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Android screenshots

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Important

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Learn more about support timelines and alternatives.

If your App Center Test Reports consistently show blank or scrambled screenshots on Android, the typical cause is that your application has disabled screenshots. This Android setting is frequently used in applications that handle sensitive data like finance or medical information.

This setting is controlled by the constant FLAG_SECURE in WindowManager.LayoutParams (Android.Views.WindowManagerFlags.Secure in Xamarin.Android):

Window flag: treat the content of the window as secure, preventing it from appearing in screenshots or from being viewed on non-secure displays.

See WindowManager.LayoutParams FLAG_SECURE. For Xamarin.Android, also see Android.Views.WindowManagerFlags.Secure.

FLAG_SECURE is handled differently from device to device and between different Android OS versions. Some devices or older Android versions will still allow screenshots, others show blank screens, and still others show scrambled screenshots.

If your app has disabled screenshots, then seeing blank or scrambled screenshots in the test report demonstrates this security feature is working as intended for your app.

If your app has disabled screenshots by setting the flag FLAG_SECURE in the WindowManager.LayoutParams but you want to see the screenshots in your test reports, then the workaround in App Center Test is to create a testing build that doesn't set the FLAG_SECURE flag. You can search your code for FLAG_SECURE or WindowManagerFlags.Secure (Xamarin.Android) to see where and how this value is set.

Getting help

You can contact support in the App Center portal. In the upper right corner of screen, select the Help (?) menu, then choose 'Contact support'. Our dedicated support team will respond to your questions.

If you want help with a test run, navigate to the test run in question and copy the URL from your browser and paste it into the support conversation. A test run URL looks like something like https://appcenter.ms/orgs/OrgName/apps/App-Name/test/runs/77a1c67e-2cfb-4bbd-a75a-eb2b4fd0a747.