how come every screen recording app for Android needs root?

[Ralph Bromley]

That's one really frustrating thing in the Android ecosystem its the fact that every last screen recording application needs root access to work I can screen record in my computer using Linux or Windows or Mac but not on Android this is a very frustrating thing for me as I would like to record my sessions for demonstration purposes it's very awful that Android needs root just to do something so simple does ios need root access four screen recording i don't know i don't use ios but it's very apparent that this is a feature android seriously needs

 

[SpookDroid]

Mobile phones are very different from PC/Macs. And yes, iOS doesn't allow screen recording without jailbreak (the iEquivalent of root).

It's a security issue.

You can 'cast' your screen onto your PC or a TV or a DVR or something similar and record from there.

 

[hallux]

When I had my first-gen Motorola Droid, the only way to get a screenshot was to plug into the computer and use the ADB tools or the GUI (or whatever it was, it seems like it was a LONG time ago) and grab the screenshot through the computer that way. Does this no longer work? I did it using a Windows computer, I no longer have one of those (that I'm willing to install that stuff on) to try this with my Moto X.

 

[SpookDroid]

I think you can still do it that way since it's a developer tool, but you can't do it directly on the phone without rooting.

 

[gone down south]

Rumor had it that Lollipop will allow unrooted phones to record screens.