've been using custom ROMs exclusively, and remember having call recording in the modified AOSP dialers. After switching to a ROM on Android 10 that feature went away, but I always thought it was missing from the ROM I was using, not the OS itself.

 

I found this thread of some Android recorder app developer that claims that Google did switch it off, but that it still can work on some OS's and in certain countries. That might explain all the conflicting information and potential regional differences within MIUI?

[zanderthunder]

19 hours ago, Alanon said:

I also wasn't aware of the whole recording situation. I've been using custom ROMs exclusively, and remember having call recording in the modified AOSP dialers. After switching to a ROM on Android 10 that feature went away, but I always thought it was missing from the ROM I was using, not the OS itself.

 

I found this thread of some Android recorder app developer that claims that Google did switch it off, but that it still can work on some OS's and in certain countries. That might explain all the conflicting information and potential regional differences within MIUI?

Or maybe, some custom ROM developers choose to include the call recorder feature but only few will integrate it directly on the ROM, or have to separately flash zip via TWRP to reinstate the feature. Need to check back posts from XDA Developers tho for this. Lost count on that related post tho, but I remember that I downloaded the file before. Not sure where I kept these copies.

But based on what you're saying, I suspect potentially regional differences in terms of privacy terms, so this might affect any Android OS installed on the phones.

Update: It seems that Xiaomi has removed the call recording feature on upcoming Android 10 update for Mi Note 10, though at the moment the update is meant for global ROM builds. So my suspicions are correct, it seems that Xiaomi are stripping away the call recording feature in global ROM builds.
https://www.gsmarena.com/android_10_finally_reaches_the_xiaomi_mi_note_10-news-43086.php

Edited May 8, 2020 by zanderthunder

[hazz]

defintely would be availble, unless you did something on default MIUI that comeswith

[x3r0]

Call recording is controlled by laws, please keep that in mind. 

 

Some countries does not allow such unless you have permission to do so. So manufactures and vendors tend to adhere this rule as well.

 

Now that we clear that out, you sure what you have is not Redmi Note 8T? Redmi Note 8T comes with Google dialer instead of MIUI which currently lacks of call recording, regardless what country you live in.

[vs88888]

Hi

 

Thank to all for your advise & comments.

For myself, as the call recorders is important usage to me. Myself had

force myself to flash my phone to Indonesian ROM version just to

get the call recorder feature back.

 

Luckily, all go fine.

Hope the official Global version of the ROM will had the call recorder feature

soon for all.